by Tater-T 32 Replies latest jw friends
So while making a You Tube video of my Dad today, I came across this in a DVD of home movies from way back, I didn't even know about it..
originally shot on super 8 film, shot off screen with camcorder in 1992, with open mic, transfered to DVD in 2010 .. made to You Tube in 2013...
check out the food service, without paper plates no less .. it's only a couple minutes on convention then, a little Seatle conventions were a family vacation when we were growing up ..
I'm quite familiar with Seattle, nice to see some shots of the city taken way back when.
What year was that taken?
I wonder what stadium it was held in.
I remember those compartmented metal trays. Assembly food was good. It was real mashed potatoes and gravy, and other real stuff. Those were the days. The wt had lots to say, too. They could fill up to 7 long assembly days w their ideas, of the day.
S
I'm not sure .. mid to late sixties... the super 8 stuff was all spliced together on reels, in no particular order . plus no sound on original..
space needle bulit in 1962 so could be 65 67 I'm guessing
BTTT
The quality is excellent. Jehovah must have blessed us if we did not all die from massive food poisoning. Nothiing taste as good as convention food when I was young. My mom was appalled by the food preparation. She wanted us to eat sandwiches from home. My bro and I refused. When I was older, my eyes were popping out at the catastrophes in making. My life goal was to be old enough to work in food service, peeling potatoes or washing dishes. I felt a sense of community over the food I never felt any place else.
Every convention at Yankee Stadium we begged to come back for a Yankee game. My father was such a fan. It was so expensive. People like us aren't good enough to attend Yankee games. Deep in New Jersey, the poorest people attended Yankee games. Finally, I attend a Yankee game with the law firm when I am 29. The memories of the place mixed with my current nervous status were too much. One partner was a wacko Yankee fan. In front of other law firms, he stood up and his chair and screamed about each play. All the Yankee wins during my lifetime. The Yankees lost that night by a large margin. I was furious with them.
I'm sure I was at that Convention. It was in Seattle Center Memorial Stadium in the same complex as the Space Needle. I was the little boy in the bleachers scared to death by all the adults who were saying we had to be prepared for Armegeddon and an all out attack on Jehovah's people by Satan the Devil, any day. I had a notebook and was told to write Jehovah, Jesus and Satan at the top of the page. Then everytime the speaker said one of those names, I was suppose to make a hash mark under the corresponding name. At the end we had to count up all the Jehovah's , Jesus' and Santan's we had heard.
I often wonder what it would have been like to grow up without the expectation of my father and the rest of world being destroyed by God because they didn't want to become Jehovah's Witnesses? What would it have been like to spend 8 hours a day 5 days in a row, learning something that would have benefited me now?
I used to like that they served cantaloupe sliced in half with a scoop of ice cream in the center. When I got a little older I always volunteered to work in food service mostly because I wanted to wear one of those paper hats but I also worried that if I didn't, it would be displeasing to Jehovah and I might not be considered worthy to be in the New System. Starting at about 9 I worked at a Pop Stand and I remember having an apron with pockets that were filled with change. I can't beleive they let a little kid do that and expected me to keep track of the money, but I did it. I used to fill up about a dozen cups and have them ready for the crowd because I didn't want anyone to get mad at me for having to wait. There was a Brother who went from stand to stand and monitored us. I remember getting counseled not to have so many cups of Pop ready on my table because they'd go flat before anyone had bought them. I remember being just crestfallen that I had failed at my job.
This seems to be the Men of Goodwill District Assembly at Sick's Seattle Stadium, July 16-19, 1970. I remember it well.
I'm fairly certain that I shouldn't tell you too much about it, because most anything I have to say would be identifying. I will say that some of my best work at convention experiences happened here. And a "brother" who was a reporter for a local station made me laugh when he scolded a visiting camera man and reporter who worked under him, telling them he'd take up their behavior (which was rude to say the least) back at the station. It is always fun to see a jerk pulled up by his shorts.
I remember my mother always saying that the Army came to one of the Assemblies to observe the way they served food to so many people in so little time, I think she claimed that was published in eiither the Watchtower or Awake, wonder which GB member made up that story ?
Shirley
In that era, i also heard that story. I have no idea if its true, or not. The military has made huge strides forward, in that area, w its mre's. Not so, the wt. The wt has retrogressed in the food services area.
S
