Hollywood tells us that the movies are better then ever and the current love affair with Star Wars would seem to bear that out. We have come a long way since 1927 when the first talking picture made its debut with Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. For me, movies were love at first sight. The first motion picture I saw was in the 1940s, before I even started school, although for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it.

Going to a movie in Gimli at that time was an experience. To begin with, it was held in the Parrish Hall, where the kids sat up front on benches and the chairs were reserved for the adults. There was no popcorn because there was no concession stand, although in later years patrons would bring sunflower seeds and spit the shells on the floor – awful mess.  The movie consisted of News of the World and then a short cartoon followed by the main event. Once the movie started there was no talking – possibly because the acoustics in the cavernous hall were very bad. Or more likely, because people were just polite.

The Parrish Hall was an interesting building. It was built by the community in the 1920s and it stood where the Aspire Theatre now stands on Second Avenue. Parrish Halls were the forerunners of Community Centers. Travelling musicians, blood clinics, weddings, funerals, dances, tombolas, and magic shows were just a few of the events hosted there. Of course school plays were all performed there as the Gimli School did not have an auditorium.  Many a successful politician, school teacher, executive farmer, fisherman or just plain John or Jill nervously uttered their first public words on the Parrish Hall stage.

And then there was the movie promoter, Harry Greenberg. Small of stature but big of heart and entrepreneurship, he built a projection booth in a loft over looking the dance hall floor and lined it with tin in case the film caught on fire. My brother and I visited Harry many times before the movie started. My brother was interested in how every thing worked. Not me so much. Harry operated the theatre with his two sisters. He was always able to get first run movies to entertain the district, which was quite a feat. The movies were shipped on the CPR train which arrived promptly at 7:10 and then the movie started at 8:30. The marque changed 3 times a week. The cost was 15 cents. As a Tribune paper boy in the late 40s and early 50s, I would visit with Harry while we waited for the train to arrive. Since, my entire paper route money was spent on the movies, I felt that we were sort of partners in the venture.

It was always Harry’s aim to have a real movie theatre. When his father Jacob's flour mill and Gunnar Johnson's stables, located north of the Parrish Hall, burned to the ground, it was a major loss to the district. The flour mill ground kernels for the local farmers and Gunnar’s stables provided all manners of work horses. But all us kids got over that quickly, since rising from the ashes was Harry’s dream and on January 1, 1947, the Gimli Theatre showed its first moving picture in its own building. I was there. Of course. Harry passed to his just reward in 1962, but thanks to his vision and enterprising soul, his movie theatre still stands on the same spot, entertaining movie goers with the latest blockbuster. Now playing – Star Wars.

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January 2016