Volunteers are the Real Stars of the Show at Red Oak Grand Theatre
This week we’re featuring the town of Red Oak, Iowa (pop. 5,415) and sharing some of the stories of rural revival happening here! With five retail stores opening up in the past year in and around their historic downtown square and a growing arts scene, plus some incredible historic home renovations, facade improvements, and efforts to welcome even more entrepreneurs, Red Oak is quickly becoming one of Iowa’s hottest destinations — and a great place to work, play, and live. Today’s guest blog post is from Grand Theatre board member Jeanice Lester.
* * *
Hello from Red Oak, Iowa. My name is Jeanice Lester and I am a board member of our local movie theatre, where we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary of being completely run by volunteers!
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Yes, we have a system that runs really well, but as we all say, it takes a village to run our theatre!
We have a large board of directors that govern our everyday operations, and at present we have over 300 volunteers that volunteer to work a show. The volunteers help with selling the tickets and providing the needed help at the concession stand. After the movie, the group helps with clean up. We are open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights with a Sunday matinee, and it takes four volunteers and one board member for each time slot. Our volunteers might not get paid, but they do get a fountain soda, popcorn, and they get to see the movie!
We draw people to our theatre from the entire county and beyond — even from other states. Often we have special showings for organizations, businesses, and school children to name a few. The board is very proud of our $2.00 ticket price and very reasonably-priced concessions. We truly believe we are a little gem in our town.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Four years ago we purchased the building to the west of our building that shares the same wall. We initially purchased the building to protect our own. We are now in the process of having a capital campaign to add a second screen to our theatre. The task is a hefty one, but we are progressing well and hope to be done with the campaign by late spring or early summer.
This fall we completed a goal to provide a beautiful new marquee, as the theatre has been without one for several years. The price tag was large and so was the accomplishment. The community awarded us several grants to complete this project. We are very proud of the marquee and know it adds so much to the beauty of our little town.
Red Oak, Iowa is a beautiful small town and we are proud to be a part of it!
Find out more about the rural revival happening in Red Oak, Iowa here:
EPISODE 73 // DARIC AND JILL O'NEAL OF JMERCANTILE AND ALLEY POYNER MACCHIETTO ARCHITECTURE