debmartin

"When I was a child, the year of 1985 Westbury Square had a Halloween costume contest which I won first place as a home made robot. And today I still have the trophy which is what I wanted to share with this forum. Here are two photos of it which I snapped. Yet I wondered if anyone else here has photos from those costume contest or stories about them." (Aland11223) i posted over the summer about my dad's shop in westbury square in the early to late 80's but did not get any feedback, so i'm glad to read about your memory. perhaps you visited our family business, it was called "roy's collector showcase" and was located in the clock tower. i remember the halloween costume contests and each merchant would give candy for trick-or-treat kids in costume of all ages. we also went to plays at company onstage, and my dad was good friends with the owner of cromwells. my dad's store sold comics & cards, and he also had a very large collection of original movie posters and vintage vinyls and 45's. we were in westbury square from '84 to '89, i recall my dad had to leave because the lease went up to unaffordable and he'd come in on a lower 5yr amount when westbury square was being "revitalized". so they ran off good businesses out of greed looking for higher rent and it fell apart (again). what a shame small mom & pop businesses cannot find affordable lease space, but of course walmart sells cards which means my dad's business would be obsolete nowdays. thank you for sharing your westbury square memory and photo!

matt79 wrote: "in the late '80s there was a comic book shop (I think that's what it was) that would give free Garbage Pail Kids cards to kids on Halloween." --------------------------------------------------------------------- yes the comic store "roy's collectors showcase" belonged to my father roy bonario and his partner, randy franklin, a card dealer. my dad would buy, sell & trade comics, carried one of a kind movie posters, all kinds of movie memorabilia and an extensive collection of music from the 20's all the way to the 70's. the westbury square merchants association planned several special events throughout the year, always emphasizing children and family, with good merchant participation. our business handed out the cards and bags of candy to any child wearing a costume. i also kept some face paint crayons in case a child showed up minus a costume so i could offer one in a pinch. kids went from business to business, "trick or treating, it was sad that by then several of the stores were empty, but i recall many happy kids. at christmastime and easter, the westbury square's company onstage would set up plays & programs with the little red school. often these productions would be held outdoors, they were free and almost all served refreshment which made them popular.

a few places from my early days: thornhill cafeteria in palm center, where my dad's record store "harmony hut" was located albrittan's cafeteria sky terrace (sakowitz where my mom worked, we would go as a treat) warwick hotel (few rare dinners with my dad's business associates) youngbloods (fried chicken family place, now aunt beas on the northside) gee's (airline @ crosstimbers, chinese my mom & sibs loved where i could get a cheeseburger & jukeboxes on the table:) princess hamburgers downtown, eat in the car (as a teen drink orange tommy's with my mom) shakey's pizza by northline mall piccadily cafeteria in northline mall windmill dinner theater howard johnson's I45 & crosstimbers (waitressed as a teen, they made saltwater taffy) its now something of a crackhouse monterrey house - they put candy at the bottom of the bowl of chips! antione's on taft santa anita's (downtown, an elderly gentleman served us who also served my parents in the late 50's) gallagher's steakhouse (served great bread & wisconsin cheese spread) mr. bake-a-tater (around the westheimer curve, late 70's) one's a meal (next to river oaks theater) now by katz's deli sam's bbq on airline, late 70's, great food & they sponsored my softball team bennigins (late 80's, my kids loved it, took my son to 59 location every st. patricks on his birthday old san francisco steakhouse on westheimer boston sea party also on westheimer never been here but my parents met at a place called the "buccaneer drive-in, 1955, currently 2016 main residential & sammys my mom had 4 kids in tow & liked cafeteria dining. we also drove to the country to visit my grandparents often down I45 north outside centerville, stopping at stuckeys in conroe, madisonville & centerville. the corral cafe in madisonville was so good my grandparents drove there many sundays from marquez where they lived, a considerable distance!

hey thanks for the westbury square history. my dad had a shop there in the clock tower back in the late 80's. as i recall at that time they were trying to revitalize the square and made him a sweet deal on sqaure footage. i remember the couple from holland, they used to give chocolate bars to my son, who was around 2 at the time. there was a father & son tailor/menswear place called "cromwell's", they customized suits. also the red school, tuesday morning, a community theater and unfortunately quite a bit of empty space. my dad's business was called "collector's showcase, his business was movie memorabilia, original movie posters, lobby cards, stills and rare lp's, 45's & 78's. he shared the space with a card dealer who sold rare and new sports cards and collectibles. unfortunately the square never quite made a comeback at that time and we had to relocate. my dad's original location was the outskirts of the village, bissonnet & greenbriar, i think where "murder by book" later went in.

"Which intersection did this happen at?" (quote, westguy) veterans memorial @ north sam houston tollway deb

just read in the paper that a man selling the houston chronicle was run over at a busy intersection. the chron was careful to call him a "vendor" and emphasize he did not work for the paper, but for a "distributor". they casually mentioned he had a history of homelessness and intervention with a local shelter, basically implying he was a street person. i have heard that these distributors routinely round up vagrants, toss them a blue chron t-shirt and drop them off at a busy corner with a stack of papers. many times i have seen these "vendors" on the 53 bus at westheimer and dairy ashford, where they exchange a paper for a day pass, kick back after a long day and sit at the back of the bus throwing back a few beers. one vendor told me the 53 bus is popular because they can ride down westheimer from west oaks mall into downtown, while getting out of the elements. many of besides the drunks, many of these people are disabled and move slowly, so it's no wonder they could easily get run over. combine these paper sellers with the ones selling candy, flowers, those collecting for "charity" or holding signs for beer, and the ones trying to wash windshields and you've got a crowd, all trying to slow down or stop traffic. i thought mayor white was all about keeping the streets moving, but not only is nothing being done, there are more of these people than ever running in front of and behind cars. i'm always hoping the person in front of me will not stop, but often this is not the case and the entire light is wasted, backing traffic up even more - even in rush hour! i feel this should be banned, not only for traffic efficiency but to save people's lives, like this poor man who was just trying to make a few bucks selling papers. and shame on the chronicle, they know who's on the corner selling papers, people who are desperate, working for beer money without even the benefit of being called a chronicle employee. reminds me of the way BP and the other refinery's hid the accidental deaths from the governmental reports, by having contractors hire them so they would be sub-contracting. awhile back a chron employee was tragically run over on a narrow street, coming home from a church event. they ran stories for days, about how the city neglects to provide sidewalks, etc. i wouldn't hold my breath for any future stories about a vagrant killed on the corner selling papers. do all of houston a favor, DO NOT stop your car for a paper, get one somewhere else. debmartin

