Did you have a nice July 4th weekend?   We did.   The break was pleasant, but so much for sitting around, we are back and ready to go.   The weekend wasn’t without its Strand surprises.   Ice has become a big issue for us.  Our Fountain Coke Machine must be cool in order to work.  It uses about 24 pounds of ice to cool it down.  That doesn’t include the ice we dispense.   First we were given an old ice maker.   Bob S. took it to his shop to see what we had.  The verdict was it was perfectly usable…with about $800 of repairs.   This weekend Michelle & Gary N. found a solution.   We were able to purchase a 338 pound per day capacity ice machine that was less than one year old!   Bob’s verdict…fantastic!    The financial verdict was good too.  Not only were we able to purchase it for about 1/3 the cost of new, but the owner is letting us make payments!  Thank you!!   By December it will be ours, without interrupting our cash flow.   The installation crew is being rallied, and next week we will have ice.

The Strand Theatre of Shelbyville, Inc. was started in part to address the ever present “quality of life” issue in our community.  We decided to something about it.   Along those lines, our friends at the Blue River Foundation have been working diligently in defining a vision for our community.   They have a very important presentation coming up July 17, 2009 from 8:00 am to 11:00am.   The Community Aspiration “Report to the Community” will be presented that morning at Occasions Banquet Hall, 415 E. Hendricks Street, Shelbyville. This meeting will include reports from their Steering Committee and all four Action Teams, and will also include time for you to provide feedback and input.

This will be a great opportunity to learn about the progress that has been made in this process so far, and to learn about the work that will continue over the next several months. Even if you have not been to a meeting previously, or if you have not attended for a while, you will enjoy this meeting.  The work they are doing is, in a way, furthering the mission of the Strand.   Please try to attend.

Speaking of friends, our friends at the Shelby County Players have a production coming up.   At one time or another most everyone involved with their production has volunteered for the Strand.   They will be presenting “Little Shop of Horrors” by Alan Menken and IU Theatre Department Alum Howard Ashman.  This will be July 24, 25, 31 & August 1st at 7:30pm, and July 26 & August 2nd at 2:00pm.  All performances will take place at the Shelby Community Theatre at 16 S. Tompkins Street.   The Strand Gang is looking forward to seeing their production, we hope you attend too.

Still in the friends discussion, our friends at the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce sent us a referral for the use of our facility.  This is to an out-of-town group.   They will potentially be holding a couple of meetings in our Cabaret Area.  Thank you to the crew at the Chamber for that referral. 

Do we have anything at the Strand?   Let’s see….

This weekend, SHELBYIDOL Saturday night at 7:00pm for a return engagement.  If you haven’t experienced the Strand with 300+ patrons, this would be a good time to find out.  The talent, judging by this last round, is outstanding.   But wait…there’s more.   After SHELBYIDOL we will be showing Rock and Roll High School.  This will be at 11:00pm on Saturday July 11th.

Wednesday July 15, 2009 @ 7:00pm we have the Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in “At War with the Army”.  It will be funny!

Thank you for your support.  Not only for the Strand, but for all the other hard working not-for-profit groups in our community that are trying to make a difference.   See you at the Strand (or the Foundation meeting or “Little Shop of Horrors”) soon!