Popcorn power is a force in the success of Saturday Night Movies held every week in the Auditorium. The aroma of fresh-popped corn wafts into the Club Center Lobby, luring diners from their tables for the 7:15 p.m. film.

.

Joanne Roberts, right, serves popcorn to Landon Lindsay at the Saturday Night Movies. Photo by Jim Borden

The “movie habit” started 10 years ago under Ellie and Bob Moore, now in the Health Center, and continued under Co-Chairs Herb Harned and Ruth Boyce. Movie selectors have increased from seven to 12 film buffs, allowing for a variety of film tastes from musicals, comedies, noir, foreign films, docu-dramas, and more. To keep the selections fresh, films can be repeated only after a four-year time lapse. Certain films invite discussion, and resident professionals in medicine or psychiatry have acted as moderators for stimulating post-film dialogue.

Over time, the projection equipment has been improved and more resident film projectionists have been trained. Subtitles are used for every film to aid residents with hearing problems. Film reviews by professional critics are available in a Lobby notebook along with ratings. Audience attendance runs from 75-80 with a core group of 50 souls “who come every time, whether rain, hail, sleet, or snow,” says Harned. They’ll all agree that munching popcorn and watching a well-selected movie is not a bad way to start the weekend

From resident Public Relations Committee member Dorothy Mahan