Theater needs help again

To the editor:
Once again, the Princess Theater board is asking our beloved community to step up and help us.
Last Saturday night our 13-year-old movie projector quit working. We have a contract with Heartland Theater Services, who inspects our projector and performs regular maintenance. We had no idea its life was about over. But Saturday night as we tried to start the movie, the projector wouldn’t work. Our manager called our service contractors, and they remotely looked it over and gave us the grim news. It would take at least $20,000 to fix this one, and then we would still have an old projector, which could take on new problems. So, we can no longer show movies until we either fix this one or purchase a new one.
Some will say why did you spend money on a marquee if you needed a projector? First, we didn’t know we would need a projector. At last inspection, it was in very good condition. Secondly, the marquee was structurally unsound and could have been a safety issue in the near future if it had not been taken down.
The board would like to purchase a new projector. The cost will be $48,886. We know that is a lot of money. We have some grant money and some donations that we can use, but we do not have nearly that much to spend. The board does not want to use all available money as we will need that for operating expenses in the new year. We will be fundraising in February with Family Feud games, and we will be doing some other fundraisers as well. But we know that our community would help us out if they knew we needed the money.
The new projector would be a laser projector which includes an Alchemy server with a three-year warranty. All of the electrical hookups and other connections would be the same so no other work would need to be done to outfit it. It would not have light bulbs on it like the old one, (which for your information, each light bulb costs $1,000).
‘Tis the season for giving, and we are hoping that our patrons and beloved movie-goers will find a donation of any size to help us out. We are certain that we can raise enough money to get our theater going again in just a few weeks….. with your help. We thank you so much for your past donations. This, your community theater, could not and will not exist without your continued efforts. The theater is a 501c3 non-profit organization and all of your donations are tax deductible. Donations can be mailed to the Princess Theater or given to any board member.
Again, from the bottom of our collective movie-loving hearts, the board appreciates all of our patrons and hopes you can help us continue with the great traditions of our unique small- town community theater, which we all enjoy so much.
Sincerely,
Karen Bender, manager and board members Doug Greene, Fay Howie, Shaun Kniep, Deb Lynch, Martha Landphair, Kristi Sackett, Ron Schafer, Darla Sobotka and Angi Dodge