The "A Place That Will Never Be The Same" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Driving North across the river to the south of Lancaster when I passed the old Rebman's Store at 800 S. Queen Street.  I can remember visiting the store many times as a child and also after marrying my wife, Carol, for chocolate treats for our children during special holidays.  I had a good friend, Bobby Rebman whose family owned and operated Rebman's Store for years and years.  I went to Millersville State Teaher's College with Bobby and ate lunch with him on many occasions.  Well, during my last trip past the store I realized that it may be my "very last" trip past the old store since it is being demolished in the near future to make way for a 52-unit apartment building.  Earl Rebman began his candy business in 1909, making candy in his home kitchen for the Easter Bunny to hand out at Easter.  It wasn't until ten years later that he began his retail business when Rebman's sold Christmas merchandise from a wheelbarrow in Lancaster's Penn Square.  The story became a legend in the family as well as the community.  That year Robert Rebman, one of Earl's six sons was born on Christmas Day.  Then in 1924, Earl began selling his candy at Christmas and Easter at his store front at 112 W. King Street at the corner of King and Water streets where the Stevens House apartment building now stands.  He also began his holiday tradition of having a "Moon Room" which would be a darkened room packed with glowing artificial Christmas trees that became a holiday tradition for many Lancaster residents.  Then in 1940, as the business grew, Rebman's became a quirky mainstay of the downtown shopping scene.  In 1954 Earl bought a building at 210 W. King St. which he remodeled into a modern, two-story story.  He sold holiday merchandise, novelties and gifts and began selling Christmas merchandise year-round.  In 1959 he relocated to 800 S. Queen St. which would be the final location of his store.  The "Moon Room" grew in size and was a great holiday tradition for many families to visit.  In 1962 I met Bobby Rebman, Robert's son, for the first time.  He and I were both students at Millersville State Teacher's College in nearby Millersville.  We were both commuters and ate our lunch at an onsite location in Millersville.  Knew as soon as I met him I had another good friend!  We spent many hours together at Millersville as well as getting together on weekends.  It was at that time that I got to know more about his family's candy store.  In 1980 the store began selling not only candy and Christmas decorations, but Halloween costumes and masks.  It was a one-stop location for Halloween trick-or-treaters.  On June of 1984 a five-alarm fire ripped through the store.  Smoke rose above most of the city's South side.  Damage was more than One Million dollars.  Three months later Rebman's opened at 1785 Columbia Ave in the Wheatland Shopping Center.  This location also had it's own Moon Room!  By 1985 the Queen Street store reopened, but a bit smaller.  Eventually, in 2003, Earl Rebman Jr.  announced that the downtown store would close due to a decline in foot traffic downtown.  Two years after that the Columbia Ave. store closed.  On December 28, 2005, Earl Rebman Jr. announced that a buyer had been found for the S. Queen Street store.  A few days ago the announcement was made that a new 52-unit apartment building will be built at the Rebman location.  That triangular spot at the south of Lancaster City will never be the same again.  Perhaps a piece of candy or two might be found during construction, but the triangular spot will never be the same as I remember it from my childhood.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.