Without the Pixy Theater I wouldn't be here.

In 1943 my mother, Marjorie Robertson, had taken her 12-year-old sister, Betty Lou, and her friend Phyllis to the movies at the Pixy. (Young girls weren't allowed to go out by themselves then since there were all those Army guys from the Camp Atterbury in town!) My mother was about 19 then.

My dad, Jakie Knicely, and his friend, Jim, were at the movies. My dad offered to buy Betty Lou a bag of popcorn if she gave him my mother's phone number. She did, he called, they married...and 9 months and 3 weeks later I was born.

This picture was taken on February 9, 1944, my dad's 24th birthday, in Edinburg. They were married 6 days earlier in Columbia, SC. They were home on a 30-day leave.

Donna Knicely - Richmond, Virginia