Wild Times at the Palma Ceia

                                                                         

The Palma Ceia Theater in South Tampa led something of a double life. Showing artsy and foreign films on weeknights, on Saturday mornings she let her hair down and catered to the youth of the neighborhood.

 Preteens swarmed the venue, arriving on bicycles or decanted from station wagons by parents happy for a peaceful weekend morning. A seething, noisy line formed down the side of the theater as we waited for the doors to open. A relatively shy child myself, at first, I avoided being a part of this, but by the time I was in sixth or seventh grade, it was obvious that, without the Palma Ceia, my Saturday mornings would be lonely indeed.

So, I accompanied my friends, paid down my dime, bought my popcorn, candy, and soft drink, and picked my way over the sticky floors to a seat (first checking to make sure there was no bubble gum adhering.)

It was a time of revelry for the young audience--two, maybe three cartoons, followed by an installment of a serial (Flash Gordon was my favorite, with the evil Emperor Ming, the feisty Dale Arden, and the spaceships that traveled through the depths of the galaxy, emitting sparks that fell downwards.) The main feature was usually a Western or maybe something with pirates.

Popcorn flew through the air and happy shouts often drowned out the soundtrack.  By the time the feature was over, an intrepid usher might have expelled the worst of the disruptive element. 

The rest of us emerged slowly, sated with popcorn and candy and blinking in the light of a Saturday afternoon, full of further possibilities.