In a story related to the Island Theatre last weekend (with a happy ending), there was an article in the Boston Globe about Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre. Built in 1933 after suffering for similar reasons as most theatres, today it contributes to “a strong fun quotient in the heart of Harvard Street,” the story reported. Thanks to the efforts of local movie buffs and town activists it avoided becoming a cluster of “forgettable boutiques” or T-shirt stores. A developer planned to acquire the property for “commercial and office use” with demolition part of the equation for the Art Deco building. This was 1989 when tough times in the movie business coincided with steep residential property taxes — and town leaders saw an opportunity to increase the commercial tax base with businesses other than a theatre. The Brookline Historical Commission delayed demolition, and “the rescue of the Coolidge Corner Theatre is a pure example of people coming together to save an institution that gave shared meaning to their lives, right down to the donation boxes spread around town that evoked a scene from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Thanks to an independent film buff, a Brookline resident with urban development experience, a history teacher and a civic minded attorney, the nonprofit Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation was formed. Unable to raise $2.6 million to buy the theatre, a real estate mogul bought the building and leased it back to the foundation for 99 years. Along with great PR, it’s easy to see the potential tax advantage of such a move, like stepping up the basis for depreciation purposes or taking a loss from no doubt, a below market rate on the lease. Today the foundation is managed by a more experienced financial group but the article went on to say the original folks “grasped the movie house as a social institution, established the human networks needed to keep it alive, and foresaw the economic importance of the theatre to nearby restaurants, [and] shops . . . This movie house had been measured for a death shroud until its supporters changed the ending. Now it’s shining bright.”

Oak Bluffs can do that with the Island Theatre — the fifth oldest in the nation, slated for its 100th birthday next year. Shout out to West Tisbury reader Craig Browne — a Brookline resident off season — who shared the Boston Globe story with me.

The National Civil Rights Museum is honoring our own Charlayne Hunter-Gault with the International Freedom award along with other honorees educator and civil rights activist Dr. Robert P. Moses, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Frank E. Robinson, and journalist Tom Brokaw. Charlayne was one of the first students to integrate the University of Georgia and is an award-winning journalist with over 40 years of experience. Her global career is recognized for her human rights reporting on apartheid in South Africa for NPR, her CNN series on Zimbabwe, and her PBS human rights TV magazine. On Dec. 2, she will also be honored at Black Enterprise Magazine’s 2015 Women of Power Summit alongside Susan L. Taylor, Pam Grier and Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum. Charlayne Hunter-Gault is another reason to be proud to be from Oak Bluffs, congratulations from us all. Just about everyone who was planning to has left and most of the seasonal stores are closed for winter. The Flying Horses has been repainted its historic barn red — and it’s nice to see the matching monochromatic trim on surrounding buildings like the Old Variety Store, Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank and Surfside across the street. Season’s is plywooded over for construction as is the alley adjacent to Ben & Bill’s, no doubt for more positive changes on Circuit avenue.

In the arena of cooperative good news, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital volunteer Angela Roderick organized a successful effort where all of the Island’s libraries donated books for patients. The hospital, benefactor of several Lois Mailou Jones pictures, now has them on display. The Martha’s Vineyard Museum is looking for Vineyard scenes from the late artist for a show this summer; please reach out if you have or know someone willing to loan samples of Lois Mailou Jones’s work.

The skies look promising for Monday night’s display of the annual Leonid meteor storm.

An article in the New York Times last week describes a “passive nostalgist” as one who laments the loss of a favorite spot un-visited for years. Let’s not find ourselves nostalgic over the Island Theatre.

Keep your foot on a rock.

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