((PKG)) SMALL TOWN THEATERS
((Banner: Small Town Theaters))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Kimball, Nebraska))
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
I'd like to thank everybody for coming today. Without you guys’ support with donations and buying concessions, we wouldn't be able continue to do this. You guys enjoy the movie and hope to see you guys in a few weeks.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Every first and third weekend of each month, we go on, we show a movie. Anybody that wants to watch a movie can come and watch a movie. They don’t have to pay anything. We do have a free will donation box, so if they do want to go and donate, they can. There's a lot of community pride of keeping this theater going. It's all volunteer.
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((Local Resident))
There was like three, four, five years since this place was closed down, and now that it’s back, we are trying to help keep it going.
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((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
This is my third job that doesn’t pay me nothing, basically.
My name is Keith Prunty and I am the mayor for the city of Kimball.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Previous owners, you know, that was their livelihood. They just got to the point where they just couldn't make it. All this equipment is obsolete and unfortunately they closed back in 2010.
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((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
And when it closed, basically, it's like there's a void left in the town. I think everybody felt the same way.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Just like other communities small communities in the United States, we used to have a lot of stuff going on downtown and there's just few and far between. And we just didn't want to go and see another empty building that just somebody would turn into storage.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
I knew that there's people that were interested in doing anything but with the amount of money that it needed to go and partake to be able to be where we are today, not just one individual could do it. We ended up where we formed a board and then in the process, we became a non-profit.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Just got the word out of, hey, we're gonna have a community cleanup day at the theater. Anybody that's interested in wanting to help out, show up at this time.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We're such a small community. Word gets around and everybody was excited about wanting to get the Goodhand theater back going. We have a board of six people that have been committed enough to want to be involved and volunteer regularly to go and help run the theater.
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((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
Oh, I'm just prepping movie posters for our next movie.
Actually, I work behind the scenes, like I do all the accounting, scheduling of the movies, paying all the bills. It's a major commitment to make sure that things run smoothly and how it should be, and you just do it because you want to do it. I guess that's all I can say. It’s one of those things, like if you don't do it, who will. The elves really never show up to do the work anymore.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We've been fortunate enough that we have people go and sponsor the movie. If the movie sponsors aren’t able to come, we have people that have come up to us and volunteered.
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((Local Resident))
Yeah, my brother was here yesterday and he asked me if I want to come and join. I said sure. So, I just came.
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((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
$244.50 for concession sales. So far, we are at about seven hundred fifty dollars for the weekend.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
So, we’re trying to get the funds to be able to purchase a digital projector because currently we can just show movies using a DVD or Blu-ray. A little by little and that's kind of what it takes.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We're very fortunate to be able to have the doors open and be able to show what we show. Some of the little kids have never been to a theater before.
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((Local Resident))
I used to come here as a child. My brother would help me interpret what the movie say. I was excited to see it reopen because there’s just something really fun about being able to take your family and go and sit and watch a movie and be able to have that experience with them.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
It's awesome that a community can come together to get something like this going.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
It’s pretty neat to go and be able to be outside, see this red neon, you know, put a glow on our downtown.
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((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
There's been some other projects that you see stuff start but never get finished. And, you know, you get to what everything that's been done so far. You have a really proud feeling.
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((Pop-Up Banner: After years of decline, small town theaters are making a comeback across America))