A love story returns to Monument Square
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LEWISTOWN - Some love stories begin in castles and kingdoms. Others begin in places so ordinary that no one realizes they are witnessing the start of something extraordinary. The story of Doug Sherlock and Marsha Sherlock began on Monument Square in Lewistown, where a simple date at a local restaurant would become the first chapter of a lifelong romance.
Nearly six decades later, their story feels every bit as enduring as a fairytale.
When Laskaris Restaurant reopened its doors last week, Doug and Marsha made a journey back through time. The Huntingdon couple, married for 57 years, returned to the place where one of their earliest dates unfolded 58 years ago, when they were two young people discovering that they enjoyed being together.
For Doug, stepping through the restaurant’s doors was like opening a well-loved storybook.
"It's still the same when you walked in there," he said.
The booths, the sounds and the atmosphere brought back memories of another era. For a moment, it was easy to picture the glow of downtown evenings from long ago, when young couples gathered around the square and life seemed to move at a gentler pace.
Back then, Marsha was a young woman whose mother would drive her into town to see a movie. Doug worked as an usher at the Miller Cinemas, greeting customers and helping them find their seats. It was there, amid the excitement of weekend films and the bustle of Downtown Lewistown, that the two first met.
"Doug worked at Miller Theater as an usher, that's where I met him," Marsha recalled. "My mother drove me in so I could go to the movies, then we would go to eat around the square."
In those days, downtown offered a collection of favorite gathering places. Corkins Restaurant and the Dianna Shoppe were also fixtures of the square. Young couples lingered on sidewalks, friends met for coffee and neighbors crossed paths throughout the day.
But among all those destinations, one stood above the rest.
"We loved Laskaris," Marsha said.
One of their earliest outings together included a stop at the famous McClure Bean Soup celebration before they made their way to the restaurant.
"The first time we were together anywhere, we went to the McClure Bean Soup, then we went to Laskaris to eat," she said.
Like many young couples, they probably weren’t thinking about the future. They couldn’t possibly have known that the boy from the movie theater and the girl whose mother dropped her off for shows would someday build a life together, raise children and celebrate more than half a century of marriage.
Yet while years passed, the memories remained.
The Sherlocks spent most of their lives in the Belleville area while raising their family. Only six years ago did they move to Huntingdon. Through it all, Laskaris remained part of their shared history, a treasured chapter in the story they had written together.
So, when word spread that the beloved restaurant would reopen, they paid attention.
"We were watching when they were going to be open again," Marsha said. "We said, 'We have to go back. We have to go back to visit them.'"
It wasn’t simply a visit to a restaurant. It was a return to a place where memories lived.
The booths were once again filled with conversation. The smells drifted from the kitchen. Outside, Monument Square remained the heart of downtown, much as it had been when they first walked its sidewalks together.
Then came another touch of nostalgia.
The couple ordered hot dogs and French fries, favorites they have enjoyed for years. Rice pudding was on the menu, too. Neither could remember for certain whether they had shared rice pudding during those early dates, but somehow that detail hardly mattered.
What mattered was being there.
After all, fairytales are not always castles and crowns. Sometimes they are built from ordinary moments repeated over a lifetime. A movie theater usher meets a young woman. They spend evenings walking around the square. They share meals at a local restaurant. The years roll by. Children are raised. Hair turns gray.
And then, one day, the restaurant where it all began opens its doors again.
For Doug and Marsha Sherlock, returning to Laskaris was a reminder that while buildings change hands and businesses come and go, some things endure. Love endures. Memories endure. The places that witness life’s most important moments endure in our hearts.
Fifty-eight years after one of their first dates, they sat together once more in the restaurant they had loved as young sweethearts. The food was delicious, the surroundings familiar and the company perfect.
Like all the best fairytales, the story didn’t end there.
It simply continues.