The Lincoln's Lifeline: How Community Support Fuels a Historic Theatre

What Is Friends Of The Lincoln And What Impact Does It Have On The Organization?

The curtain rises on a story of community dedication as Bob Watkins, Executive Director of the historic Lincoln Theatre, shines a spotlight on the unsung heroes keeping this cultural cornerstone alive - the Friends of The Lincoln.

Since the late 1990s, when renovation efforts began on the 1929 Mayan revival theatre, this dedicated group of volunteers and donors has formed the backbone of The Lincoln's renaissance. They serve as ushers (significantly reducing operational costs), contribute funds that enable programming expansions, and create the vibrant atmosphere that makes The Lincoln Theatre special. Their support has been instrumental in revitalizing the film program, maintaining the historic facilities, and preventing the theatre from returning to the state of neglect it experienced in the late 1970s.

Membership comes with meaningful benefits - priority ticket access, substantial discounts of $5-10 on performances, free admission for volunteer ushers, and tax-deductible contribution status. But perhaps the greatest reward is participating in the preservation of a cultural gem in Marion, Virginia. The Lincoln's community involvement extends beyond entertainment, partnering with the town government, local businesses like Food City, and veterans' organizations to create programming that serves the entire region.

Ready to join the standing ovation for community arts? Become a Friend of The Lincoln by visiting thelincoln.org or stopping by 117 East Main Street in Marion, Virginia, and help ensure this historic theatre continues to captivate audiences for generations to come.

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-6092

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theatre, where
history and entertainment stealthe show.
Dive into the rich legacy ofthis iconic Mayan revival
theatre, from its 1929 debut toits starring role in Marion,
virginia's entertainment scene.
Guiding us through this journeyis the man in the spotlight,
our executive director, bobWatkins.

(00:23):
Spotlight, our executivedirector.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Bob Watkins.
Behind every great theater is agreat community, and at the
Lincoln, that community is knownas friends of the Lincoln.
So what exactly do they do andhow do they help keep the magic
alive?
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, here, co-host slashproducer, back in the studio

(00:47):
with Bob Watkins, executivedirector of the Lincoln Theater.
Bob, how are you doing today?
I'm doing good, skip.
How are you getting along?
I'm doing just fine.
Doing just fine.
I'm loving the warmer weather.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
It is nice.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
It is very nice.
It is very nice.
Well, bob, we've talked aboutin several episodes.
You've referred to a supportgroup that you have called
Friends of the Lincoln and Ithought maybe you've referred to
a support group that you havecalled Friends of the Lincoln
and I thought maybe you knowtoday we could talk about what
exactly is Friends of theLincoln and what impact does it
have on the theater?

Speaker 3 (01:14):
The Friends of the Lincoln has been huge for the
theater here since the verybeginning of the renovation
process back in the late 90s andearly 2000s.
The Friends of the Lincoln wascreated as a volunteer base for
doing some of the renovation butalso the fundraising efforts to
try to secure some funds fromlocal residents and supporters
of the theater so we can goahead and continue doing what

(01:37):
we're doing here and it's justcontinued to build.
We get more and more peopleevery year to see the importance
of what we do, and the Friendsof the Lincoln are just the
helping hands that contributemonetarily or volunteer services
for ushering and things likethat.
So it's a long list ofindividuals that definitely help
us do what we want to do forour community.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Awesome, well, what type of programs or projects
have been made possible throughtheir support?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
programs or projects have been made possible through
their support.
Well, like I said, a lot of theprogramming with the ushers
assistance.
Those are volunteers that arepart of the Friends of the
Lincoln as well, so that saves asignificant amount of costs on
show performances.
So we don't have to do a wholelot of salary costs and
administrative costs there withthat.
But some of the other thingsthat it has supported is our

(02:26):
film program.
We did secure a grant but wealso received some donations
from patrons that wanted to havefilm back in the Lincoln
Theater so we can go ahead andrejuvenate the screen that we
had and get a better projector,do a lot of the AV setups with
that.
So with those funds we wereable to get some matching grants
as well to support that andoffset some of those costs for

(02:48):
us.
And then just the decor aroundthe theater, just maintaining
the Friends of the Lincoln.
That program definitely helpshaving the necessary funds to
where we can go ahead andmaintain the facilities here and
continuously keep those updatedso it doesn't go back into the
fall of the late 70s there whenit was starting to be less used

(03:08):
and less appreciated.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Wow, impressive.
Are there any special perks orevents for members?

