It was a calm year with a happy ending.
After reporting a loss last year, the Salmar Community Association board has steered the non-profit organization back into the black – in a big way.
The association skyrocketed to a profit of $115,095 from last year’s $21,054 deficit.
Income from the Salmar Grand more than doubled from $77,826 last year to $174,988 by year-end Sept. 30.
The picture also improved dramatically at the Salmar Classic, where a $21,340 operating deficit rose to a $10,092 profit.
The annual general meeting, held Nov. 21, featured a history of the non-profit association, courtesy of longtime board member Gary Brooke, who spoke with passion about how the association has re-invented itself over the years.
He explained how a group called the Salmon Arm Co-operative formed in 1946 to build a memorial to honour local First World War veterans.
With support from the community, the association built a new theatre (now the Salmar Classic) in 1949 and by 1958 had enough money to build the memorial arena, which was turned over to the District of Salmon Arm in 1970.
Brooke described other innovative measures the board has taken over the years to meet the challenges members have faced in providing first-run films to the community.
“When I joined in 1983 the town was in tough shape,” said Brooke, pointing out that’s when the stage was built in the Salmar Classic in order to accommodate live acts, and the long association began with the Shuswap Film Society. “In the 1990s there was another big re-invention with the five-year project to build the Salmar Grand.”
For a long time, Salmar was the only non-profit group in North America offering first-run movies, making a profit and returning it to the community.
“Last year we helped Nelson in their start-up efforts for their community cinema and we are so happy to see how successful they have been in their first year of operation,” he said.
In his president’s report, Chris Letham described 2013 as a year of calm and expressed his pleasure at the “positive turnaround.”
He spoke of the various threats the board has faced over the years, including movie rentals, downloadable movies and apps for cell phones.
“It seems people sill want to come out to the movies,” he said. “And we continue to strive to give them the best possible experience with a clean theatre, great popcorn and the lowest prices.”
Letham praised general manager Daila Duford for her part in running a viable and profitable operation.
Segue to Duford, who passed praise on to theatre staff, explaining how a new project is designed to fill moviegoers in on the Salmar Association.
Called “Did You Know?,” snippets of information on why the association was formed and how it operates will be run with other pre-film trailers and advertisements – advertisements which brought in close to $20,000 last year.
Duford also pointed out that the Salmar Association gives $14,000 in scholarships annually and was a major contributor to the new legion building, the Ross Street Plaza and the Shaw Centre.
Singer-songwriter Greg Sczebel was given the 2013 Award of Excellence, with several grants going to other groups and at least 350 free movie passes were handed out to support fundraisers and service groups.
Duford noted that attendance between Oct. 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2013 was up by 5.7 per cent to 99,708 at the Grand and up by 2.4 per cent to 13,069 at the Salmar Classic.
The Live at the Met and ballet satellite programs also expanded and the Salmar Classic continues to be a popular venue for live concerts, said Duford.
She explained how she tries to get films that will appeal to families and was pleased to note that three of this year’s top-10 movie favourites were family oriented, unlike the provincial top 10 that only included one family movie.
Looking ahead, Duford said she is excited about this year’s Christmas lineup, which she describes as better than last year.
And new equipment, a third 3-D projector and stadium seating now in two of the four theatres will enhance the film experience.
The association also paid out $40,000 to upgrade security software in order to prevent a repeat of information theft at the concession.