OLDS — The 100-year-old Mayfair Cinema in Olds is conditionally sold.
Owner Tish Cassidy made that announcement during an interview with the Albertan as the centennial of the business was celebrated July 5 with an informal come-and-go event in the lobby of the theatre.
She declined to name the potential new owners but said the sale was pending financing by Aug. 1.
If the sale goes through, the new owners will take possession on Sept. 1. At that point, she said, “I will stick around for a month to make sure they know how to keep everything running happily before I part ways.”
Cassidy and her husband Dean bought Mayfair Cinema in December 2022 from Louise Craig, who owned the theatre along with husband Jack Craig for more than 35 years.
Dean passed away last November.
Ever since, Cassidy kept the business running, because she shares her husband’s passion for old movie theatres. But it just became too much.
“I've been trying to limp it along as long as I can on my own,” she said.
The 100th birthday celebration attracted a crowd that filled the tiny lobby. Included in that crowd were Town of Olds Mayor Judy Dahl as well as councillors Darren Wilson and James Cummings.
Several members of the Mountain View Film Group who have shown movies at the theatre for many years, were also on hand.
Memorabilia were set up just in front of the snacks and popcorn booth. Under a table supporting that memorabilia were two giant film reels. On the south side of the lobby was a huge birthday cake and an array of cupcakes on a table.
During the celebration, a 25-minute documentary on the history of movies played on the big screen in the theatre.
During the Albertan interview, Cassidy said the actual date of the 100th anniversary was May 3, but it was more convenient to celebrate it in July.
Cassidy was asked how it felt to be celebrating the cinema’s 100th anniversary.
“It's amazing that a small cinema actually survived,” she said. “Not many places do, especially independents that haven't been supported by the backing of big companies or their town.”
Cassidy said she and her husband had “such big plans” for the anniversary. She had even begun work on a book.
However, when he passed away, she handed all her notes to officials at the Mountain View Museum & Archives.
The display in the lobby was kind of a labour of love.
“I've always, since we moved in here, wanted to share that with everyone, because there's so much cool stuff in the basement. Every time I go down there, it's like finding new treasure,” Cassidy said.
“So, I wanted to pull all that stuff up that I could manoeuver. There's a lot of heavy items down there.”
Cassidy said the giant film reels in the display had a practical purpose.
She said in years gone by, movie theatres would receive films in six to 12 smaller reels. Projectionists would then splice them together to make two bigger ones so they didn’t have to change reels so often.
“(That way) he only has to change the reel once in the middle of the movie instead of having to change it five times,” Cassidy said.
However, nowadays, films received are digital, so no splicing and reel changes needed.
Cassidy was asked which she preferred, digital movies or ones on reels.
“I'm nostalgic. I like reels,” she said. “I like the clicky click and, you know, it's like analog versus digital sound and everything. (There’s) something magical about going to a movie cinema and actually seeing film on the screen versus something you could see at home in your basement.”
Mayor Judy Dahl and MVFG president Ross Dabrusin cut the birthday cake as Cassidy, Wilson, Cummings and Gerda Vester of the Mountain View Museum & Archives looked on.
As the cake was cut, Dahl said Olds has been “so blessed” that the Mayfair Cinema has been in the community and able to provide “services for us, for the film group, for the movies, for the past, the present and for going into the future.”
Cassidy then reminisced about how she and her husband came to own the business.
“It was such a big deal to us to get to be part of an actual cinema,” she said. “We talked about it for, I don't know, probably 10 years or so. We'd go home from watching a movie and in the car would be like, ‘wouldn't it be cool if we owned our own cinema? It'd be so awesome.’
“And then I brought him up here one year for his birthday. I was just kind of Googling, and I found Olds has a cinema. ‘Let's go there,’ and it became our favourite cinema to go to.
“So when we got the opportunity to actually try and buy it, we were scrimping and saving and selling everything, just so that we could make this happen, because it was such a huge dream.
“So we actually got it, and just getting to be her caregivers was such a huge deal. So to get to be here for her 100th (birthday is) so exciting.”
A few members of the Mountain View Film Group went down into the basement with Cassidy to take a look around.
They saw a long row of old film reels. That reminded one member of a lady who used to play piano to accompany the old silent movies.
“She would switch whatever she was playing to what kind (of action that) was happening on the screen,” the Mountain View Film Group member said.
“You know what? I decided not to play it, but I prepped a movie,” Cassidy said. “It was Wizard of Oz, but it was the one from 1925, which is silent film of course, and I was checking it out this morning on here, on the screen.
“If we had music and everything for it, it would have been so cool to actually do a proper screening of it.”
Cassidy showed another small section of the basement where she said newcomers to town who had no place to sleep could bed down for the night.
She also pointed out an old bench. Cassidy said they were in use for dances before the talkies came in.
“It wasn’t just a cinema,” she said.
