Five hometown memories of the Historic Artcraft Theatre

Have you ever wondered what the walls of the Historic Artcraft Theatre would say if they could share all of the stories they have held in the past 102 years?
 
“If these old theatre walls could speak of things that it remembered, they would share memories about beautiful hometown stories, special feature movies, first love kisses, and faces full of laughter and tears. . .,” shares Dee Ann Bingham-Muench, whose family has worked and volunteered at the Artcraft in various ways since the 1930s.
 
Many Artcraft patrons have shared their fondest stories about Franklin’s treasured theatre. Let’s hear a few of them!

Have you ever wondered why the audience always cheers or boos as Rob Shilts and the volunteers show the audience where the fire exits are before each movie begins? This patron has the story behind the tradition and shares his favorite memories about the theatre.
 
“In 1995, my family moved to Franklin and lived just a few blocks north of the Artcraft on Main Street. When my first son, Zachary, was about 4 or 5 years old, they were just re-opening the theatre and playing the old black-and-white classic movies. I started a tradition of walking my son down Main Street, and while we walked, he would say, ‘But I don’t want to see this old movie.’ My reply was always, ‘You are going to watch this movie, and you are going to like it,’ said with my tough love voice. He would almost always walk out of the theatre with a smile saying, ‘That was a really good movie.’
My impact on the Artcraft was creating one of the traditions. For some reason, I started booing when they would point to the different exits before the movie started. I have been using the same seats near exit 5 for years, so I would holler and cheer for exit 5. So now many of the regular patrons boo and cheer, and they have no idea why exit 5 is so popular. That was my mark on this historic place, and I am proud of that.” — Keith Armour, Exit 5 Patron

Another patron's favorite memory begins around the spooky season. For decades, the Artcraft shows the films that will get you into the monster mash mood and ready for Halloween, just as it did for Greg Moore.
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“I remember going to a Saturday matinee one October in the 1970s when I was about 10. It was a double feature of horror films for Halloween. The films were aimed at elementary school kids, and I don’t remember the films as being too scary. Maybe the movies were Frankenstein and The Mummy—something like that. At any rate, during the break between the films, two men—or maybe high school boys—came out on the stage from each side, dressed up as monsters squaring off. After a few seconds of wrestling, they suddenly turned to the audience and jumped off the stage and toward the seats. There was a decent size crowd of kids there, and we all screamed collectively and ran to the side aisles and into the lobby. At that time, the concession stand was in the lobby near the men’s restroom. The Popcorn Lady was working the event, as usual, and she was just howling with laughter at the sudden inflow of hundreds of kids streaming into her lobby. Well, I didn’t stick around for popcorn not knowing how far those monsters were pursuing us. In fact, I never stopped running until I got home to where I lived on Walnut Street, about four blocks away. I always wondered if it was possible to get half my money back.” — Greg Moore

As Greg mentioned, The Popcorn Lady was a prominent figure in many memories of the Artcraft. Irene Petro worked at the Artcraft for more than 30 years and served up delicious and nutritious snacks that were the best accompaniment to every movie.
“Irene Petro (The Popcorn Lady) was my grandmother. I grew up at the Artcraft Theatre. I would go in as a child to help her fill the candy case. When I was of age, I was employed at the Artcraft in the concessions with her. I learned her secret of popping the best popcorn in the world. No one since has mastered popcorn like hers. She has been gone for 33 years; I miss her every day.” — Barbara Dobson
Not only is the Artcraft the scene for traditions, holiday movies, and delicious concessions, but love is often in the air. Many patrons share how they have had their first date, first kiss, or gotten engaged at the Artcraft.

“The Artcraft was one of our first dates when I met my husband, Josh! We saw Anchorman in February 2020. It ended up being one of the last things we did before the pandemic. We had only known each other for about a week at that point. After we got engaged a year and a half later, we took some of our engagement pictures out front. Now we go back as often as we can.” — Addy Bowman-Mingle
 
For Connie Croyle, the Artcraft Theatre found her. Connie Croyle shares how she discovered the Artcraft when she first moved to Franklin.
 
“Soon after I moved from North Manchester to Franklin, I had my phone installed. Immediately I began getting unexpected phone calls from people all around the area. Typically, the unknown callers' conversations began with, ‘What's playing at The Artcraft this weekend?’ ‘What's THAT?’, I thought. Seems I'd inherited the old number for this place! I'd not yet unpacked my belongings, much less explored Franklin aside from immediate needs of food, utilities, etc. So friendly callers from Indianapolis, Columbus, Bloomington, and beyond began educating me about The Artcraft. They shared its history by way of childhood memories, first dates, family outings, and much more. Eventually, I saw a few movies and got hooked on the very energetic optimism people had for this musty, rundown old place showing old movies.
There's still work to be done, but how very different it was then when compared with what this place is becoming. For me, volunteering was a natural next step. That has led to lasting friendships as well.” — Connie Croyle
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