I was in Central PA yesterday to see my parents. They live in Lewisburg, but I thought we could stop off in Watsontown to look at the Theatre. If you happened to see a fella standing in the rain counting lightbulbs on the marquee yesterday, that was me.
I have to say, the Watson Theatre looks amazing. It really does. It looks absolutely incredible. It needs some work, definitely. I think the whole marquee will need to be replaced (it’s old wood, man.) and it’ll need to get that door to the Cinema Scoops torn off and replaced with a plate glass window. But that’s cosmetic stuff and stuff that can wait. All in all, that damn place looked amazing and I can’t wait to raise the money to buy it.
But then I noticed something else. It wasn’t the theatre. The theatre, like it’s first incarnation, was a gem. What I noticed was the town.
Make no mistake, I hold fond nostalgic memories of Watsontown and Lord knows I’ve been accused on several occasions of looking at it through rose colored glasses. I remember Levan’s and the Pro Hardware and the Watson Inn and the pool and the park and the towpath and Elm Street and even that teepee that’s back in the woods across 405 from the elementary school. Is that even still there?
First thing I noticed was that Ruch’s Tae Kwon Do was for sale. Empty, boarded up and for sale. Then I noticed that the Hardware store hasn’t updated itself in twenty years. I saw that the grocery store and the Ciro’s and the Watson Inn are gorgeous new buildings and that…Oh, bollocks, what’s the name of the place on Brimmer and Main? Oh, it’s killing me that I can’t remember, but that place looks incredible. The pub. Better than I remembered it. But the rest of the town, God, I can’t help but see exactly who the recession is hitting and dammit all to hell, that sucks. The gas station by the pool is closed and gutted. The pool, not only is it closed, it’s a goddamn yard now. Who seriously thought that was a good idea? Whoever that was, they need to be voted out of office and banned from community politics forever. Also, government funded grafiti on the sidewalks telling me I wasn’t allowed to ride my bike, skateboard or anything else? I was a little nervous walking, for fear of getting a ticket. I can’t even tell you how many places I saw closed and for rent. It really made me sad.
I was talking with my fiancee on the way home and we realized that Karen Bottorf, State Farm Insurance Saleswoman Extraordinaire, was right. In an email to me, she said, “No one in town wants to see the theatre closed for good, but no one wants to put up their own money for a losing proposition.” And hell’s horses, there’s no investor on earth that would help on this. It’s completely pie in the sky. She’s right. And what I’ve noticed is that people over 35 are telling me not to do this and people 35 and under and telling me do it. I’m also hearing that the people in charge on the borough council are the folks responsible for all this stuff. So, my question to you is, why are they still in charge? If they’ve screwed the proverbial pooch, why do you let them keep humping away?
Basically, as I see it the theatre is the goal at the end of the road. That’s what we want to open up again, yes? But we can’t get folks to go to the theatre, if folks can’t afford to go to the theatre. And folks can’t afford to go to the theatre until there’s something thriving again. No town, no theatre.
So here’s my new plan. And I need your help.
First, I’m starting a Discussion on the Facebook page to try to figure out what we can do to bring industry to Watsontown. Right now, let’s talk about hypotheticals. Who would you want to come in? What sorts of things are you, as an individual, able to do? What was your job? What IS your job? What would you do if you have a million dollars? Ideal stuff. Then we work from there.
Second, I need you guys to put pressure on the borough council and everyone over at the borough building. I’m a punkass kid from New York City, looking to change that town. They don’t want to hear from me. I’m a jerk. I’m an outsider and nobody trusts outsiders. But if they think they might get voted out of office if they don’t change some things, well, I think that might help considerably. I’m going to need everyone who believes in this to get on the horn to the borough building and tell them, no, demand that they revoke the statutes about no skateboarding, biking, scooting, etc on the sidewalks. Don’t threaten them. Just say, “Hey, dude. This is stupid. I know you want to protect the sidewalks, but let’s face it, that sidewalk on Main Street is a little crummy. You aren’t protecting anything. Let our kids on the sidewalks.” Honest to God, it’s no big deal. You know how many kids in New York City scoot around here? TONS. Our sidewalks are just fine. Point out to them that they’re being silly. That can be the first thing you want to get changed. We can work on others later. That just seems to be the most ridiculous and obvious thing to tackle.
