Celebrating history of Newcastle's theater

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
Several were present at the Weston County Senior Center in the Michael’s Room on May 4 for a presentation on the historic Dogie Theater to celebrate May as Historic Preservation Month.
The event was sponsored by the Weston County Historic Preservation Board and the Alliance for Historic Wyoming. The Weston County Historical Society and Weston County Museum District also supported the program. 
The program included a panel in which Dogie Theater owner Gerald Bullard discussed his past involvement in the movie theater industry and a Q&A with Leonard Cash, Valerie Pollat and Lucille Dumbrill and others.  
Bullard said his connection with movie theaters began in late 1943 when he was in middle school and living in Centrahoma, Oklahoma. One day, Bullard said, as he and his father were driving through the small town of Stonewall, Oklahoma, their vehicle overheated, and they had to stop in the town. Bullard said that he walked around as they were waiting for the vehicle to cool down, and he came across the theater, which wasn’t in use at the time. Bullard said he recalled that the door was open, so he went inside and looked around. Bullard said that there was a hole in the roof of the building due to a fire that had occurred. 
Bullard said that he went and told his dad that there was a theater and that he thought they could fix it up. Someone from the town told them that a banker in Ada, Oklahoma, would give them a good deal if they promised to get it up and running again. Thus, Bullard and his father got in the vehicle and headed to Ada not far away, hoping to make it to the bank before it closed at noon, because it was a Saturday. 
“We got behind every slow vehicle,” Bullard said. Though they hurried, Bullard said, they barely made it. His father had difficulty finding a parking space, so Bullard jumped out of the vehicle and hurried to the bank. The door was already being locked, but he and his father were let in anyway, according to Bullard. Within 15 minutes, they walked out of the bank — owning the theater in Stonewall and the building next to it. 
“I was really happy about it. I really liked movies,” Bullard said. He also appreciated moving to Stonewall, which was much bigger than his small hometown of Centrahoma, he said.
The movie theater was up and running by March 10, 1944, and it was a success. Bullard helped in the projection room, and things have come a long way since that early equipment. The projection rooms back then had no windows and were completely isolated from the rest of the building. Why? Movie film was easily flammable, and the precautions served to better protect the rest of the theater’s occupants. The downside, however, was that the room was subject to high temperatures, and the person running the projector would get very hot. 
Bullard worked at his family’s theater for many years, before eventually going on and working in other places and on other jobs throughout life. Bullard and his wife, Judy, eventually purchased the Dogie Theater in 1986.
The theater was owned by multiple people who came before Bullard, however. According to the handout from the presentation, Ora and Shorty Cleveland owned Castle Theater and built another theater across the street in 1950. The Clevelands sold that building to Black Hills Amusement of Rapid City later that year. The very first movie shown there was “Two Weeks With Love” in 1951. The Dogie Theater was then sold to Commonwealth Theaters of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1965, and then ownership finally passed on to the Bullards.
Some of those present at the presentation shared memories of the Dogie Theater even before Bullard bought it, such as having birthday parties there and having a photo taken after a movie.
Some changes were made to the theater after Bullard bought it, such as downgrading from 524 seats to 270 seats, allowing more space between the rows.
The Dogie Theater still belongs to Bullard and his wife, and Bill and Shirley Nelson run the theater as managers. Bullard also owns theaters in Alliance and Chadron, both in Nebraska. 
Bullard said that some challenges have arisen for movie theater owners. The switch to digital from film was difficult, according to Bullard. 
“It was a real expensive deal,” Bullard said.
Changes in technology and equipment haven’t been the only ones, however. Bullard said that the movie and movie theater industry have both changed immensely. He expressed disappointment that Hollywood didn’t seem to be producing the kind of movies it had in the past. Additionally, with the advent of television, movie theaters —especially small-town theaters — have become somewhat of a rarity. The Dogie is one such small-town theater, and Bullard said that as long as there’s a good movie, it draws a crowd. 
As far as the future of the beloved historical theater, Bullard said that he hopes that the Nelsons continue to manage the place, and he said that they’ve done a great job running it so far.