Frederick Edward "Fred" Deschene

Other Events:

• Business: Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Park Theatre
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-204014
• Occupation: 1921, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; confection store owner

Notes:

Two rather basic second-storey movie houses entertained Preston film fans in the 19-teens. The Bijou was at King and Lowther while the Princess had a brief home in Preston Opera House near Central Park. That last word, Park, introduces the long-running theatre many Preston people recall - the Park Theatre. Thanks to a January 30, 1957, Galt Evening Reporter article dug up for Flash from the Past by Dan Schmalz of City of Cambridge Archives, there are many details available about the Park's early decades. Fred Deschene bought a downtown candy store in 1921 and on King near Argyle erected the town's first purpose-built theatre. During Deschene's two decades running the Park, he introduced talkies to South Waterloo County. After he retired in 1941, the Park was operated by Rosabelle Druckman, Gordon Ringle and Walter Pavik. Theatre Holding Company, managed by Howard Schedewitz, owned the Park in the 1950s when a $30,000 renovation gave the theatre a mammoth curved screen and freshened up the exterior and interior.

mills, r. (2019). Flash From the Past: Hespeler, Preston and Galt's movie palaces \emdash all gone. CambridgeTimes.ca. Retrieved 6 April 2019, from https://www.cambridgetimes.ca/living-story/9269883-flash-from-the-past-hespeler-preston-and-galt-s-movie-palaces-all-gone/?fbclid=iwar2dypzbdoj3tpe2agjfevtwppgp0pajdzem-ffm12kdslvw-qwjdbr98mq#.XKi8yYGdyoQ.facebook

Frederick — Jennie. Jennie was born CA 1890; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Military: WW2
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-204015
• Residence: 1940, Hollywood, Broward, Florida, United States