Volume 8 , Issue 47

Thanks For the Memories

"For those of you who don't know MY history, 'Pug' Hawkins was my second boss at the Ritz and Britton Theatres in Britton, Oklahoma. I'd been hired by Ed Asher who was a deacon in our church and also the manager (at that time) of the local theatres. When we were told that our theatre manager was moving to another town (within the theatre chain), we were also informed that he'd be replaced by a manager by the name of Homer Hawkins, but that he was known mostly by his nickname 'Pug' which was short for 'pugilist' because he'd been a boxer while in the service during WWII (in the tank corps serving in Europe).

'Pug' is still a close friend and we reconnected a couple of years ago when he found a posting of mine (concerning the death of one of the theatre owners) on the internet. Neither of us knew that the other had remained in 'show-biz' all those years. He's come to Perry a couple of times since then to visit. We both have fond memories of Britton. 'Pug' got his start in movie theatres in his home town of Atoka and now lives in Lindsay, Oklahoma (where my dad and his twin brother had been born).

I'm including a photo here that I took many years ago of Pug in the projection booth at the Ritz Theatre. It's followed by a picture I took of the front of Ritz Theatre about the same time, and then I've included an article that appeared in Boxoffice magazine after I moved to Perry. Many good memories here." -- Roy K.
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