Historic Preservation Month will feature Dogie Theater

By Lucille Dumbrill
 
The Weston County Historic Preservation Committee and the Alliance for Historic Wyoming, supported by the Weston County Museum District, are sponsoring a question and answer panel with Gerald Bullard, owner of the Dogie Theater. The program will be presented on May 4, 2019 at 2 p.m. at the Michaels Room at the Weston County Senior Center.
The Dogie Theater in Newcastle is on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building of the Newcastle Historic Downtown District. The theater was first opened in 1951 under the ownership of Ester Shorty and Cleveland Shenton. Gerald Bullard purchased the Dogie Theater in 1986 and has provided entertainment there since that time. The community is fortunate to have a historic theater that is still used for its original purpose, showing movies.
The public is invited to come and experience an afternoon of memories about the movie industry, movie theaters, and some movies of the past. Gerald Bullard, owner of the Dogie Theater, will contribute his unique experience to the discussion. Mr. Bullard has owned the Dogie Theater for more than 30 years, as well as owning and operating other theaters in the area throughout the years. Persons with special interest in the Theater — Leonard Cash, Valerie Pollat, and Lucille Dumbrill — will participate on the Panel.
In addition to this program, the Dogie Theater will be sponsoring “Matinee,” a free movie, on May 11, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. at the Theater. The community is invited to attend a special showing of “The African Queen” with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. This film was released in 1951, the year the Dogie opened its doors to the public. Humphrey Bogart won his only Academy Award for his performance in this movie.