The Jewel Theatre celebrated its first anniversary after changing ownership on Friday, Nov. 20 by running two shows of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part II, where moviegoers had refreshments included with their tickets.
Speaking of the milestone, owner Byron Geddes, who was recently awarded the "Small Business of the Year" award at the Stettler Awards Gala 2015 in October, said, "It's hard to believe it's been a year already. Everyone at the theatre has worked very hard over the past year and to get this far and have this success, (it) has been amazing."
"We had 300 very satisfied and happy patrons on Friday night, and a lot of the people congratulated us, expressing their gratitude about the facility," said Geddes. "We heard a lot of positive comments about how the theatre has been turned around, regarding, cleanliness, hospitality, organization and how happy the community was with the set-up and atmosphere."
Geddes added, "Overall everyone was very pleased with what they received for their ticket and we are very grateful that we live in such a great community as Stettler."
According to Geddes, his team had hoped to rebuild a customer base and gain Stettler's trust when they took over.
"Our vision is a community-oriented theatre where we can provide many special events, birthday parties, and concerts," said Geddes. "Our first year has been a successful blueprint where we can learn from these events to help us build and grow, and we will continue making the moviegoer's experience a happy and satisfying one."
Moving forward, Geddes wishes to pay attention to his customers.
"We are upgrading the sound system as well as streamlining the ticket and concession experience, besides working with a local electrical company to help upgrade the electrical, so we might bring in bigger bands and take advantage of our new stage," added Geddes. "Although the local oil economy is in a world of hurt, in this current recession we have done everything we can to get the customers through the door and stay in Stettler to not only come to the movie
theatre, but also to support other local businesses for their shopping needs, as opposed to going to the city."