“Curtains up!  Light the lights!   ….everything’s coming up roses.”

That song is something the Strand needed to do.   Curtains up!, our valance to be precise.  Back when in August 2008 Beck Studios from Cincinnati donated a grand drape along with a matching valance.   The valance needed resized and Sew-Tec in Shelbyville reworked the fabric complete with using fireproof nomex thread.   Then the valance sat, and sat, and sat.   Seems at though the batten (pipe) that is needed to hang the valance wasn’t supported well enough for the weight of the heavy velvet fabric.   This past month during our heavy maintenance, Gordon H. decided to do something about that.   We have NO idea how he did it, but single-handedly he repaired the batten and hung that valance.   In it worth noting that the valance is suspended 22 feet above the stage!   Next time you are in the theatre, take a look.  For us, we didn’t even hardly notice because it looked like it had been there all the time.  Magical things happen at the Strand all the time.   Just for the record, Gordon isn’t talking.  We still have no idea how he accomplished the task.

Light the lights!   Need to do that too.  Our marquee work was full steam ahead until mother nature chimed in.  As soon as the weather gives us a little break we are poised to finish the job.  Cody V. has taken on the task of installing the sockets for the chase lights.  This must be accomplished before the front panels are installed.  The sockets on the north end are finished.  That translates to roughly 75 done, 219 to go.   Once the lights are installed in the marquee, Steve D. and Darin M. will bring the necessary power to run everything.  The sequencer (the gizmo that allows the lights to chase themselves around) will be programmed and viola!

This weekend will be Divas go to Hollywood.  This is a fundraiser on behalf of the Shelby County Players.  Please come support the SCP.  This is one of two fundraisers the Strand is hosting this month.  On February 20th the Strand will host “Band Together for Haiti”.   This event will benefit the American Red Cross efforts for Haitian relief.  The Strand is proud to be able help these two organizations meet their financial and fundraising goals.

Remember, the Super Bowl warm-up show is at the Strand at 2:00pm on Sunday.  It features “Divas go to Hollywood”.  What a great way to get ready for the big game.  Song and dance are always appropriate!

Soon renovation work will return to the Strand.  We have several things on our list, and it is time to get them done.  Top of the heap will be finishing our offices.  We will let everyone know when we will hold a work session.  It is guaranteed to be fun (and dirty).

We promised a little tech-talk, so here it is; consider yourself warned.   We had a group of volunteers from Wabash College help us clean out the offices.  The junk was taken to a warehouse that allows us to store our various pieces and parts.  The mess was sorted, identified, inventoried and palletized by volunteers Mike and Whitney R. (who unfortunately located to Virginia over the holidays).  They knew what they were looking at and sorted things by type.  This means we had a pallet of projectors, another pallet of lamp housings and so on.   To the Strand’s luck, our friend Ming from Chicago gave us a call.  You might remember his group bought our old junk amplifier (and paid us a nice sum).  Ming was thrilled we had our projection equipment sorted.  He took a look and decided that their were two power supplies that he wanted.  He explained that both units were from the 1940’s.  One was a Westinghouse, the other an RCA.   These items were in our “wait till the weather gets better and we will recycle them pile.”   He bought them for $100 each.   Every little bit helps.  We are pleased not only to sell some equipment that we had thought was junk, but also save some classic sound equipment for a collector that appreciates the technology of the time.   He is going to make a return visit.  I hope he has his shopping list ready.   We still have the attic to clean out.  There are treasures up there.  I know some lucky people will have a great time removing the 5 HP motor generator.   It has a very nice “modern” design, most likely from the 1930’s.   It should only weigh about 250 pounds!

Thank you for your support of the Strand and what we are trying to do for our community.   Because of you the Strand is a success.  Go Colts!