On Oct. 1, Harbor Theater celebrated its first year under the ownership of Friends of the Harbor Theater. Friends was established in 2007 and then raised over $55,000 for the theater, mostly for a new screen and sound equipment. President Ham Meserve and former President Bob Devine traveled to Syracuse, New York to procure 210 seats to replace the aging ones the old playhouse donated.

Meserve said the group could never directly subsidize the theater since it was a for-profit business, and that is why Jason Sheckley, owner of the theater from 2002 to 2017, ultimately opted to sell the theater to the Friends including all but one of its assets: the digital equipment.

“He gave us the digital equipment,” said Meserve.

The equipment resulted from a community fundraising campaign which upgraded the theater’s 32mm projector with a digital one and enabled Sheckley to project the latest films on the market.

At first glance, not much has changed since then. Sheckley continues to manage the theater and a brand new sign was installed this summer.

However, film offerings have increased from 37 first-run features to about 80 art-house, indie, film festival-winning features and documentary films, and some big blockbusters, said Meserve.

“Jason (would) get a movie the day it was released nationwide, then he would have to run it for at least two weeks, sometimes three weeks, because that's what the distributors tell you to do.”

Meserve’s wife, Helen, also a program committee member, said Friends would rather wait a month to feature some of the new films so it could opt to run them for just a week. This enabled the theater to more than double the films it runs, and toncover a much broader spectrum of interest, said Helen; the past year has seen more in ticket sales than ever – just shy of $100,000 worth.

Ham said response to the program was excellent despite the occasional turnout out of just a few patrons. “Sometimes you get 10 people to show up and sometimes we'd have 100 people show up,” he said.

“Mostly we'd have 100 people show up if we gave them some wine and cheese,” Helen laughed. And that is part of the program, too, said the Meserves – an occasional event with refreshments afterwards can go a long way, especially in winter.

Ham said the first few fundraisers have raised enough money to sustain the theater through the lean months of winter. Over 400 memberships over the past year have also helped. “We now think we have a reasonable chance of saving the movie theater.”

Friends attributes the success over the last year to three things: Expansion, the biggest annual box office earnings in Harbor Theater history, and memberships and donations.

“We had challenged the community saying,'Look, if you guys will respond and show us you want this thing and you'll do it by attendance and ticket sales and donations, we think we have a chance to save this theater’ … That’s been the secret, I think.”

And it’s not just a diverse selection of films that makes Harbor Theater unique – Friends is also working on putting up a British art film series called Exhibition on Screen, a Classic Film Series, and at least six special events. Exhibition on Screen starts Nov. 9 with a feature on Edgar Degas. The first film in the classic series was “Gone With the Wind” and the next, slated for Nov. 15, will be “Lawrence of Arabia.”

The theater has shown a couple of free films for the community and is putting on films for students, said Helen. With a maximum capacity of 180 audience members, the theater had to do two showings of the film, “Wonder.”

“This year we're going to do (four more), but we're going to make it free because the school paid for ‘Wonder,’” Helen said. “I looked at it and said 'That's crazy,' so we figured out if we get a movie on a one-time deal for one show we pay what they call a 'guarantee' which is like $300. So, we can get a sponsor for that movie and show it to them free.”

According to Ham, when Friends bought Harbor theater, Helen said if it was going to be a true nonprofit, it would have to perceived in the community not simply as a charity, but as an organization that goes beyond commercial interests.

“We have to be like a cultural asset,” said Helen. “We have to be offering people something different than the (mainstream).”

With that mindset, Friends has invested in a new website, credit card machines and ADA equipment for those with limited hearing or sight. Ham said long-term goals may involve renovations such as dropping the ceiling, upgraded acoustics, and aisle lights so the overheads can be turned all the way down.

Harbor Theater has been a huge success over the past year due to all the efforts the community put into keeping it, including the general movie-goer, benefactors, members, and Friends and its Program Committee members, Ham said.

"We paid some tuition by picking some (films) that just didn't go over at all, but that's the whole first year – it's been to switch the program … There have to be a combination offerings in this community to make them proud of the fact that we're an art house and we're a little bit different and we're willing to take risks.”