Quitman, Grand Saline, Winnsboro, Lindale, Van – a list of towns in the immediate vicinity that once had a motion picture theater and no longer do. Mineola remains one of the last remaining hold-outs. The man charged with the responsibility of saving cinema in Mineola is George Jones.   

Jones has been the executive director of the Lake Country Playhouse and Historic Select Theater since 2021.

“My job,” he noted, “is to save the magic of cinema.”

He is well-suited for that task. Jones has spent his entire adult life working in the entertainment industry, most of it in East Texas and the Metroplex. With rural roots in Upshur County (Bettie), Jones draws on that experience of seeing his first motion picture show at the age of five.

“I went kicking and screaming to that first movie at the Strand Theatre in Gilmer, I wanted to be outside playing,” Jones recalled. His mother had taken him to town to see an animal nature film titled, ‘The Wonder of it All.’

“When that big screen lit-up for the first time, I was mesmerized,” he admitted.

The Strand has long since closed down – there is no longer a movie house in Gilmer – but the experience of that first motion picture shaped his life.

Jones has brought that lifetime of cinema experience to Mineola. With summer fast approaching, he often reflects on that initial viewing from his childhood as he puts the theater’s summer program together.

It is advertised as Kid’s Summer Movie 2024. Commencing June 1, the theater will show G-rated kids movies twice a week – on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. and Tuesday afternoons at 2 p.m.  A reduced rate ticket or ticket-popcorn-soda combo price will be available. A movie ticket goes for $3 or $5.50 for a ticket/snack combo.  

Jones explained that it is the second year for the summer program. In addition to giving families a cost-effective outing in the summer, it also exposes kids to the joy of cinema. A second program, for the month of July, will be announced after factoring in lessons-learned from June. 

Not to be missed in this initiative is the multi-generational aspect of the summer program.

“One of the most rewarding things to see is grandparents bringing their grandchildren to the summer showings. In some cases grandparents watch the same movie with their grandkids that they had watched as children and in the same theater. It’s just special.”

Jones recounted one of his favorite memories – that of a grandmother and her two young grandsons who came to watch ‘Where the Red Fern Grows.’  Speaking with the family afterward, Jones was struck by the emotional impact of the shared experience of the three. “It was a magical moment,” he noted.

With brick and mortar theaters quickly disappearing throughout the country, Jones sees his duties with the Select Theater as threefold: to provide entertainment with a family-first priority, to keep the Select Theater in the positive side of the ledger so as to ensure its continuing longevity in Mineola and to nurture a love of the arts among the younger generations. 

The first two objectives are closely related. The desire to show exclusively family-oriented movies must be balanced with showing films which will keep the theater financially viable. Jones offered the example of the newly released ‘Civil War’ and the inspirational film ‘Unsung Hero.’

Jones explained that while ‘Unsung Hero’ certainly meets the objective of providing wholesome entertainment for families and youth, the major motion picture production ‘Civil War’ will out-earn ‘Unsung Hero’ by  four or five-fold. Despite being a non-profit organization, economics are economics, and maintaining the theater in the black is key to its survival.

Also critical to longevity is nurturing a love of the arts among the young. In the past three years since taking over, Jones has led the renovations of the Second Stage Annex directly across Johnson Street. The seasonal productions and summer acting workshops (three age groups from 3-18) are both going strong with great community support.

Special events at the Select which have recently been introduced include a Celtic Christmas, a paranormal convention, live music performances and ‘who done it’ mysteries.  

As Jones explains it, each of these initiatives serve their specific purpose, but they all serve to ensure the long-term viability of the Playhouse and Theater. 

The experience which Jones brings to the table also plays a huge role in mission success. Having worked as a theater troubleshooter for many years, Jones is knowledgeable of every aspect of the business and savvy enough to adopt practices to the unique environment of Mineola.  

That includes partnering with church groups and local schools to stage special showings – complete with kid-sized popcorn and drinks. Jones explained that it was important to provide positive experiences for children at the theater so that, in time, they will want to preserve it for their children to experience.

“Coming to the Select should be an escape for everyone,” Jones stated. “Everyone who works here is considered family, and I can name most of the folks who come to enjoy a show. Identifying new faces is pretty easy. “

In his personal film library, Jones holds over 4,000 titles, with an affinity for the classics. His favorite movies are ‘An American Tail,’ ‘The Secret of NIMH,’ and ‘Where the Red Fern Grows.’