The changing of the times in the Alle-Kiski area has been surreal, with many memories that are golden but not forgotten.

Shopping has changed from the hustle and bustle of the small-town “downtown days.” As a child, making our family trip to the Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney stores in Lower Burrell and going through the shopping avenues of downtown Arnold and New Kensington was enjoyable. Baseball games under the lights at the Twin City baseball field with actual spectators watching were priceless memories for many of us youth in downtown Arnold, as were weekend nights over in Cheswick at the Ches-A-Rena roller skating rink, where many of us met our future spouses.

Riding over the skinny lilac Oakmont bridge to get an old-fashioned banana split at the Dairy Queen by the mini-Oakmont Bowling Lanes and picking up a few dozen chicken wings from the old Crow Bar in downtown Arnold are tasteful memories, with the still open P&M Pizza jam-packed with patrons on any night of the week. I remember weekend trips to the Highlands Mall, where the Miss Queen of the Mall would be crowned with the smell of fresh buttered popcorn in the air.

Change of times are needed in the Alle-Kiski area, but we can still go back in time and remember the beautiful times we had together with our friends and family.

James Illinsky

Springdale

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