18 - Holiday Gift Guide
The Newtown Bee - November 17, 2017
December 17 At Edmond Town Hall—
Holiday Classic To Continue Someday Cinema Series The Someday Cinema Series will feature two screenings on Sunday, December 17, at 4 and 7 pm of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) at Newtown’s historic Edmond Town Hall Theater, 45 Main Street. Tickets are $3, and for those with hearing impairment, the matinee will be captioned. The film’s sponsors, Charles and Kristyn Galda, have been attending the classic films at Edmond Town Hall since the series began, and sponsored Wuthering Heights last year, as a gift to Kristyn for Mother’s Day. It’s a Wonderful Life is one of their family’s favorite films for the holidays. It’s a Wonderful Life is a heart-warming story of a young business man, George Bailey (James Stewart), who is frustrated by his sense of obligation to serve his town and family, yet desperately wants to escape. A careless mistake leads to big trouble when the antagonist financial magnate takes the advantage and threatens to ruin George’s business and possibly send him to jail. Desperate, George contemplates that the world would be better off without him. Fortunately an angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) literally jumps in to show him how things would have turned out if he’d never been born. Since 2014, Newtown Cultural Arts Commission has presented popular films of yesteryear, now called the Someday Cinema Series, coordinated by Jennifer Rogers, a longtime resident of Newtown. “The idea to show some classic films at the Edmond Town Hall Theater had been on my mind since college [late 80s],” said Mrs Rogers. “I would frequent a small theater in Cincinnati, which showed several films a day in repertory on their single screen. The films ranged from vintage classics to B movies to modern second-run films, and the pricing was very low, just like at my hometown theater in Newtown. “I saw Citizen Kane there
A traditional film for the Christmas season, It’s A Wonderful Life will be offered twice at Edmond Town Hall in December. Screenings of Frank Capra’s celebrated fantasy-drama-comedy of 1946, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, will continue the Someday Cinema Series. on reel-to-reel, which was not a great print, but it was powerful,” she continued. “I just couldn’t fathom how it would be affordable to replicate that model here unless the Town Hall changed over to a digital projector. In 2012, Ms Rogers started talking to friends at the town hall about how great it would be to show films from 1939 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Greatest Year in Film, which was approaching in 2014. “I’d heard that distributors were going to stop using reelto-reel, so all theaters were going to have to convert to digital. This was my sign, I thought, so I proposed the concept of a film series to the Board of Managers in 2013 and they accepted,” Mrs Rogers said. A member of Newtown Cultural Arts Commission at the time, Mrs Rogers also presented her idea to that group, and received positive feedback. The key piece that was needed to make the series
successful was to find a sponsor to cover the licensing cost for each film. “The truth is that people want to support this theater, and we have been blessed to have found the sponsors we’ve had, both businesses and residents,” said Mrs Rogers. “One year, all but three films were sponsored by private citizens, which made me realize that the community supported us. There have even been quite a few sponsors who have even repeated their generosity.” Two Judy Garland films bookended the first year, beginning in May 2014 with The Wizard of Oz and ending in December with Babes in Arms. Those who were there will remember the special event for Gone with the Wind, screened in November 2014: enthusiastic audience members dressed in costume and an intermission buffet spread was served in the Alexandria Room. In the succeeding years, films have ranged from the 1931 Dracula, the earliest
offering, to 1992’s My Cousin Vinny. Every decade has been represented, and just about every major star and director has been featured larger than life on the high definition screen of the Edmond Town Hall Theatre. “Not only has it been wonderful to see some of my favorites on screen for the first time,” says Mrs Rogers, “but we’ve had young kids come with their great-grandparents, who remember seeing our oldest films for the first time when they were originally released. We’re bringing generations together, as well as attracting new patrons from outside our local area.” After the success of the first season, the Board of Managers decided to set aside the ticket proceeds from the cinema series for future technology improvements, focusing on the sound system first. This past September, ETH Operations Manager Sheila Torres announced to audiences that, “It’s kind of oldfashioned to save up for
