05/15/2025
Dear Friends of The Kee Theatre,
Kiester was lively when the Kee Theatre first opened in October of 1940. The Kee will turn 85 years old this fall and continues to keep on working! The Kee Civic Theatre Association started in 1990 with sixteen board members as donors and volunteers to keep the theatre building going as a place for not only showing movies, but also live music, a gathering spot for the local community for meetings, and a place for kids to come and meet Santal Through this association the theatre became a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization that could accept monetary gifts that the donor can deduct as a charitable contribution. The annual fund drive brings support from the local community and outside as well, all who are happy to be a part of the Kee family. Without this generosity, the Kee would struggle to keep the projector rolling. With another year behind us, it's time to plan so the Kee can continue to be a part of our community for years to come.
Going to a theater to see a movie is becoming a thing of the past, but we don't want the Kee Theatre to follow suit. Last year's fund drive proved that people near and far from the Kiester area want to keep the Kee working as a part of the community. The expenses of maintaining and improving the historic building are too much for the ticket and concessions sales to cover. For most movies, ticket sales don't cover the cost of playing the movie. Something new for 2025 we are trying is movie sponsorship. Select one of the upcoming movies or suggest a future movie that you would like to have played, and you can have a personalized ad play before the previews and receive movie passes to give to your customers or friends to come and enjoy the show you sponsored.
This past year we had areas of the Kee that we designated as our priority projects. First was to replace one of the furnaces, the other was the marquee glass and lighting which is still a work in progress. The glass was repaired and lighting temporarily repaired. We have a potential cost share grant from the Kiester EDA to help with the cost but need to cover the remainder of the cost associated with getting the marquee lighting all fixed. We also made some upgrades and Improvements to the projection and sound equipment. The movie screen was replaced providing a nice white background without the stains that had accumulated from the previous 30 years of shows and an amplifier was replaced so all the surround sound speakers are working again. We had a major setback with the projection equipment in August when the control board and server for playing movies crashed and needed to be replaced. The company told us 10 years was the life expectancy of those parts, and we had made it 12 years. This was $19,000 spent that you won't see as a patron, but without doing it, we would no longer be able to show movies. We were able to start playing movies again in November and showed 6 different movies in 7 weekends to close out the year.
The Kee is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers, meaning that the only way to keep the organization going is to have an annual fund drive. With your help and support, the Kee Theatre can remain a symbol of the Kiester community and the wonderful people with ties to it. Please take time to consider contributing to the Kee's future. Thank you in advance for your support!
On behalf of the Kee Civic Theatre Board,
Mike Eilertson
Al and Hope Bauman
Adam and Stacy Suhr
Tristan and Raven Wacek
Jacob Trytten
Curt and Lorie Korn
Jon and Janelle Leland
Dena Trytten
Karen Busch
Mike and Taryn Eilertson
