Mount Ayr’s Princess needs your help

To the editor:
The Princess Theater board would like to convey to the community how much we need your help in continuing to keep our theater open and thriving. Since the pandemic, our ticket sales/attendance has not rebounded. We are finding that even very good and promoted movies have not been well attended.

For all movies, most of our admission gate goes back to the movie company, so our concession stand is what helps with our costs. It is getting increasingly harder to pay our bills, pay our staff and keep up the beautiful building. Our digital equipment and marquee on the front of the building is expensive, and like any business, it takes a good amount of cash flow to keep running.

At some point, the marquee will need to be replaced as it has been found to be structurally unsound. While we are trying to maintain solvent operating expenses, the day-to-day operations become the most important focus even though we need a new marquee, too.

The Princess Theater Board urges Ringgold County residents and out-of-county friends of the theater to become a part of the Princess Patron campaign that helps with general operating expenses and special projects. This coming year the board will have several fundraising ideas to help with costs, but the Princess Patron campaign is one in which a lot of people are able to take part. Anyone can be a Princess Patron with any amount of donation. With a $25 donation, you can be a bronze patron, $50 is a silver patron, $100 you would be considered a gold patron, and over $100 is called a platinum patron.

The board will accept any amount of donation no matter how big or small. And the donors’ names reaching bronze level or above will be displayed on the big screen before each movie.

The theater has a tax exempt 501C3 designation, so the theater does have some opportunities with grants and such. The board will be working on applying for several of those. Any donations to the theater can be a tax write off for the donor.
Any board member would gladly take your donation, or they can be mailed to Karen Bender at the Princess Theater.

The following are Princess board members: Martha Landphair, Fay Howie, Shaun Kniep, Kristi Sackett, Deb Lynch, Ron Schafer, Darla Sobotka, Doug Greene and Angi Dodge. Karen Bender is the Princess manager.

We have a wonderful community and without your support, we would no longer be able to provide movies and live entertainment to our fans.
Please help us keep the theater strong and vital.

Angi Dodge,
Princess Theater board member