The Pace Changes

The heyday of the road show and the lecture course passed. In 1920, there were comments in the newspapers that perhaps there would not be a lecture course that year.

Movies were coming into “full bloom.” The Wieting had apparently had a screen almost from the first, for Art Ludwig was being paid for “operating” as early as 1913. Art’s wife and others were paid to play the piano as accompaniment to silent films of the era. Down the street, the Bijou (a true movie theatre) was operating where the American Legion now has its club. Later, the Cozy (another movie house) was to open its doors on Broadway just across from the courthouse square.

Another era past when Guy Wieting died. The financial report of 1931 shows the theatre leased to F. C. Cook and A. S. Smith for a “Talking Picture Show.” The following year, Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Sichra leased the theatre and it was to remain under that management for 26 years. Mr. Sichra died in 1948, but his wife Lucille continued the management. By the late fifties, movies had declined because of competition from television, and the Wieting ran only part of the time. Mrs. Sichra closed the theatre completely in November, 1958. The curtain fell on the Wieting - but it was not the end, only the intermission.