Baudette Theater could be open September 1st

Ken Johnston
Editor

The Baudette Community Foundation is grateful to the community (which includes towns on both sides of the border) for its fabulous support.

At a meeting on May 14, 2001 the Baudette Community Foundation approved plans for construction of a movie theater in downtown Baudette beginning June 4, 2001. Although there are no guarantees that the theater will be operating on Sept. 1, 2001 that is the target date for the first movie.

Yes, that is correct, September 1st.

Bids for the theater and all the equipment necessary to run the theater came in at $340,000. This is much less than expected. We now have $153,956.82 in the three Baudette banks. The Wells Fargo Foundation recently donated $16,000 for the movie theater. Wells Fargo also gave a generous donation last year, and they are also donating the land for the theater. Sherry Valley and the Wells Fargo employees deserve special recognition for their tremendous efforts in making a theater in downtown Baudette a reality.

Without mentioning names, we want you to know that some local women told the men that they would help design the theater. Evidently they were worried that the color scheme would not be right. They were correct.

They did help design the theater, and it will be a nice looking theater. It will have a white brick front with a blue marquee (with white letters). The sides will be gray. There will be 150 "rocker" seats with cup holders. It will have Dolby Surround Sound, which is evidently what we need. For those of us who are hearing impaired, there will be wireless headsets. This is going to be a first class operation.

If you suspect that we can now relax in our fundraising efforts, you are wrong. With a big push in fundraising this summer we might not have to borrow any money from the local banks (remember we have a $165,000 loan from Catholic Health Initiatives). The Foundation would also like to have some operating capital to start the business. Therefore, we will continue to raise funds for the theater. People have been great about bringing their cans to the trailer by the theater property and for donating their cans at the recycling center. Please continue to donate your cans. Also, please donate to organizations helping to raise funds for the theater. The more we have, the less we borrow.

There will be a fish fry on June 2nd on main street in front of the American Legion as part of the Walleye Days festival. Please plan to come to this fish fry to help build the theater. We could use some volunteers to help with this fish fry. If you can help, please call Karoline at 634-3140 during the day. Volunteers will also be needed for July 4th when there will be a dunk tank, cakewalks and a food stand all raising funds for the theater.

Bill Mouw has worked hard on another raffle. The draw will be August 19th at the Lake of the Woods County Fair. First prize is an Arctic Cat four wheeler and aluminum trailer. Second prize is a fishing trip for two with local professional fisherman Brian Ney. Third through fifth prizes are Gary Sorrels prints. All proceeds from the raffle will go to the new Grand Theater. Raffle tickets are available at local businesses.

Community support for the theater has been phenomenal, and that is why we are getting a theater. However, we need a final push so that we do not need to borrow money from the local banks. Please continue to support the theater. Yes, we will see you at the movies this year in downtown Baudette!