Hitching Post happiness

Mel Makaw.

Like many of you, last February I was terribly sad to find out that the Hitching Post Theater in our fair little town had closed its doors for good, due to the untimely and unexpected death of owner Will Viner.

And then like many of you, I was delighted to find out the beloved little four-screen theater was reopening this summer with new owners.

Open it did, refurbished and improved with a new look – but still with the small town feeling so many of us had come to love – a welcome happening for me and movie-goers of all kinds.

It reopened in June – who woulda thought it could get back in business that fast? – thanks to the motivated new owners (Lorena and Toby Semerenko and Amber and Christopher Mitchell) and dedicated general manager Chris Thurlow. I've been a regular ever since. Actually, I'd been a regular for years before it closed last winter as I love going to the movies. I even have the t-shirt.

I've always loved seeing movies on the big screen. I don't personally remember the first movie experience I ever had, but I understand from my parents that they took me to the drive-in numerous times when I was a baby and then a toddler, and I do remember some of those trips from when I was a small child. I loved going to the drive-in theaters through adulthood until they all, alas, closed – I would still be going to the drive-in if there was one open anywhere nearby.

I have many fond memories of going to various movie theaters through the years, both old historic theaters and new modern ones with stadium seating (and everything in between). I especially love seeing the classics even now on the big screen (for instance, all the musicals from the 60s and 70s). The old Hitching Post ran classics every now and then (musicals and non) and I saw as many of them as I could – I hope the new owners will do the same periodically.

Of course, I'm old enough to have seen many classics as first run films in various theaters. I remember going to the midnight showing of The Exorcist on its opening night; I was among the first to shudder and squirm through Jaws. I remember camping out all night to get a seat for Star Wars; I remember driving around to several different theaters in Denver to score tickets to see Dances with Wolves when it first opened. I could go on and on – I love to be among the first to see a movie... any movie.

I wasn't born yet to see the first runs of The Wizard of Oz, however, or Gone with the Wind, but I've managed to see them both (and so many of the other outstanding films from the '30s and '40s) several times when they've been released to the big screen again. And yes, I love them enough that I also watch them on my TV when the opportunity presents itself.

As a sign of the changing times, I know many people like to watch movies at home now on Netflix or Prime or any number of other streaming services, and I do too occasionally, but I still prefer seeing movies the way they were meant to be seen: on the big screen, sitting in a darkened theater with a bucket of buttered popcorn in my lap and a diet Pepsi in the cup holder at my seat. I love the shared experience of seeing a moving story with other people, laughing with them, crying with them, being amazed and being temporarily in thrall with them. Theaters do that for me.

I'm so grateful to the Semerenkos and the Mitchells for keeping our Hitching Post alive and well and bringing us four different movies at any given time. (I'm especially grateful, by the way, for the wonderful changes to the women's restroom!) They have done an amazing job of making the theater feel fresh and a little more modern while keeping the charm and the ambiance of the original. And they're bringing good movies to town.

The Hitching Post Theater has been for years – and now still is – one of my happy places. If you haven't been lately, I urge you to give it a try.

© 2024 Mel Makaw. Mel, author of several books including On the Bright Side, a Collection of Columns (all available locally at Tehachapi Arts Center and Healthy Hippie Trading Co.), has been looking on the bright side for various publications since 1996. She welcomes your comments at [email protected]/.