Hitting the mark: Vassar Theatre owners celebrate two-year anniversary
popcorn for movie-goers. Fuchs says the theater still uses the same
recipe as when the it opened in 1937. (Photo by John Cook)
Vassar Theatre’s iconic marquee has graced downtown Vassar since 1937, but Andreas and Susan Fuchs have spent the last two years ensuring it represents more than a “now playing” sign.
They’ve made it so that the marquee serves as a reminder of an event or experience, sparks a memory – of a brief period away from the daily grind with family and friends, when one takes a step back in time to the days when movie-going meant something instead of doing something.
“Every new film provides an opportunity to have fun and to make the experience of coming to our theater special,” said Susan Fuchs. “We love to bring the movie into the movie house, if you will, by decorating and creating photo opportunities, games and memories for guests to take home.”
One could argue it’s a savvy way of doing business. More and more entertainment options delivered via myriad media offer today’s movie theater owner unseen levels of competition. The Fuchses kind of have to mix it up a bit to succeed.
Spend a couple of hours with the Fuchses, however, and it becomes clear: Their passion for owning and operating Vassar Theatre is sincere, an extension of their respective personalities, and love of movies, as if the business part of the business is ancillary to what’s really going on at 140 East Huron Ave.
Proof?
Andreas Fuchs points to a couple of small, hand-crafted characters from the movie “Minions” given to him by a youngster that are placed on a small ledge above his desk in the theater’s projection room. (Read more)
(This story originally appeared in the Dec. 24, 2016 print edition of The Tuscola County Advertiser and can be read in its entirety here.)
