Wednesday's Internet Edition, August 27, 2008.
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| TEXAN THEATER RE-OPENING – The Texan Theater will re-open this Friday at 6 p.m. under the ownership of Kari and Michael Carr. The movie will be Kung Fu Panda and the it will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets will be $5 per person and there will be a full concession stand available. Staff Photo |
After the Carrs moved to Hamilton the first time in 2000, Kari worked as manager of Dairy Queen for a year before becoming a part of the Hamil-ton Herald-News team in 2001. Michael, who had served in the United States Marines before coming to Hamilton, worked with his family at Maestro-Gro. When he opted to enter the U.S. Army as an officer, the Carrs had to pack up and leave Hamilton, moving first to Hawaii, and then to Alaska. When Mi-chael finished his service with the Army, the couple decided to move back to Hamilton to raise their children.
Michael spends his days working at Maestro-Gro, where he is in partnership with his brother, Bryan Demasters, and his uncle, Bruce Nickle while Kari has found herself at the theaterpreparing it to open.
It has taken a lot of time, ef-fort, patience and even some tears and sleepless nights, but with the help of a number of people, the day has finally almost arrived.
“Everybody that I have worked with has been great,” Kari said. “Hamilton Floors and More were on time and professional with carpet instal-lation, Goss Painting came in and applied a fresh coat of paint, inside and out, and Jane Crouch at the EDC helped us apply for and receive a grant to refurbish the exterior front of the theaterand was always available with business ideas.”
Besides cleaning, repairing and freshening up the building, which is almost 70 years old, Kari had to learn the mechanics of owning a movie theatre. “Gene Palmer from Gatesville and his family helped me out with learning how to operate the projector,” Kari said. “They also tweaked the sound system and offered to help me change the bulb, which costs more than $1,000, when it goes out.”
The theaterwill open for ticket sales at 6 p.m. this Friday with the movie beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will be a full concession stand with hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, snow cones, pickles and a tempting assort-ment of candy. Admission will be $5 per person. After opening weekend, the Texan will offer two showings on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Next weekend, The Mummy III will be showing as well as Kung Fu Panda.
“I want to invite everyone to come out and enjoy the movie in this great historic building,” Kari said. “My fam-ily and I are excited to be back in Hamilton and glad to have the Texan Theateropen again