Seniors talk cinema into matinees so they can take the bus: 'I'm so angry about gas prices'
Two passers-by view posters in the window of the Rose Theatre in downtown Port Townsend. -- Photo by Erik Hidle/Peninsula Daily News
By Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News
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Then there's "The Visitor," about a teacher lifted out of deep burnout when he meets a Syrian man and a Senegalese woman.
Walters is familiar with neither of these films playing at the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend.
But she's going to see one of them this Wednesday, partly because the 62-mile round trip will cost her 75 cents, and partly because Walters adores Rose movies.
Most of all, Walters is going because she talked Rocky Friedman, owner of the Rose, into showing a pair of matinees especially for Sequim residents.
Every Wednesday this month and next, the Rose will show its films earlier than usual so cinephiles can hop on the No. 8 Jefferson Transit bus from Sequim to Port Townsend, see a matinee, get back on board and be home around dinner time.
"Wall-E" will screen at 1:45 p.m. and "The Visitor" at 2:15 p.m. this Wednesday, so the 9:44 a.m. or 12:43 p.m. departures from the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St., will get movie-goers into the Rose on time.
Unless they choose to walk downtown to the theater at 235 Taylor St., they can catch the No. 13 Castle Hill bus to the Haller Fountain, which is steps away from the Rose at 235 Taylor St.
Afterward, moviegoers can walk or catch the Castle Hill back to the Port Townsend Park & Ride at 12th and Haines.
From there, the No. 8 departs at 5:55 p.m. and arrives back in Sequim at 6:41 p.m.
Thelma and Nell
Friedman, who's run the Rose for 16 years, said he was strenuously lobbied by several Sequim residents.
One woman offered to gather signatures on a petition for early, bus-compatible matinees, he said, adding, "I told her that's not necessary."
That woman would be Walters.
"I lit the fire under him," she said.
"I love documentaries, foreign films, independent films."
They're the Rose's specialty.
"But I haven't been over there recently. I'm so angry about gas prices," added Walters, who gave her age as "well into my senior years."
Walters happened to meet another foreign-film buff on the bus in Sequim.
Nell Backus and she struck up a conversation, and soon Walters recruited another lobbyist.
"Thelma had this bright idea, and it's just snowballing," Backus said.
She hopes the early matinees continue after daylight saving time ends.
"Who wants to drive home in the dark?" she asked.
Do a little shopping, too
But will she go this summer?
"Oh, my goodness, yes. I'm also going to shop at the Co-op in Port Townsend," Backus said, referring to the natural-foods market on Kearney Street.
Backus, who said she's in her 80s, hasn't decided which film she'll see. Neither has Walters.
"'Wall-E's' getting good reviews, but it's not really my cup of tea," since it's an animated feature from Pixar, which produced "Toy Story" and other G-rated movies ostensibly for kids.
Yet she has faith in Friedman's choices.
"But when I go to any of his movies, even reluctantly, it turns out to be a good film," Walters said.
The early matinees may also entice Clallam County teenagers – or anyone who doesn't have to work Wednesday – to take the motion-picture-bound bus.
They might also consider catching Clallam Transit bus No. 30, the 101 Commuter, to the Deer Park Cinema between Port Angeles and Sequim, where five screens offer mostly mainstream movies.
"Wall-E" is playing there now, and will continue into next week.
Walters, for her part, said she'll definitely be in the audience at the Rose this Wednesday afternoon, but she's still deciding whether to find out what happens when Wall-E courts EVE, the lady robot who's come to Earth from the spaceship where all the people live, or see how the tired academic in "The Visitor" learns to play the African drum, and goes out to play in New York City's jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles.
Ticket prices
Seniors such as Walters and Backus, as well as children 12 and under, enjoy discounted movie tickets at the Rose, where patrons age 62 and up pay $6 for a matinee, while kids pay $5.
Adult tickets are $7 for matinees.
Information is available at 360-385-1089.
At the Deer Park Cinema, seniors pay the same $7 as adults for afternoon screenings, while children 12 and under get in for $6.50.
For details, phone 360-452-7176.
A day pass on Jefferson Transit's Sequim and Port Townsend buses is $1.25, or 75 cents for seniors age 60 and up.
On Clallam Transit, all day passes are $2.
For route and schedule information phone 800-371-0497 or visit www.JeffersonTransit.com or for Clallam phone 360-452-4511 or see www.ClallamTransit.com.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: July 05. 2008 9:00PM