HARMONY, MN - For folks in Fillmore County, weekend nights are often spent catching a movie at the county's lone theater.
But new technology is forcing the theater to come up with some cash, or permanently close its doors.
Now the community is coming together to help keep the credits rolling.
It's truly a one of a kind gem.
"We are the only theater for Fillmore County," said Paul Haugerud.
Paul and his wife Michelle own the JEM Yheater in Harmony.
"It is 100 percent family owned and operated," Haugerud said.
They never expected to reach superstar status.
"When we bought the theater we knew it was gonna make no money. We knew it was gonna be basically like doing community service," Haugerud explained.
But they also didn't expect that new technology could keep their seats empty.
"Now we have to figure out a way to come up with $75,000 dollars to do this conversion to digital," Haugerud said.
The film industry will no longer provide theaters with 35 millimeter film , which means the JEM theater needs to upgrade to a new projector and other digital equipment within one year.
So far the theater has raised $2500 dollars.
"It's such a wonderful place for the family to go," said Emily Nikoloski, the Harmony Chamber Director.
She said the theater is a blockbuster hit in this town of one thousand.
"It brings people to town, and then of course they use other businesses in town, which is also great for Harmony," Nikoloski said.
"We've tried to run it by ourselves and keep it independently owned but it's gotten to the point now where we're looking for some help," said Haugerud.
One thing they can count on is the support from a community determined to save a local treasure.
"We didn't realize that we meant that much to so many people and they've kind of encouraged us to fight for as long as we can to keep our heads above water," said Haugerud.
There are other small theaters in the area facing the same dilemma.
The difference is that most of those are run by cities or businesses that can afford to fund the necessary upgrades.
If you'd like to help out the theater, donations can be made to the JEM Digital Projector Fund at First Southeast Bank in Harmony.
