Here Comes the Sun . . .

The Sun Theatre.

My home town theatre.

Until I was about 20, every movie I ever saw was in this old theatre (pre-videos people), with one exception. Our junior high class went into Lansing to see Earthquake because the theatre there had special "rumble" seats, or something.

The Sun doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside . . . it's a piece of art. It's quite large (or at least always seemed that way to this kid). It had a large stage with old wood floors. Large burgundy velvet curtains hung over the screen. They would be pulled to the sides, and then a drape of thinner material covering the screen was behind those. You could see the cartoons that preceded movies in those days (before trailers) through the opaque sheet, which signaled that it was time to sit down and shut up--then that curtain would be raised.

The movie always cost $1. Every Wednesday the movie changed, so on those nights the line stretched down the block and around the corner. We knew everyone in line.

The Sun also had ushers in burgundy costumes the color of the drapes--suits with little hats. In the summer, free movies were shown daily for all of us kids in town (it was a very small farming community in Michigan). One summer, I went to see a movie there and saw a shocking sight--my 8th grade social studies teacher ushering. I didn't know the sad facts of life then, that teachers were paid less than gas station attendents and had to supplement their pay in the summer.

I have a lot of "firsts" stories that took place in this theatre. I can almost segment my childhood around the movies that played there. And it still stands. It still shows the current releases. And the Wednesday night line still rivals any AMC or Regal Cinema in the "big city."

When I go home this summer, I think I'll take my kids to a movie. :)