Playland first opened 65 years ago. A family named London were the original owners. Then Daniel and Annette Butler took over. They would partner with Gabe Novelli and Rocko Rosati, the latter the former owner of the Topo Gigio Restaurant in Winnipeg, in a company called Northwest Amusements. The illusion behind the arcade, Playland, the longest-running business in Winnipeg Beach, is that time can actually stand still.

The arcade walls are plastered with iconic posters, everything from a psychedelic Bob Dylan to a Ghostbusters movie poster, from K.C. and the Sunshine Band to cheesecake posters of TV stars from the 1970s such as Adrienne Barbeau, the daughter in Maude.It is still a ‘quarter’ operation,” — you can play pinball and video games, although they make up a small portion of the 70 games in Playland. Most are automated carnival-type games, some dating back 50 years, such as shooting basketballs, bowling or a memory game. You don’t get replays, you get coupons to purchase candy or prizes.

Playland has survived in part because kids don’t have those same electronic gaming centers at the cottage that they have at home. But Playland has also survived because it appeals to people’s memories of their childhoods, as much as it does to a new generation of kids.