2025 Summer Update

Hi Everybody! Feel free to read that in a Dr. Nick voice, because that is what I was thinking of when I wrote it. If you don't know who Dr. Nick is...I really don't know what to say to you...

I bet you guys were getting worried that you wouldn't get an update before our first movie event this year, weren't you? You were probably sitting there, eating a sandwich on the toilet, and when you saw this you jumped up, fist pounding the air, shouting, “YES! YEEEESSSSS!” It is okay to be excited, and it is also okay to eat a sandwich on the toilet. Just make sure you wash your hands and pull up your pants before you run into the other room to tell your family about this post.

So, here is the update. I will get the rest of the toilet stuff out of the way first, since we are already on that topic. We do not have working bathrooms yet. Might as well rip that band-aid off right away. We are just as bummed about it as you, but, we will still have the port-a-john like we did last year. I do not recommend eating a sandwich in the port-a-potty. Also on that front, we have a plan to get that issue resolved. Said plan will more than likely involve a fund raiser of one type or another, or perhaps two. I will save those details for a later post, butt please rest assured, we care about you all and your natural human functions. Also, the irony is not lost on me that in 1930 those bathrooms were state of the art and were a bragging point for such a building, considering many people up here still used out-houses...which we are now utilizing...

Everything will be essentially the same as last year; great concessions, great movies, great prices, and cheery smiling faces to exchange witty banter with. The main difference between last year and this year will be that we will not be open every weekend. You are probably sad about that, you wouldn't be human if you weren't. The main reason for this is that we just have too much going on right now. I know that is a lame, vague excuse, but it is also the truth. I could never lie to you guys. Rest assured, we have a plan for this also. This project is a bit too big for us to bite off too much at once, so our plan will take a few years, but at the end of it, we will be open all the time, rain or shine, all year round. For this summer though, we are going to do at least one weekend a month.

One teeny-tiny thing you may notice that has changed a bit from last year is the concessions counter. While it still needs a paint job, we did get it put back together, so it looks far less taken apart than it did last summer. As we keep working on it we will paint it, get the lighting in it rewired, and get new glass put on the counter tops. We had briefly considered just building a new counter, but man, that is the original counter, so for now we just plan on making it perdy again.

The games. We will have all the games on free play all summer, all games besides the claw machine that is. It would be cool of us to put the claw machine on free play too, wouldn't it? We are cool, but not quite that cool. It does only cost a quarter though.

As you may remember from last year, we are selling all the posters we have used outside the theater. Some of them have already been bought, but we do still have some for sale. We do not advertise this anywhere, so it is our little secret, between you and me. Okay, and the other three people who read these blog posts. If you are interested in buying one, just walk up to the counter acting slightly suspicious and ask to see the goods. Or just act normal and ask which posters we have left...I guess that would work too. They are $10, one owner, non-smoker, and always parked inside. Sorry, we do not offer an undercoating package.

Let's see, what else...Doors open 30 minutes before the first showtime, we take cash or card, free refills on popcorn, and I am only slightly less funny in person. I think that about covers everything.

One last thing I wanted to mention. You guys. You are what business nerds would call, “early adopters.” Our theater is what those same nerds would call a “minimum viable product.” A minimum viable product is usually a scraped together, barely working product that is a fuzzy representation of what the product could eventually be. It does the bare minimum necessary to test the product and see who uses it and what works. The early adopters are the people who use that duck-taped-together product, and they like it, might even love it, and they keep using it despite all of its flaws, bugs, and shortcomings. The early adopters are the people who in twenty years will proudly say, “You know that super awesome theater in Escanaba? Yeah, I used to go there before they even had bathrooms!” Without early adopters, things like the Old Michigan Theater wouldn't get anywhere. We know this project is moving slower than everybody would like, but it would never have even gotten this far without you. Basically what I am saying is that you are super awesome, mega-rad cool people, and we appreciate you all more than we can express. Thank you all very much.

That about wraps it up. I am sure I forgot something, and I will remember whatever it is tonight right after I start drifting off into the sweet embrace of sleep. Oh well. Stay safe out there, we will see you at the theater soon.

Cowabunga dudes.