THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Fischer Theatre volunteer Sara Snyder, center, and other volunteers and
staff, including executive director Crystal Bivans, far left, participate
in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the theater’s new popcorn
popper.
DANVILLE — It wasn’t the typical ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday in Danville congratulating a new or relocated business or new business owners.
The Fischer Theatre itself is celebrating 140 years this year, and it was out with the old, smaller popcorn popper at the theater and in with a new, larger one this summer.
Vermilion Advantage representatives were on hand with the red ribbon to cut and oversized scissors to celebrate, in a first, the volunteer-led effort to replace the Fischer Theatre’s popcorn-popping machine.
Boxes of popcorn were given out to patrons for about an hour for the ribbon-cutting event.
Fischer Theatre Executive Director Crystal Bivans said the previous smaller machine could pop seven boxes at a time. The new machine can pop 25 boxes at a time.
The new popcorn popper actually made its debut on June 28, so it’s been used already.
“Our old, but very trusty popcorn popper has been around for years, I’m not sure how long, but she was tired,” according to Bivans.
Is there anything better than hot, fresh popcorn at a theater?
Bivans said the old machine only popped about seven to nine boxes per pop, every 7 minutes or so. That meant some people would have to wait between poppings.
“So, when we have a packed house, we frequently ran out of popcorn. The new machine pops 25 boxes per batch with no downtime in between,” she said. “It has an automatic pump for the oil and a timer. Fire it up, add the popcorn and watch it go.”
The new popcorn popper was solely funded by the theater’s volunteers.
Volunteer Sara Snyder started it all with a donation. Bivans then reached out to see if others would match it.
“The old one was too slow and old, and this one is much better,” Snyder said.
For many events, they can go through quite a few boxes of popcorn.
“Voicing our struggles and concerns amongst ourselves, an email chain started and the funds were raised in 26 days,” according to Bivans.
The volunteers said they went from an extra small popcorn popper, graduated to a small one and now thankfully have this larger one.
Bivans said she aways tastes any differences in popcorn. The new popper’s popcorn isn’t exactly “seasoned” like the last popper yet.
“But we’ll get there,” she said, adding too that they’ve had no complaints from popcorn connoisseurs like herself.
Those attending the ribbon cutting were enjoying the fresh-popped popcorn as an afternoon snack.
Bivans said the volunteers are everything to the Fischer Theatre.
“They are the front line and the voices behind the counter that often had to communicate to our patrons that we ran out of popcorn and now they
proudly are able to show our new machine off,” Bivans said.
Some upcoming events at the Fischer Theater include: July 31: Harry Potter Birthday Party, sponsored by the Danville Public Library and Danville
Library Foundation; Aug. 2: The Boat Drunks, a free concert in adjacent Palace Park; Oct. 4: a foam party under the marquee after the Glow 5K; and
Oct. 25: an exclusive black-tie Masquerade Gala to celebrate the Fischer’s 140th anniversary.
Watch the Fischer’s calendar on its website for more information on events.
Ticket sales from those attending events and concession sales, including the popcorn, go back into the Fischer.
“We don’t get any city tax dollars or anything like that. So, whenever people come to patronize here and attend our events goes right back into the Fischer. That’s how we support everything that we do,” Bivans said.
The Fischer Theatre in downtown Danville was originally built in 1884 as The Grand Opera House. It was renovated by Louis Fischer, where it takes its name, in 1912.
It became a movie house and then closed in 1982.
After decades of attempts to restore the grand theater again, it successfully was, including an addition to the building, and had a grand reopening in 2019 thanks to Julius W. Hegeler II.
Now it regularly hosts movies and other events for the public.
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