12 Monday, December 7,1998 ENTERTAINMENT Theater owner takes movies back to By Kristy Pipker Staff Writer As a young boy, Frederick Bollen lived six blocks away from the local movie theater and was best friends with the owner’s son, but never in his wildest dreams did he believe that one day he would own it. Bollen used to ride motorcycles with his friend. One day his friend told him that his father was going to be selling the theater. Bollen, who has lived in New Cumberland his entire life, couldn’t believe his ears. Today, Bollen and his mother are co-own ers of the West Shore Theater. It was just named “Best Movie Theater of 1998” by City Beat magazine and it is not hard to see why. The grand opening of the theater was held on Jan. 22, 1940. Bollen and his mother pur chased the theater in December 1986. The West Shore Theater, nestled in New Cumberland, is a diamond in the rough. Mov iegoers can see the latest flick on the big screen, get soda, candy and popcorn without breaking the bank. When was the last time you spent less than $lO.OO on a Saturday night date? Prices for moviegoers range from $2 to $3 Everybody loves a parade, The Harrisburg Holiday Parade looked much different to those walking, marching or jigging By Barb Roy Entertainment Editor Unless it is the Fourth of July, you freeze in a parade. Those are your two choices: freeze or broil. But they’re (supposed to be) fun, and probably the biggest draw: they’re free. Unless, of course, you’re in the parade and in charge of a float, as I was with the Coyle School of Irish Dance for the Nov. 21 Har risburg Holiday Parade. Then you rack up all kinds of bucks constructing eye-catching things like 8-foot rainbows and Christmas trees that take four hours to tie down on the float. Of course, they always seem to fall down just as you reach the judges stand. This year was no exception. There were about fifty of us (ages five to adult) dancing in the street, doing jigs and reels. Our float proceeded us with parents and young siblings riding on it and waving and throwing candy. Unless you know someone in the crowd, no one smiles at you and waves. Kids, they might, but not adults. It’s a strange and uncomfortable feeling to make eye contact with strangers and be wav ing at them like a dolt, because they clearly are freezing, and their “wave hand” is under a blanket. Then there are the hostile “What the-heck-are-you” stares; they gaze at you with baffled looks on their faces. Maybe it’s just us. We no longer look like Frederick Bollen realized a childhood dream when he purchased and revitalized the West Shore Theater. Now it is one of the best small, local movie theaters. depending on the evening. Refreshments start at 50 cents a candy bar is less expensive there than at the local A-Plus convenience store. Bollen said he tries to keep prices low for his customers. Behind the counter you will see Bollen’s wife Debra serving up the refreshments. It’s we know what we’re doing. After the first two hours of waiting to march, followed by five minutes of actual hard jumping and hop ping down the street, we’re tired. So we all walk and hop and stumble, and none of us end up doing the same steps at the same time anymore. We get selfish, the crowd hasn’t heard “Christmas in Killamey” 57 times in a row, but we have. So we let the next song on the CD come on. It’s “Kalua-Kalua Christmas” crooned by Bing Crosby. We all perk up and start hula-hula-ing. A couple of dad’s on our float stand up and start to air surf. The crowd is still bemused, but it’s an im provement for us, because we would rather be in Hawaii right now than Killamey, or especially Harrisburg. The high school band that is following us starts to play “The Heat Is On.” We all change to a jive-walk, like a drill team. We’re versatile and there’s not a whole lot of people watching for the last mile of the route anyway. Finally, we reach City Island where the parade began. We disband in good spirits because despite everything, it has been fun. Plus we can now go somewhere to get warm. The awards ceremony is at 2 p.m., but no one stays since it is two hours from now. I read the results in the newspaper three days later. First and third place in our division were won by a dance and baton group. Second place? A greyhound club. Excuse me? We not hard to see that this is a family affair. “I’m a moviegoer,” he said. “I always thought it would be cool to go to a place like when you were a kid.” Bollen thinks the inflated prices customers pay for refreshments at other theaters are a shame. He goes to the other local theaters to unless they're part of it saw them, about thirty dogs being walked by Next year, we’ll be there again, but this time their owners. Yeah, some of them had cute we’ve learned: we plan to do our jig while antlers and coats and bows tied on to them; walking our pets while twirling batons. Just but could they do a jig?!? try to top that. CROSSWORD COMPANION Answers on page 6 (Literary) 17 Beetle 19 Happening 21 Carson 22 Wise 24 Help 26 Tableland 29 Utilizers 31 The Raven (Poet) ACROSS 1 Flaw 4 Plebe 9 Cap 12 Metal 13 Odor 14 S.E. state (abbr.) 15 Household The Capital Times childhood view movies before bringing them to New Cumberland. “I don’t want to become a millionaire,” Bollen said. “I enjoy doing it. I want other people to enjoy it too.” Part of the appeal of the theater is the de cor. It hasn’t changed much over the years. The original curtains still hang beside the screen but several years ago during a flood, the motor was ruined so they remain station ary. Bollen said he would like to replace the motor, but time and money are limited since he does all the work himself. The 450-seat theater used to have the repu tation for the worst sound system in local theaters, but Bollen’s hard work has paid off. After five years of many long days and nights installing the new sound system, the theater is now considered the theater with the best sound system. And Bollen did have a chance to be on the production side of the big screen. He was an extra in Major League 2. He had the oppor tunity to meet Charlie Sheen and Tom Beringer while they were filming the movie in Harrisburg. Look carefully and you might catch a glimpse of him. He did in his own movie theater. 46 Great lake 48 Rove 50 Concern 51 Against 53 Jury 55 Beautiful view 58 Medicine for cuts 61 Var. of -al (suf.) 62 Hanging rope 64 Watch 65 Pig pen 66 Angi-knock fluid 67 Auricle DOWN 1 Mother (slang) 2 Form of be 3 Back out 4 Close in 5 Stadium 6 Perform 7 Uncle (Prov. Eng.) 8 State 33 Green 34 Indefinite pronoun 35 Price 37 Tree 39 Eastern state (abbr.) 40 Number 42 Water barrier 44 Pro 9 Former 10 Indicating ileum (comb, form) 11 Daughters of the American Revolution (abbr.) 16 Veer 18 Goal 20 Edge 22 Group of rooms 23 Flower 25 Male deer 27 Flavor 28 Knowledge able 30 Unhappy 32 Fairy 36 Sack 38 Clubbed 41 Pleasantly 43 Chart 45 Luggage 47 Age 49 Flower 52 Number 54 Carol 55 Relative (slang) 56 Feline 57 Bed 59 Edu. group (abbr.) 60 Ever (Poetic) 63 Exclamation
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