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First municipal building auditorium movie in decades a success

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  — The first movie shown in the Colfax Municipal Building auditorium after a decades-long hiatus was a success.

The holiday classic, “Elf,” shown by the Colfax Commercial Club on December 20, played to a full house.

The municipal building auditorium seats a little over 200 on the main floor with room for a few more in the balcony.

There were mothers and fathers, both couples and single parents, with two and three and four children.

There were grandmothers and grandfathers with grandchildren.

There were younger couples.

There were older couples.

There were people who said they used to watch movies in the auditorium when they were kids and wanted to see another movie in Colfax.

Some people said they were happy to see the municipal building auditorium being used again for a community event.

Some people said they hoped this would not be the only movie shown in the auditorium.

Several people asked if there were plans to show other movies.

Kara Zutter’s Computer Applications class at Colfax High School put together a DVD that highlighted the businesses that helped sponsor the movie.

The movie was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., and people started showing up at 6 p.m.

The DVD about the businesses began playing at around 6:15 p.m. and continued until the movie started.

The popcorn maker made almost 40 batches of popcorn.

After everyone had left the auditorium when the movie was finished, two bags of popcorn remained.

Movie-goers were impressed that they actually got tickets to the movie — and were surprised to learn that local businesses had put coupons on the back.

One couple who had brought their children said they had watched “Elf” on television the night before but wanted to see it on the big screen in the auditorium.

Members of the Municipal Building Restoration Group worked long and hard over many years to upgrade the electrical system, to paint the auditorium with its original colors, to clean the stage curtains and have them hung up again, to arrange for the floor to be sanded and resealed and to have the theater seats bolted down.

CMBRG also worked hard to decorate the auditorium for Christmas with decorations in the window sills, decorations at the back of the theater, and a decorated Christmas tree at the front of the auditorium that stayed lit during the movie.

When the final credits rolled across the screen, movie-goers engaged in a round of spontaneous applause.

Many years ago, movies were regularly shown in the municipal building auditorium in a venue known as the Cozy Theater.