Third, and this is after we’ve figured out what we want for Watsontown, we start a petition. We pass it out and we take it to the borough, the state legislature and the federal legislature (start small, go big). We need to demand that they entice industry back to Watsontown with tax breaks, attractive leases and whatever else it is that business like.
Fourth, well, I need someone to head this up. I’m not there and I don’t know who’s running things there. I have the gumption and the enthusiasm and the optimism to do this, but I can’t actually be there. So how about I act as “executive producer?” I need my “director,” someone there who is there, is in touch with everyone, and honestly believes that we can make a Mayberry out of Watsontown and can whip the town into an absolute frenzy Want the job? Email me: thewatsontheatre@gmail.com (I’ll be honest, it’s unpaid)
Meanwhile, I’m going to get in touch with a couple of folks. Not the least of which is a guy that I’ve been putting off calling because of, you know, life. I’m going to call the Realtor and the Bank that is holding the theatre and I’m going to try to talk to them about the price. Then we’ll sit on that for a bit, until we see what other progress is being made with the town.
Pass this blog along to eevryone you know. Email, Twitter, Facebook, anything. Let’s change our slogan from Save the Watson Theatre to something more appropriate:
Save the Watsontown.
*UPDATE!* Tam Chomas wrote to email me and let me know that the Hardware store DID do a ton of rennovations. I’m sorry hardware guys! I don’t think I could see it for all the rain! She also hooked me up with a bunch of names to contact and the name of the place that I couldn’t remember: Mansion House! Let me say this, that I’m not intending to insult folks here by saying things aren’t great. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone. And if I missed something in my brief visit, shoot me an email. Those of you keeping things ship shape, you guys rock. Let’s make everything else look that good, huh? (Dr. Chomas, Tam’s husband, filled my first cavity. Mad props.) She also is letting me know about how and why some of these policies are in place. Which is good to understand. Ok. time for dinner. Peace out, folks.
Tags: boroughcouncils, email, filmfestival, films, history, karenbottorf, Main Street, money, non-profit, politics, Save the Watson Theatre, small towns, statefarminsurance, theatre, theatres, unemployment, vintage, Watson Theatre, watsontheatre, watsontown, watsontownpool
My husband is entirely too busy to comment but I am not so here goes I was born and raised in Watsontown. I like to say that I have “deep roots.” My father was born in a house on 8th St., the same house where my mother died and is currently the home of my son and his family. My husband and I chose to live here, work here, and it is where we raised our family. My husband is a retired educator, having work for the WRSD for 20+ years. He is currently the Mayor of Watsontown. He has been called by some a great “ambassador for Watsontown.” He takes pride in his community. He is currently working to renovate a house that sits right in the middle of Watsontown’s business district. Any time of the day or night you can drive by and see him working on it. Our house on Ash St. was listed as “delipadated” on the tax rolls in 1977 when we bought it.
It is now a beatiful home. The point I’m trying to make here is that if you want to change something you need to work at it. You don’t set up a website and then rant about all that is wrong with Watsontown just because people didn’t buy in to your pipe dream of saving the Watson Theater. A wise man once said “you get more flies with honey than you do vinegar.” The Mayor and all those who serve on Watsontown Borough Council are VOLUNTEERS. They’re not in it for the glory and they’re sure not in it for the pay. They love their community and they are willing to give of their time and talents to make it a place other people would want to live. So it’s good that you have a dream, but first you need a plan, and alienating the hard-working volunteers of this borough is one surefire way for your dream to go up in smoke.
Becky Hontz – The Mayor’s Wife