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, usually everybody that does the
donations and support with theFriends of the Lincoln, we go
ahead and we'll give them firstaccess to tickets.
And we're also doing someticket discounts for the Friends
of the Lincoln for pre-purchasetickets so you can get between
$5 and $10 off tickets at firstlook.
So we'll release those toeverybody with an email and get

(03:38):
them access to that.
And then just also the usheringpart of it.
You definitely get to come inand see all the shows.
You don't have to pay for them.
We provide the free passes tothe movie programs to some of
our volunteers as well.
We're a nonprofit 501c3, so itis a tax deductible charity that
you can write off on taxes atthe end of the year too.

(03:59):
So, yeah, it's a win-win foreverybody that participates and
I do think that the programsthat it allows us to do is a
win-win for our community aswell.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Very cool.
You mentioned matching grantsthat you acquire.
Do you have a grant writer oram I looking at them?

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Well, I am not a qualified grant writer, but I am
the grant writer that wecurrently have right now,
because we do run on a skeletonstaff here at the Lincoln,
because you know, everything isextremely expensive and the
costs of salaries and everythingdefinitely take away from what
we could possibly provide as faras performances.
So, yeah, I am the one thatworks with different local grant

(04:39):
writers around the area thatwork for Virginia tourism, smith
County tourism, so I do getsome assistance with some people
around here that help me withit.
But, yeah, the responsibilityfor all the follow-up and
everything is definitely on myshoulders, and that's a
difficult job.
If people haven't participatedin it, it's very stressful.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
I can imagine.
I have worked with a lot ofnonprofits throughout my career
and been on boards and, yeah,I've had some experience with
that too, so I feel for you, butyou've obviously been really
successful with it.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
Oh yeah, it seems to continue to work, work really
well.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, obviously, communityinvolvement is important to the
theater's mission.
You mind talking a little bitabout that, about how it helps.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
When they first opened up the theater again, we
have provided people anopportunity to go ahead and put
their name and their stamp onthe theater.
So we did different things withnaming a chair or commemorative
chairs for people to go aheadand put those nameplates.
But then further on in that westarted to get a lot more
community involvement with thetown, with the county, with

(05:44):
different industries withinSmith County as well KVAT and
Food City.
They're a big contributor here.
The town of Marion is anotherone and with that we also work
with the town on providingaccess to our theater.
If they wanted to do meet andgreet for town council
representatives or individualsthat are running for different
offices within the town as well,we use our stage and provide

(06:08):
that at no cost, since there isthat support and it's definitely
something that we want to sharewith the community.
And then other specialtyprograms that we do with the
community are working with theVFW American Legion, and with
the VFW American Legion we're inthe process of trying to build
a Veterans Day program here towhere every Veterans Day we
would have one location to getas many people in as possible to

(06:31):
give support to our veteransand share our appreciation.
So those are a lot of things.
It's really nice to have atheater like this in a small
community, because everybodytends to appreciate the gem that
we have in our small community,because everybody tends to
appreciate the gem that we havein our small community.
So, yeah, there's very closeinteraction with the community
and we definitely like to hearfeedback from them and try to
provide the performances thatthey want to see.

(06:52):
Very cool.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, maybe, Bob, this is a pretty significant
thing for the theater.
Maybe we could have in a futureepisode, maybe we could have a
member of.
Do you have a chair for theFriends of the Lincoln?

Speaker 3 (07:05):
That's with our board of directors.
We have a fundraising board ofdirector chair, so they kind of
work with a lot of the Friendsof the Lincoln as well as I to
go ahead and find out what wecan do to improve upon it and
things like that.
Yeah, I would love to havesomebody on that contributes
annually and has that passionthat we have for what we're

(07:27):
providing.
That sounds like a great idea,skip.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, we'll plan on doing thatand appreciate your time today
and I'll let you get back torunning the theater and we'll
see you in the next episode, allright, thanks a lot.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Have a good one.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
Thanks for tuning in to On Stage with the Lincoln
Theater.
Want more of Mary andVirginia's entertainment scene?
Visit us online atthelincolnorg yes, that's
thelincolnorg or drop by ourtheater at 117 East Main Street.
Let's keep the arts alive andkicking together.