Enjoying progress with theater

I want to share how much I enjoy seeing the progress of the reopening of the Village Cinema. My sister, Cecilia, and I subscribe to The Star and enjoy sharing what is happening. My parents, Rod and Anne Hartman, ran the Coulee Dam Theatre when I was growing up. I have such memories of having my parents own the theatre. Some good, some great, and some embarrassing.

We’ll start with the embarrassing. My mom would cruise the aisles with her flashlight, watching for those that were not watching the movie but were choosing to make out with their date. Small town, knew everyone.

My sisters and I would spend our Saturday mornings cleaning the theatre. Yes, it was cleaned regularly but it was our job on Saturday mornings. I believe we were each paid a quarter. The theatre was featuring “Dumbo” and we had promo helium balloons. As I was chasing a helium balloon off the entry roof to the men’s room, while standing on a wicker chair swinging a broom, the chair fell and I landed on my hand, breaking three fingers.  Makes for a great story even today.

My sisters and I would deliver showcards to all the houses in Coulee Dam every two months, putting them behind screen doors or under doormats. Man, it was cold during the winter months. While going through boxes of memorabilia after my parents passed, I found a box that has a copy of each of the flyers with all the movies shown. What a gift!

I remember having a birthday party and we all went to the theatre and saw “Lassie Come Home”.

One morning, while we were cleaning, the theatre went dark and the movie “Oklahoma” began. We were only allowed to watch movies certain nights and we had been in Spokane on our one viewing opportunity of this movie, which we wanted to see, so Dad gave us a private viewing. I remember running up the narrow staircase to the projector room multiple times when the movie “Doctor Zhivago” was showing, asking questions because I didn’t understand what was going on. It was awesome to watch my dad getting one projector ready when the movie reel on the other projector was about to run out so as not to miss a beat. Flawless.

Why am I telling these stories? These are wonderful memories I have of growing up as a child with parents in the movie business. I am so excited that Larry Hernandez is doing what needs to be done to have the Village Cinema come to life again. I am also excited to visit the theatre when I am in town after it is in full swing. I would like to make a donation for the HVAC system. Please let me know how to do this. Better yet, put a plug in The Star (or set up a Go Fund Me) to get this show on the road!

Claudia Hartman Bjorklund

Spokane