Maynard author and historian David Mark will speak about the long and storied history of motion pictures in Maynard, which dates back to 1902. In the 1920s, Maynard had three movie halls - the Colonial (also known as the Strand), Riverside and Peoples' Theater - all showing double feature movies and often in addition cartoon shorts and sing-alongs. During the silent movie era - which extended into the 1930s - theaters had a live piano player to play music to accompany the scenes. In 1949, Burton Coughlan converted his father's automobile business location on Summer Street into The Fine Arts Theatre. A second theater was added in 1969, later divided in half to give us our current three-screen complex. The current owner, Dafna Krouk-Gordon, has been operating the theater since 2022.

IMAGE: The Maynard Fine Arts Theatre opened on June 29, 1949 with a showing of "The Red Shoes." The building to the right houses the Theatre Creamery, soon to add coffee and pastries to its ice creaming offerings.

Sponsored by the Maynard Historical Commission.