There are two sides to the Rio Theater dilemma, which we report on page 1 in today’s newspaper.
Mike Kinney wants the community to help him buy a new digital projector for the Rio Theater.
He then wants to sell the the movie house and retire.
The new projector is a matter of life and death for the Rio. Without it, the theater soon won’t be able to show any new films.
As we explain in our report, the entire industry is going digital. If he doesn’t get the equipment, Kinney probably won’t be able to sell the Rio, at least not for a price he’d like.
If he does get the equipment, he stands a chance of selling it.
Looking at it one way, yes, Kinney and his family have a lot riding on this, and it’s going to cost $40,000.
The Rio is a private, family-owned business. It’s in his and his family’s interests to solve this problem. As any business person knows, as a member of the private sector, solving these problems is part of the challenge of doing business. It’s part of the risk all self-employed people take.
Along those same lines, it’s not hard to see some potential red flags. Members of the community could hand Kinney a pile of cash, and, failing to raise enough cash to actually buy the projector, what’s to stop him from just sticking it in his pocket and walk away – other than his integrity?
We can think of all kinds of reasons not to donate to the projector, and so can you.
Perhaps he should have planned better. Anyone who’s paid any attention to the industry has seen this thing coming for years. Then again, changing technology is a problem for a lot of our livelihoods. It costs money, and it’s not easy. It hasn’t been easy in the newspaper industry as we work to develop new ideas and systems because the old ones just don’t work as well as they could.
But now that we’ve said all that, let’s talk about something else: Why supporting the Rio is a good move.
First off, and it may just a silly little point of community pride, Lebanon managed to do it for the Kuhn Theater – in a single month last spring. Yes, that community is bigger, but we’re better when it comes to volunteerism and helping our friends in the community.
Many folks in this community take pride in that down-home value where neighbors help neighbors.
We take some pride in that too, although footing the bill for another business might be stretching that concept a bit. Still, Lebanon did it.
More importantly, if we don’t keep the Rio alive, we’ll have to collect our families and drive back to the valley after a long day at work – possibly right back where we came from, which would be a real waste of fuel and money, and we’d have to pay a lot more to see films we could watch here.
It’s not just the price of a ticket either. Popcorn and soda are actually almost affordable at the Rio compared to the absolutely ludicrous prices set by chain movie houses.
The only reason we miss movies we want to see here is because we’re too busy to get by during the weekend. When we are here, we love catching the latest here, and the Rio’s movies are the ones we generally prefer to see anyway.
We’d like to keep this activity in town. With Sweet Home Lanes gone, we don’t have much left that isn’t outdoor recreation or stuffing our faces.
Kinney intends to make this happen regardless of whether he can raise enough cash this month, but he says he cannot afford the payments. He could charge even more for tickets (already $1 per $6 ticket goes to the projector) to cover that payment, and then people will grouch about the prices even when it’s still a really good deal. He’s not going there.
Once he’s made that purchase, anyone concerned about a private business pocketing donations can probably stop worrying. The business will be committed, and we’ll report on it as soon as the Rio installs the new gear.
Donating to the Rio isn’t really going to cost any of us that much if enough of us contribute. To put it in perspective, if families within the city limits were to donate $5 for each member of the family, Sweet Home raises $45,000. That doesn’t even count the population in the rest of School District 55.
The Rio is offering some pretty good incentives for donating. The Kinneys are not asking us to give up something for nothing – or just to support some fuzzy notion that we need to keep this entertainment around. They’re providing concrete incentives.
For a family of four at $6 per ticket, it costs $24 to see a movie. The Rio is offering passes for a family of four with donations of $25. Larger donations included larger incentives. Honestly, we don’t see how that even pencils out for the Rio. The price of a ticket’s still got to pay the bills. That shows an awful lot of interest in making it worth our while.
Many of us have a stake in the Rio. We usually cover that stake when we buy tickets, and that cost is low. This is a special situation. Let’s help the Kinney family out.
You can donate at sweethomerio.com using PayPal to take advantage of the incentives or you can donate directly to the Rio Theater at any Key Bank.