"N Judah has a good idea. Could the Dome become our multi-modal transit center?" (quote, subdude) it's too bad if the structure would be inadequate for a transit center, because the location would be ideal. with the light rail connection, amtrak could relocate from the portable building they use as a station, and the greyhound station could be there. commuter rail is always being talked about, and since galveston has announced their new transit center houston should be able to re-establish commuter rail to galveston. if amtrak would get interested in galveston, houston could be the go-between and a hotel might even work for the lay-overs if located within the transit center. the cruise industry is big, and we should be able to make an opportunity there. i guess the problem would be what to do with all the space, and since casino's are not likely anytime soon there would have to be some creative way to fill the space. maybe some kind of museum for sports or historic houston, retail, eateries and other entertainment venues. there's got to be a way to incorporate the history of the "eighth wonder of the world" as a theme. in toronto the air canada center is adjacent to the transit center, so besides the regular daily commuters and tourists there are people streaming in from all over for concerts and events. the powers that be should get creative and be willing to explore ideas that will utilize the space in a way that puts houston back on the map for unique, interesting places. i used to go to the summit all the time for concerts and hockey games, and if anyone had told me it would be turned into a church i would have called them crazy, yet there it is. deb martin

i had my 12th birthday party at farrells in northwest mall. i remember it was a really cool place and they would bring out a trough of a banana split, enough for 10 people to eat! if anyone could eat one alone they would get some kind of prize and all the employees would run out and yell and scream and make noise, but i never saw it happen. i seem to recall a scene in bill & ted's excellent adventure where they took napoleon to a place like that and he won a prize for being a "piggy" while he hogged up the whole dish. i don't know when farrells went out or how many locations they had, but i do have fond memories of the place as my friends and i went there often. the employees wore some kind of uniforms that were white with red stripes, with soda fountain hats and they played some kind of nickelodeon music with a player piano i think. my parents were not really into the whole photo thing so i do not have any pics, but if anyone else does i'd love to see them. deb martin

i sometimes get so frustrated at the various chron reporters that i email them - i also email those who put a story together well. i have nearly a hundred replies from these reporters, everything from "thanks for the feedback" to "mind your own business" - i'm thinking of making a book out of them. yesterday i emailed a reporter covering the senseless shooting of a toddler whose father was a drug dealer - i asked why, if the family was hiding out at the grandparent's home in new caney from a mexican gang did the reporter quote the grandmother by name and disclose where they live. new caney is so small, i'm sure it would be no trouble at all for a gang to discover the whereabouts of this family and finish the job. it would be comical if not for the fact people's lives are at risk. deb martin

"The only new info I got, was that "they" (whoever "they" are) were commisioning a $400K feasability study to see how they can combine bus, light rail, and commuter rail into one facility. ("quote, midtown4.2) what a crock! "they" should write in to our forum and could probably get a free feasibility study. i am constantly amazed at the frivilous spending of bureacracy, how they have to spend money to figure out how to spend money. aren't there already people on the payroll to do this? deb martin

i had a very interesting conversation with greyhound corporate today - a flat denial of any plans to relocate the midtown location. btw they still refer to it as "downtown", and my source tells me that they are pleased with the location being on the rail line. i mentioned the redevelopment of midtown and the obstacle the current location presents, but "that's my story and i'm sticking to it" was the offical reply. i cannot imagine a radio station pulling that out of thin air, but i also cannot think of any reason greyhound would keep it under wraps. i was told that one of the sub-stations was being closed or relocated, so maybe it had something to do with that. sorry to dash the hopes of all who, like myself, would really like to see a greyhound station for houston that at least rivals the ones in other major cities. deb martin

i think you may be right about greenspoint turning around when (if) the light rail is expanded, and that is what residents of the northline area are hoping for as well. i grew up in that area and my parents still live in the same house my grandparents bought back in the early 50's. when i was a kid northline mall was exciting, and when i was a teenager greenspoint mall was even more exciting. but the few restaurants or retail shopping places that were built afterward were substandard and a complete disappointment. pawn shops, dollar stores, auto parts, beer joints, nails and occasionally a liquor store or washateria. never a starbucks, jason's deli, michael's, best buy, lowes, target, petco - i think you get the picture. not that living by any particular retail can make or break your experiences, but after awhile it gets old having to go far away just to get a good cup of coffee. people in the northline area deserve good neighborhood-oriented retail shopping and eateries, i'm just not sure developers believe the area will make a solid comeback. if the rail extension ever becomes a reality, it just might happen. deb martin

"Personally, I especially recall the "seediness" and "danger" around Club SOME on Albany (anyone else remember that place? it rocked!)." (quote, txdave) funny i hadn't thought about emos/club some forever, it's probably been 10 yrs since my friends and i used to go there. we used to park a ways off and walk, and i don't remember being afraid of anyone there, but there sure were a lot of freaks:) deb martin