Here is some great information from Rachel Goodstein:
Checking the internet for coverage of our kickstarter
campaign I came upon several references in sources I knew about e.g. The
Advance, but I am sending this on to all of you because it illustrates how
the internet and social media expand communication.
A woman who blogs and tweets about movies happened to camp
at Hoeft State Park during her recent vacation. Here is the link to her
post with the archival photos she included and I have copied just the
text below the link.
http://themotionpictures.net/2013/08/28/post-vacation-updates-historic-theaters-blogathons-and-more/
Help save a historic theater!
Kickstarter projects have been all the rage
lately, with mixed reception from the internettin’ public. Kickstarters linked
with the entertainment industry have received a particularly large amount of
flack — “Why are rich actors asking for money when they’ve got enough in their
bank accounts to fund multiple films?”
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of
movie biz crowd-funding, you must admit that every once in a while a very
worthy project comes along. While traveling, I stumbled upon one such project.
One of the cities closest to our campground was
Rogers City, Michigan. It’s a beautiful place, situated directly on the Lake
Huron shoreline. It is possibly most famous for its connection to one of the
Great Lakes’ infamous shipwrecks, the loss of the Carl D. Bradley.
(Sidenote: There is a fantastic documentary, November Requiem, about the
Bradley’s sinking and the aftermath in Rogers City. Even better, if you ever
find yourself in Rogers City, visit the Great Lakes Lore
Maritime Museum. This museum is home to the Carl D. Bradley’s bell,
which was recovered from the wreckage and replaced with a bell engraved with
the names of those who lost their lives.) On a lighter note, Rogers City also
home to the world’s largest limestone quarry!
While exploring Rogers City I fell in love with
their single-screen movie theater. We didn’t catch any films there — there were
none showing last week, as the stage was being used for a community theater
production — but it also doubles as an ice cream shop (which I made great use
of) and a bicycle rental shop!
The Rogers City Theater has been in continuous
operation since 1937, and it’s really the only place to see first-run movies in
the Rogers City area. A passionate and dedicated owner has put a whole lot of
time and money into renovating the theater, restoring some of its original
decor, keeping up with building repairs and installing the technology required
for the theater to serve not just as a movie house, but as a venue for concerts
and stage productions as well.
I love historic theaters and like to give as
much support as possible to the wonderful people who make sure that theaters
like this stay open. Unfortunately, the dream of preserving Rogers City’s gem
of a theater can’t stay alive much longer without the public’s help. With
Hollywood continuing to transition to exclusively digital distribution of new
releases, the Rogers Theater’s projection equipment is becoming obsolete.
…And that’s where your help (and cash) comes in!
The Rogers City Theater’s Kickstarter project has 30 days left. They’re trying
to raise $100,000 and so far have raised a little over $60,000 of that, so
they’re more than half-way to the finish line! If the $100,00 goal is exceeded,
the rest of the money will be used to bring more updates to the theater,
particularly more comfortable seating. I urge you all to donate to this project
and others like it, to keep small, independent theaters alive and well.
To
donate to the Rogers City Theater, visit their
Kickstarter page. (You’ve already seen this link if you follow me on
Twitter, but I can’t share it enough.)
