IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVING PAGE 2 merrittherald.com
TWO TONS OF FOOD PAGE 8
POZZOBON IN LAND OF OZ PAGE 19
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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT The Country Christmas parade overtook downtown Merritt on Nov. 29. Merrittonians lined the streets by the hundreds to catch a glimpse of the lit-up floats as they made their way through town. For more pictures of Christmas-themed activities in the Nicola Valley, turn to page 10 or pick up a copy of the Tuesday, Dec. 3 edition of the Merritt Herald. Michael Potestio/Herald
Cinema Society seeking funds for land By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
The countdown is on for the Merritt Community Cinema Society to raise $275,000 to pay for the piece of property it wants to build a four-bay, first-run movie theatre on. The society has until Dec. 19 to pay for the property it secured in early November.
So far, the group has about $30,000 in the bank and about $70,000 promised to them, but Cinema Society member Kurt Christopherson said now is the time for community members to show their support for the project. The society is looking at the local business community to help cover the remaining cost as the project is intended to help revitalize
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Merritt’s downtown core, Christopherson said. “We think this is our kick at the can but we need your help,” he told about 30 people from the local business community at Brambles on Tuesday evening. “You need a firm foundation to start with. I think the business community is the firm foundation,” he said. Christopherson said while the group has a contingency
plan if it doesn’t get the full amount from locals, the idea is to show enough community support for the project for it to go ahead and for the society to seek larger corporate sponsors. “I don’t want to say we have all the money. We’ve got some guarantees that we can get it, but that won’t solve the problem. It has to come from the grassroots, otherwise nobody else will
buy into it,” he said. He said the group won’t be going after any tax dollars in Merritt, although it considers provincial and federal grants fair game. “It’s not going to be a drain on public coffers,” he said. “It’s kind of a philosophical thing, but we think Merritt taxpayers should be paying for the roads, sewers, and water and stuff like that.”
He said federal and provincial grants tend to favour grassroots movements, and that’s what the society sees this project as. Throughout the meeting, he reiterated the society needs to be able to show other potential sponsors that community members support the project.
See ‘Dec. 19’ Page 9
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