Enterprise Hometown Improvement
Nestled in the rugged, snowcapped mountains of Wallowa County in Eastern Oregon is a battered, yet sturdy movie house called the OK Theatre.
In business since 1919, the OK has entertained generations of this beautiful ranching and artistic community of nearly 7,000 people and stands alone as the only movie theatre within seventy miles. Perhaps even more important than connecting the citizens of such towns as Enterprise, Joseph, Lostine, Wallowa and Imnaha to the faraway world of Hollywood, the OK serves as the venue for all manner of special events ranging from the annual Soroptimist thrift store's musical extravaganzas to the Missoula Children's Theatre performances that have featured a multitude of local children to slideshows of inspiring journeys, thoughtful plays brought in from Portland and fundraisers for every good thing imaginable. Even a wedding is coming up. This place, the OK Theatre, matters because there's no place like it in the county and few of its kind are even left in the country.
Grooves are worn on the soft wood of the stage from the scooting of chairs as decades of high school band performances have commenced their first notes here. The brass handles on the doors are burnished by the push of small hands anxious to see their favorites over the years whether it was Mickey Mouse or Shirley Temple, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella, ET or Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Old timers who have pretty much kept their weekly movie date for more than forty years can point out the seats where they sat for their first date. Other folks can tell you when they got kicked out for being too noisy at the Sunday matinee or when they cried when Santa showed up at the special Christmas show. And beyond these memories are the faint ghosts of memories of long gone grandparents who told of the days when the railroad brought to the OK minstrel dancers and boxers who circled in a ring on stage. Ushers wore gold-braided uniforms and B movie starlets came out to sunbathe at the lake and open the shows. This place, the OK Theatre, matters because memories are precious and we always need to make more.
Long ago, the OK Theatre opened every day but now it's open just Friday, Saturday and Sunday, because for such a quiet place, Wallowa County thrums with the activity of families, outdoor life and civic commitments. Yet, people like to take time and relax now and then and the OK has always been there for them. Walk in the old art deco lobby and you'll hear neighbors joshing and kids clamoring for candy over the pinging of popcorn in the old poppers. The owners know if you take the local favorite -- brewer's yeast with your popcorn or not and the heady aroma of fresh melted butter wafts with the fresh mountain air as the doors open. This place, the OK Theatre matters because it's a tradition in a place where tradition matters.
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