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Lakeview’s Alger Theater has been a part of the community for generations
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| H&N photo by Lee Juillerat Charlene Ausnus, left, and Lexy Bednar serve up candy, snacks, popcorn and soft drinks from the Alger Theater’s refreshment stand in Lakeview. The Alger was built in 1940. |
July 1, 2007
It’s Friday night and, just as they did when they were kids, Bob and Ann Crumine are settling in for a night at the movies at Lakeview’s Alger Theater.
Going to the movies is something Bob and Ann ” he’s 36, she’s 33 ” have done since childhood. Tonight they’re continuing the tradition with kids of their own ” their daughter, Tori, 10, and son, Bryce, 7.
“It’s a family thing,” Bob explains, noting they see about one movie a month.
Tonight they’re seeing “Shrek the Third.” A weekend earlier the animated comedy had packed the spacious, pre-cinema movie house for Friday and Saturday night shows and a Sunday family matinee. It’s quieter tonight. Families and groups of teens are scattered about the old-fashioned theater.
Built in 1940, the Alger was definitely old-style, with a 40-foot tall ceiling, art-deco architecture and balcony. Years ago, a stage displaced several rows of seats, but the 3,000 square-foot theater still seats 344.
“There’s a lot of people who have passed through town, visited the theater and told us, ‘Don’t ever get rid of this,’ ” says Susan Samples, who owns the Alger with her husband, Kevin.
The Samples moved to Lakeview from Salt Lake City in 1987. They rented the Alger and the then-Yogurt Station for five years until buying both businesses in 1992.
“We needed two businesses in order to make a living,” Susan explains.
Kevin manages the Main Street eatery, since renamed Burger Queen, while she focuses on the Alger.
“It’s a fun job. You get to watch movies for a living,” she says.
Susan books movies and, until she hired staff earlier this year, sold tickets at the box office and operated the projector.
In years past, the Alger suffered because its former owners were unable to book current movies. Susan has devised agreements that allow the theater to screen new releases, sometimes on the same weekends they open nationally. She’s proud because the theater earlier this summer opened the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“There’s a lot of movies that, if I don’t get them right away, people will go to Klamath Falls or Portland or Bend to see.”
For many years, Norene Alger never had to leave town to see movies, sometimes more than she wanted. Her late husband, Donald R. “Bob” Alger, owned the Alger and Lakeview’s two other theaters.
“I liked a lot of the movies,” says the 81-year-old Norene, who watched when not working as a cashier. “I’d get tired of going to the movies every night.”
Norene grew up in Adel so “I didn’t go very often. I was at the ranch. Transportation was the thing (problem) in those days.”
The Alger family bought the Marius in 1940, the same year they opened the Alger Theater. For a time there were three screens, the Marius, which permanently closed in 1964, and the Circle JM Drive-In, which opened in 1952 and shut down in 1982. The Algers sold the Alger in 1986, ending 56 years of the family business.
“I haven’t seen any movies since we sold the theater,” Norene says.
Lloyd Tatro is probably the person who’s seen the most movies in Lakeview. He was 13 when he took a job at the Marius stacking firewood in the basement for the wood stove, which heated the theater in the winter. He was promoted to a ticket taker and, later, the projection operator.
Tatro left Lakeview for six years while serving in the Army during World War II, but was back in the projection booth soon after he returned.
“I worked at all three theaters off an on,” he says. “In the 1930s and 40s and even the 50s going to movies was one of the main entertainments in Lakeview. It was pretty much a family and social deal. It was a good business. To me it was a fun job.”
Fun, except for the times the old films would burn and require splicing while anxious audiences waited.
“They’d holler and yell and whistle and stuff like that. We’d fix it as quick as possible and get the show going. We had our trials and tribulations,” remembers the 86-year-old Tatro, who retired several years ago. “After being in the theater 65 years, I thought, ‘That’s enough.’ “
In comparison to Tatro, Cathy Chambers and Lorena McLain are neophyte projectionists. They swap jobs at the Alger, moving weekly between the projection booth and ticket window. The Alger underwent a major theater upgrade seven years ago, which Susan Samples says changed the projection system from the old reel-to-reel to a platter, and improved the sound.
“The sound system is much better now,” agrees Bob Crumrine, who especially remembers seeing the original “Star Wars” as a young boy.
His wife, Ann, savors the time she saw “Steel Magnolias.” It was right after volleyball practice at Lakeview High. Her mother, Lucille Rago, retrieved her and they drove directly to the Alger. “She snuck in hot dogs so I had something to eat.”
This night, providing things to eat at the Alger snack bar are Charlene Ausnus and Lexy Bednar.
“It’s a good first time for a lot of kids.” says Samples, who worked in the snack bar at a Utah drive-in as a teenager.
This weekend’s show is “Ocean’s 13,” but upcoming weekends will feature more family movies.
“It seems family oriented movies do better than scary or serious movies,” she explains. “R rated do not do well in this community, so I try to stick with the PG and PG-13 type movies.”
Memorable movies include “Toy Story.”
“One of the funniest. We had people of all ages. It was fun standing out in the lobby when those funny moments would come because the whole theater would just laugh.”
She remembers people leaving the theater teary-eyed after seeing “Titanic.”
“I like movies as just embracing all these moments.”
When “Shrek” ends, the Crumrines and others are mostly smiling as they head home. For Samples, that’s a factor in keeping the Alger open.
“We think it’s just such an asset to this community. We don’t look to closing it or selling it in the near future,” she says.
