The Vernon Film Society wishes to congratulate The Morning Star on its 25th anniversary.
Reading through your anniversary issue June 9, members of the VFS executive were reminded of what an important part the The Morning Star has played in the life and success of the VFS.
To review, we resurrected the film society and began showing films at the Okanagan College lecture theatre during the fall of 1983 using 16-millimetre film. This size film was produced in a limited variety of second-run films for distribution to U.S. armed forces bases around the world.
Early in the next decade, downsizing of the military after the collapse of the Soviet Union meant the films in this format were no longer available to us so a transition to 35-millimetre film meant moving to a new venue. The Towne Theatre had a big projector, big screen, big sound and seating for about 450 viewers, and so, a big change for the VFS, coincidently along with the relatively recent introduction of a new publication, The Morning Star. This was “the beginning of a beautiful relationship”, to quote Ric in Casablanca.
About 15 years ago, we became part of the Film Circuit, a group of film societies connected to the Toronto International Film Festival. At this time, there are about 180 film societies in our country, and the VFS ranks fifth in annual attendance in this group, in large part due to the help of The Morning Star and the public service announcement program.
As a result of our success and in support of our mandate, the VFS has been able to donate money for scholarships to high school and college students studying film media, as well as equipment to schools for their film media programs.
Over the years, we have been dealing with Kristin Froneman and Katherine Mortimer at The Morning Star, and have nothing but the highest of praise for their help and co-operation in managing your PSAs and our relationship with your publication and the public. Without a doubt, our success is directly related to our closed relationship with Gerry Sellars at the Vernon Towne Cinema, and your help at The Morning Star.
Again, congratulations to The Morning Star for your 25 years of helping us to bring quality films to the citizens of Vernon in particular, and the Okanagan Valley in general.
Charles Wills
Vernon Film Society
