‘Wonderland Day at the Cove’ Aug. 7

Published 2:24 pm Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Remember Wonderland discount department stores in Dowagiac and Niles?

They remember you — especially if you worked there.

That’s why retired retailer Sandy Friedman is sponsoring the first “Wonderland Night at the Cove” on Aug. 7.

Moore Theatres kept the name alive for Wonderland Cinema, 402 N. Front St.

“We had wonderful people work for us up there,” Shaw Friedman said Tuesday from LaPorte, Ind.

Friedman said his father, now 83 and living in Michigan City, Ind., “always loved baseball” and had been a bat boy for the Cleveland Indians as a youth.

Former employees of Wonderland, which operated from the 1960s until 1990, are invited along with a guest to a suite at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend as the Silver Hawks take on the Fort Wayne Tin Caps.

The Silver Hawks are a minor-league affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks.

Wonderland stores operated in LaPorte, Michigan City and South Haven as well as Niles and Dowagiac.

Tickets, a souvenir hat, food and refreshments are complimentary.

Friedman said this is the “first time out of the gate. Many are retired at this point, so we wanted to reach out.”

Anyone who worked at Wonderland is invited to come and bring a guest.

Call (219) 326-1264 to RSVP for Wonderland Night at the Cove.