“In these small town you just have to have a movie theater,” Samples insists. “This has a history, and has a little charm. When I’m in her by myself I’ll think of all the people that have some through here, all the tears, all the laughs.”
- By Lee Juillerat
It’s Friday night and, just as they did when they were kids, Bob and Ann Crumine are settling in for a night at the movies at Lakeview’s Alger Theater.
Going to the movies is something Bob and Ann ” he’s 36, she’s 33 ” have done since childhood. Tonight they’re continuing the tradition with kids of their own ” their daughter, Tori, 10, and son, Bryce, 7.
“It’s a family thing,” Bob explains, noting they see about one movie a month.
Tonight they’re seeing “Shrek the Third.” A weekend earlier the animated comedy had packed the spacious, pre-cinema movie house for Friday and Saturday night shows and a Sunday family matinee. It’s quieter tonight. Families and groups of teens are scattered about the old-fashioned theater.
Built in 1940, the Alger was definitely old-style, with a 40-foot tall ceiling, art-deco architecture and balcony. Years ago, a stage displaced several rows of seats, but the 3,000 square-foot theater still seats 344.
“There’s a lot of people who have passed through town, visited the theater and told us, ‘Don’t ever get rid of this,’ ” says Susan Samples, who owns the Alger with her husband, Kevin.
The Samples moved to Lakeview from Salt Lake City in 1987. They rented the Alger and the then-Yogurt Station for five years until buying both businesses in 1992.
“We needed two businesses in order to make a living,” Susan explains.
Kevin manages the Main Street eatery, since renamed Burger Queen, while she focuses on the Alger.
“It’s a fun job. You get to watch movies for a living,” she says.
Susan books movies and, until she hired staff earlier this year, sold tickets at the box office and operated the projector.
In years past, the Alger suffered because its former owners were unable to book current movies. Susan has devised agreements that allow the theater to screen new releases, sometimes on the same weekends they open nationally. She’s proud because the theater earlier this summer opened the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“There’s a lot of movies that, if I don’t get them right away, people will go to Klamath Falls or Portland or Bend to see.”
For many years, Norene Alger never had to leave town to see movies, sometimes more than she wanted. Her late husband, Donald R. “Bob” Alger, owned the Alger and Lakeview’s two other theaters.
“I liked a lot of the movies,” says the 81-year-old Norene, who watched when not working as a cashier. “I’d get tired of going to the movies every night.”
Norene grew up in Adel so “I didn’t go very often. I was at the ranch. Transportation was the thing (problem) in those days.”
The Alger family bought the Marius in 1940, the same year they opened the Alger Theater. For a time there were three screens, the Marius, which permanently closed in 1964, and the Circle JM Drive-In, which opened in 1952 and shut down in 1982. The Algers sold the Alger in 1986, ending 56 years of the family business.
“I haven’t seen any movies since we sold the theater,” Norene says.
Lloyd Tatro is probably the person who’s seen the most movies in Lakeview. He was 13 when he took a job at the Marius stacking firewood in the basement for the wood stove, which heated the theater in the winter. He was promoted to a ticket taker and, later, the projection operator.
Tatro left Lakeview for six years while serving in the Army during World War II, but was back in the projection booth soon after he returned.
“I worked at all three theaters off an on,” he says. “In the 1930s and 40s and even the 50s going to movies was one of the main entertainments in Lakeview. It was pretty much a family and social deal. It was a good business. To me it was a fun job.”
Fun, except for the times the old films would burn and require splicing while anxious audiences waited.
“They’d holler and yell and whistle and stuff like that. We’d fix it as quick as possible and get the show going. We had our trials and tribulations,” remembers the 86-year-old Tatro, who retired several years ago. “After being in the theater 65 years, I thought, ‘That’s enough.’ “
In comparison to Tatro, Cathy Chambers and Lorena McLain are neophyte projectionists. They swap jobs at the Alger, moving weekly between the projection booth and ticket window. The Alger underwent a major theater upgrade seven years ago, which Susan Samples says changed the projection system from the old reel-to-reel to a platter, and improved the sound.
“The sound system is much better now,” agrees Bob Crumrine, who especially remembers seeing the original “Star Wars” as a young boy.
His wife, Ann, savors the time she saw “Steel Magnolias.” It was right after volleyball practice at Lakeview High. Her mother, Lucille Rago, retrieved her and they drove directly to the Alger. “She snuck in hot dogs so I had something to eat.”
This night, providing things to eat at the Alger snack bar are Charlene Ausnus and Lexy Bednar.
“It’s a good first time for a lot of kids.” says Samples, who worked in the snack bar at a Utah drive-in as a teenager.
This weekend’s show is “Ocean’s 13,” but upcoming weekends will feature more family movies.
“It seems family oriented movies do better than scary or serious movies,” she explains. “R rated do not do well in this community, so I try to stick with the PG and PG-13 type movies.”
Memorable movies include “Toy Story.”
“One of the funniest. We had people of all ages. It was fun standing out in the lobby when those funny moments would come because the whole theater would just laugh.”
She remembers people leaving the theater teary-eyed after seeing “Titanic.”
“I like movies as just embracing all these moments.”
When “Shrek” ends, the Crumrines and others are mostly smiling as they head home. For Samples, that’s a factor in keeping the Alger open.
“We think it’s just such an asset to this community. We don’t look to closing it or selling it in the near future,” she says.
“In these small town you just have to have a movie theater,” Samples insists. “This has a history, and has a little charm. When I’m in her by myself I’ll think of all the people that have some through here, all the tears, all the laughs.”
- By Lee Juillerat
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