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made their decisions.
• Both theaters have strong ties to their communities.
• The Lyric Theatre celebrated 60 years in Faulkton in 2010. "If people keep coming, then we'll keep the show running," David Huss, son of owner Dorothy Huss, said at the theater's birthday celebration. "It's what dad would have wanted, and it's what we'll do."
• David's father, Cyril, who built the theater with his brother Leo in 1950, died of cancer in 1995. He asked on his deathbed that Dorothy keep his dream of a theater alive. Through a force of will, personality and loyal patronage, it has been able to stay open until the present--but the Huss family is now weighing whether the cost of digital production will allow them to keep that promise to Cyril.
• "Me and Val go to almost all of his movies," said patron Danny Ramsedell. "If (Huss) were to close, I sure wouldn't like it. They make the best popcorn of any movie theater I've ever been in. I've spent a lot of hours of my life in that theater, and I've got a lot of memories in there. Especially good ones from my younger days on prom and date nights when we'd be up until 2 a.m. watching scary movies. It wouldn't be a good deal for us or for the town if it closed."
• Jackie Geiger is both a regular patron and concessions manager at the theater.
• "If we were to close, I think it would be a great loss for the community," she said. "We have a lot of patrons who I think rely on us to have that option for a night out--parents, kids and young adults alike."
• The Webster Theatre was closed for seven years before Judy Gaikowski put in a bid to purchase the building in the 1990s. It needed a lot of work to get it into movie-showing condition again, which the Gaikowskis provided, with generous support from the community.
• "Ever since we opened, I could be walking down the street and someone would stop and greet me and say, 'We are so thankful that you opened the theater. It has made a big difference in our community. Keep it open. We want this,'" Gaikowski said in the documentary "Small Town Silver Screen" in 2008.
• Whether that will be possible in the near future is still in question.
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• Finding a way
• Two area communities have committed to raising the money for new digital equipment.
• The Strand Theatre in Britton is making good progress on a fundraising campaign. As of Oct. 1, they had raised more than $65,000--nearly the $70,000-some they will need to pay for the equipment outright. The campaign has gone so well, in

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