Residents jam the theater for a trip back to yesteryear

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Over 200 people jammed into the Main Street Cinemas Sunday to take a trip back in time.

Judging by the comments received following the 60-minute presentation of ?Mt. Pleasant 1952 The Movie,? the production was Oscar award worthy?at least in Mt. Pleasant.

?I thought it was fabulous,? Gene Copeland said afterwards. ?It was so authentic and caught people as they were. It is a great way to remember the 1950s.?

?Fabulous,? ?outstanding? and ?wonderful? were the three most widely used terms describing the production of the Henry County Heritage Trust (HCHT).

?They (the HCHT) did an excellent job with the music,? remarked Judy Rawson, of Winfield. Rawson, unlike most of those gathered did not have any relatives featured in the film, but came to watch. ?I am into history with the Winfield Museum, so I enjoyed seeing all the old buildings. I mainly came because I wanted to see how they put it together.?

Carol Nemitz, of Mt. Pleasant, was in the film. Nemitz was a member of the 1952 Iowa Wesleyan women?s basketball team coached by the legendary Olan Ruble. ?I was able to identify everyone (on the team), which was comforting,? Nemitz said.

The team, Nemitz said, featured the first two All-Americans from Wesleyan ? Janet Thompson and Dorothy Welp.

Nemitz said she also enjoyed the classroom shots and noted that she was a former ticket salesperson at the Temple Theater ? the forerunner to Main Street Cinemas.

A former student and teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, Karen Doubleday said she recognized her teachers from the school which she started attending in 1957. ?I had all those teachers,? Doubleday said. ?I also had a one-year contract after finishing college to teach at Lincoln, so I taught with most of those teachers.

?I thought the production was great,? Doubleday added. ?I loved the music with it.?

Jared Hills traveled from Cedar Rapids to see the movie. Hills is the son of Howard and Helen Hills for whom the museum at the former Saunders School is named.

He said he was contacted by Pat White about the showing. ?I thought it was wonderful. Pat did a great job of narrating it. I really enjoyed seeing all the choruses and bands.?

Tom Sater, of Mt. Pleasant, said he hopes he has the opportunity to see the movie again. Sater is the son of former Mt. Pleasant Fire Chief William Sater. He said his dad would have really enjoyed the movie.

Many of Sater?s memories linger around the fire hall. He remembers when the fire department was located in what later became the city council chambers. ?They had two red and two white trucks, the white trucks were used for rural fires. It is amazing that they stored all those trucks in that small space. You almost think they had to be put in with hoists. If my dad could see the new fire station in Mt. Pleasant, he would be amazed.?

Sater was surprised that although Mt. Pleasant has seen a lot of changes in the past 65 years, ?it is amazing how many things have stayed the same.?

?I absolutely loved it,? Sater said, referring to the movie. ?I went to Lincoln School and it was nice to see most of my teachers. I also thought the hat parade at the country club was fun.?

He said he hopes he can see it a second time ?because then I would know what was coming. Everything moved so fast.?

Sater will get his opportunity to see it again. White said HCHT will be showing the film a second time on a date, location and time to be announced later.

Proceeds from the event went to HCHT, but White dismissed the idea that the movie was being shown as a fund-raiser. Instead, she said the reason for the showing was to afford Mt. Pleasant residents a glimpse into yesteryear.