SOLOMON VALLEY CINEMA PART THREE; STARTING STRONG AND CREATING A LEGACY

Starting Strong and Creating a Legacy

By Terry Bailey

Good people and pride. When asked why a small theater in a small town with a limited clientele base is still operating twenty years after opening, current Board president Kelly Peters said the key to the theater’s success was simply the involvement of good people and pride from the very beginning.

A big factor in the theater’s success according to Peters, is that the Solomon Valley Cinema filled a need. People, young and old, enjoy attending movies. They want to walk into a theater that is clean, modern, and well maintained. They want to watch current movies while sitting in comfortable seats. In the early 1990s such a theater was not operating in Beloit. When the Solomon Valley Cinema emerged in the minds of the planners, it was a case of the perfect solution to a long standing need.

Peters’ association with theaters goes back to her high school days when she worked at the Main Street Theater. As one of the original volunteers, she was at the Solomon Valley Cinema from the beginning as a projectionist and as a concession stand volunteer. Peters said that for at least the first year the theater was operated totally by volunteers. As finances stabilized, Josh Highland became their first paid employee. Peters became the first paid manager of the theater in 1998. She continued in that position for the next nine years before stepping aside.

The Pride factor has always been central to the success of the theater. The original Board members were a very diverse group but each of them took pride in using the skill set they possessed. The phrase, “Oh, that’s probably good enough” was never uttered by that group, nor any group since. The phrase, “Yes, that’s the best we can do” would be heard often. Peters observed that new folks serving on the board pick up that attitude right away. She said, “The pride factor has been passed down from board member to board member over the years.”

At first we had a few local folks who were negative about the idea of a community theater. Fortunately they were not on the Board or in the group working to get it done. Some said there weren’t enough people in the area to support a theater let along a two-screen theater. Some people said with all the new technology available, people would find their entertainment with technology. Some people said the theater would go broke before a year had passed. Hopefully those who said “it could not be done” have come to terms with the fact that twenty years have passed and there are shows seven nights a week.

Many small town theaters operate on a weekend-only basis with movies being shown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In Beloit, you have your choice of two movies every night of the week. Peters explained, “From the very beginning the vision was to have movies every night of the week. Many people can’t get here on the weekend and we wanted to have the theater open so that if people wanted to see a movie, one would be available.”

She noted that the patrons take pride in the theater. People pick up their trash and treat the facility respectfully. This means that vandalism, excessive debris on the floor and just generally not treating the theater with respect happens very rarely. Anything will last longer when it is well maintained.

Peters believes the non-profit foundation has been critical to the Cinema’s continuing success. The focus of the Board of Directors is to operate a theater that meets the needs of our viewing public. Making a profit is not a great consideration. Running a good theater is a high priority. Peters said, “Making money doesn’t drive our operation but because it is so well run, we end up making money. It has been that way from day one.”

Ongoing attention to modernization and updating of the equipment has been costly, but has proven to be beneficial. “It is important not to get behind with having state-of-the art equipment,” said Peters. “We have tried to stay ahead of the game so that people can have the same experience here as they would in the city. If we don’t, they may go to the city to see movies. That is not a trend we want to get started.”

Peters did want to take note of the great success she had with high school kids who worked at the theater. “It’s the pride thing again,” she said. “The kids have always took pride in their work at the theater. It seems like we have always had great kids.”

“This is our theater. It is not just Beloit’s theater. It belongs to the Solomon Valley as the name indicates. Many, many, many people had a hand in getting it started and making it a success year after year. It doesn’t belong to anybody; it belongs to everybody. There aren’t many people around who didn’t have a hand in this project one way or the other. And since it is ours, we take care of it.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA