Like in many places, going out to the movies disappeared here for awhile. Honesdale's grand, Main Street portal to the celluloid frontier was disassembled years ago. The pieces were spread out among movie rental shops and home theater systems, while the site itself became a gas station convenience mart. Eventually, a local mini-plex brought the silver screen back to the outskirts of town. The inherently local connection to movies in the heart of our community, however, was lost.
There's a lot to be said for a movie theater on your Main Street.
In some cases, it's a testament to legacy preservation. Old town theaters were 'the' source of entertainment at one time. To keep a theater standing through the generation of investment and engagement that favored highways and spreading out over town centers and focusing on what you've got takes commitment.
In some cases, it's a testament to perseverance. There are likely as many, if not more ways to enjoy cinematic creations than there are theaters in any given, regional geography. To keep a theater operational through the generation of home and mobile entertainment takes even more commitment and passion.
Choosing to go out the movies is choosing to connect with the universe through the creative use of lights and sound, alongside your friends and neighbors. This involves an openness to explore and share with a group and this involves the focused attention we're easily distracted away from at home. These are the seeds of community engagement being germinated. Germination by active participation, rooted in choosing to do something more involved and demanding of yourself than other options.
What if we recreated our community's culture of cinema by rebuilding our downtown movie-going infrastructure? A special movie event here... a showing of something unique there... an annual film festival a few blocks in that direction... What if we collected the pieces spread out years ago and reassembled them into something new that's reminiscent of something old?
What might that look like within our local landscape? We've got some ideas. Where could that lead? We'd like to find out by activating some nooks and projection-lighting up the alleyways of the ol' 18431.