things, but that’s what we did. “Because of the support of our sponsors, we were able to set aside 100 percent of the ticket proceeds to put toward improvements in our theater while concessions proceeds covered our operations expenses. We now have raised enough money to begin improving our sound system, which will be completed soon,” Ms Torres told those gathered for screenings of the 1971 feature Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Since the digital high definition projector replaced the theater’s original reel-toreels, theater improvements have been ongoing. Theater Manager Tom Mahoney described the process of showing the old films as expensive and labor intensive, involving splicing the films together, which came shipped in separate “cans,” then unsplicing them again to ship out. The old projectors had to be monitored carefully, too, in case the film misfed. If that happened, he said, a film could get stuck in one position, and the hot lamp in the projector would melt the film, and could lead to fire. There’s no risk of that now with the digital projector, and the second-run movies actually run off a digital download, so no shipping costs. “We can now show classic films in better condition, many times, than when they were first distributed, especially if we get a restored edition on Blu-ray disc,” says Mrs Rogers. “Restorations not only crisp the images, they restore the contrast and true colors of sets and costumes, and even upgrade the sound recording. The result makes the film look as if it was just created.” Fans of classic, and modern classic, films can follow the Facebook page for Someday Cinema Series, or visit bit.ly/ SomedayCinemaSeries for this season’s details. Those interested in sponsoring a film, or becoming a contributor, are invited to contact Jennifer Rogers at sundaycinemaseries@gmail.com.
Tips To Reduce Holiday Spending, Without Cutting Back On Cheer (StatePoint) — Amid the merriment of the holiday season is a hard reality: nearly six in ten Americans do not have enough savings to afford an unexpected expense like a $500 car repair or $1,000 emergency room bill, according to a bank survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associations International. While 83 percent of US consumers are expected to spend $1,189 this holiday season, an amount equal to or more than they spent last year, there is no reason to enter the new year in bad financial standing if you do some smart planning and spend wisely. Here are some great ways to reduce your seasonal spending, without cutting back on the cheer. Figure out how much you can spend on gifts, decorations, etc. Divide the total amount into a per-gift limit. If it doesn’t add up, cut back the gift list or consider making a baked item
or other homemade gift, or giving a gift certificate for a service you might provide, such as babysitting, car washing, or housecleaning. Shop wisely. Watch for special sale days and coupons. Many online retail sites offer free shipping, discounts, and other promotions during the holiday season. After the holidays, look for deep sales on wrapping paper and greeting cards to save for next year’s celebrations. Spend differently. New ways to pay for items can make the task of budgeting organized and straightforward. Check out specialty e-retailers like Purchasing Power, which is offered by many employers as a voluntary benefit, and gives workers an opportunity to shop for thousands of brand name products they need now, for which they can make manage-
able payments over time through payroll deduction. With no credit checks, hidden fees, or interest, it is a service you may find gives you more flexibility over a traditionally expensive season. “It’s not always possible to pay for big ticket items in-full when you need them, whether you’re buying a tablet for your teenager for the holidays or a family vacation package next summer,” says Elizabeth Halkos, chief operating officer for Purchasing Power, LLC. “We created this solution to empower people to budget more wisely, and buy the things they need, while avoiding penalty fees and ballooning interest associated with other payment options.” Suggest a family gift exchange. Spare the expense and frustration of trying to find gifts for each member of your extended family. Instead, pull names from a hat and find something
special for just one person. For extra fun, play “Secret Santa,” keeping gift-giver identities concealed until the gift exchange. Spend time together. In lieu of gifts, bring everyone together over the holidays. Have a board game night or a day of service, such as serving meals at a shelter. Enjoy the season. There are many ways to celebrate spending little to no money. Curl up for a holiday movie marathon, bake cookies, or look for free holiday concerts in the area. Shopping malls and community centers typically offer a schedule of no-cost holiday entertainment. For a better financial start in the new year, spend wisely this holiday season. Smart budgeting and new payment options can make it easy.