FRIENDS ARE CALLING YOO-HOO >> SO THIS WEEK I ATTENDED THE PREMIERE OF TPT'S "REMEMBER THE MAGIC."

EIGHTH FLOOR ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW THAT RAN FROM 1963 TO 2016.

THE MEMORIES FLOODED BACK, AS A KID GOING DOWNTOWN, STANDING IN LINE FOR THREE HOURS TO SIT ON SANTA'S LAP AND THEN WALK THROUGH THE MOST INCREDIBLE DISPLAYS OF MOVING FIGURES MUSIC, LIGHTS, STORYBOOKS COME TO LIFE, CINDERELLA, PETER PAN, HARRY POTTER.

I HAD SEEN ANIMATRONS BEFORE, THERE WAS A RESTAURANT CALLED THE JOLLY TROLL, A BUFFET WITH A FAMILY OF ROBOTIC TROLLS WORKING ON A HOUSE, I SWEAR ONE TROLL POUNDED THE SAME NAIL FOR 20 YEARS.

OH, BUT I LOVED HIM.

POUNDING THAT NAIL WAS HIS JOB.

HE WAS HAPPY, JOLLY EVEN.

THESE DAYS IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE SOMETHING SO SIMPLE COULD ENTERTAIN US BUT IT WAS A WINDOW INTO A MAGICAL WORLD, LIKE A SNOW GLOBE, A CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT OR AUNT CHARLENE'S JELLO HOTDISH, AND IT'S STILL WITH ME.

AS AN ADULT, I WENT TO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN AT DISNEY WORLD WITH MY DAD, A SALESMAN OF HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIAL PAINTS AND PIPES, HE POINTS TO A PARROT ON A PIRATE'S SHOULDER AND SAID "KEV, THAT'S A THREE-PIECE, ENCAPSULATED TRI-CLAMP HYDRAULIC BALL VALVE."

I GO, NO, IT'S NOT, DAD.

IT'S A PARROT DODGING A CANNONBALL.

WE ALSO SAW A ROBOTIC ABRAHAM LINCOLN DELIVERING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS SURROUNDED BY ALL THE PRESIDENTS.

WELL, REAGAN WASN'T WORKING THAT DAY, SO HE SLEPT IN THE CORNER.

BUT AT ONE POINT ABE LEANED ON THE OAK TABL AND IT SNAPPED N HALF.

WE LEARNED LATER HE'D BEEN REPAIRED AND HIS SETTINGS WEREN'T QUITE RIGHT YET.

BUT I THOUGHT, DON'T MESS WITH ABE LINCOLN.

WHEN MARY TYLER MOORE WAS PROCLAIMED OUR MOST FAMOUS MINNESOTAN, IT SEEMED APPROPRIATE THAT OUR MOST FAMOUS CITIZEN WAS A WORK OF FICTION.

BECAUSE GENERALLY WHAT HAPPENED IN MINNESOTA LEFT MINNESOTA.

BUT DAYTON'S EIGHTH FLOOR, THAT WAS OUR OWN, MADE BY INCREDIBLE LOCAL ARTISTS, AND EVERYONE FROM ALL OVER THE STATE CAME LIKE A CIRCLING OF WHO'S WHO IN WHOVILLE.

IN THE TV SHOW ONE OF THE ARTISTS, CONSTANCE CRAWFORD, SAID THAT EACH DIORAMA CONTAINED TWO DISPLAYS, ONE WAS FOR THE PUBLIC AND THE OTHER WAS ONLY VISIBLE TO PEOPLE THAT WERE UNDER THREE FEET TALL.

A SECRET WORLD THAT COULD ONLY BE AVAILABLE TO CHILDREN.