Mom's Story Part 15

 

We had a little movie house, which was located in the same building as the Old Social Hall and in the same building as our present Theater.  There was a large stove in the southeast corner of the room, and during the winter months it was heated to red hot, those sitting too close were too hot and the rest of the room was too cold.  Every Saturday night there was a show, but I can hardly remember seeing one complete movie without having a break down in the projector or the lights going off.  When the lights went off the entire audience could cry, “Come on, Muder!”  Mr. Muder of Shumway operated the Grist Mill, which furnished the electricity for the area.  Two shows I loved were “Ben Hur” and “Sign of the Cross”. 

 I could imagine myself as the beautiful actress. The movie actors of the day were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  Clark Gable was just becoming popular as was Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy.  I dearly loved Jeannette McDonald and wanted to become a singer just like her. 

Clark Gable

Nelson Eddy and Jeannette McDonald

 

There are two amusing incidents connected with the Show House I’d like to tell.  The seats were folding chairs and of course, the kids all tried to get on the front row.  One night after returning home, Roscoe was not with us, so Mother sent us over to Brother Avery’s to get him to open the Show House.  After turning on the lights we checked every row, and along toward the front we found a little boy stretched out on the floor asleep.  But it was not Roscoe it was Leslie Ballard.  We continued on a few more rows toward the front and we found Roscoe stretched out on the floor asleep.  Two little sleepy boys headed for home in embarrassment.  

The other incident involved my sister Mayola.  She had come home from college with her hair a beautiful red color.  She explained to Mother, who was shocked, that it was just henna and would soon fade.  However, Mother was humiliated and insisted that she wear a hat all during the holidays.  At the Saturday night Show, Mayola took off her hat in the darkened room, but as usual the film broke down and the lights came on.  Someone in the back whispered loudly, “Look! Mayola has dyed her hair.”  Mother indignantly turned and said, “No, it isn’t dyed, it’s just henna-ed!”

This building was used for the movie theater

Snowflake Social Hall today