ARCOLA - The Optimist Club of Arcola is holding a special night at the town’s Mac Murray Theatre.
On Nov. 12, country music’s Alex Runions Trio will perform many of Runions’ own songs. Runions is a singer who used to live in Kipling.
Growing up, he always loved music and would make up songs and sing them on his way to school.
Runions then heard his cousin sing at a wedding, and it was then that he wanted to be able to sing and perform like that one day.
At the age of 15, Runions was in a high school band and his love for music continued to grow.
Runions won the 2016 Saskatchewan Country Music Award for Entertainer of the Year and also received Male Vocalist of the Year.
In 2021, with COVID-19 rules still lingering, he wrote his 11th song, I’ll do the Driving.
Runions has performed at places such as Country Thunder in Craven, the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta., and the Grey Cup Festivals.
He also recently became a first-time dad to a little girl, which he said has changed his life a great deal.
The Optimist Club of Arcola enjoys promoting Saskatchewan artists.
According to Blake Brownridge, the president of the Arcola Optimist Club, the theatre is open the first weekend after Thanksgiving and then closes the weekend before the Victoria Day long weekend.
The Mac Murray Theatre plays movies on Friday and Saturday nights with a start time of 8 p.m.
Brownridge said the theatre is run solely by the Optimist Club and many volunteers. The high school students from Arcola can be seen working many weekends. He feels it is a fantastic way to keep the youth busy.
The club took over the theatre in the 1990s, holding events for youths, as this is what the club focuses on.
There active members are already busy planning the 30th anniversary of the snowmobile rally, but right now the main focus is on a full house for the Alex Runions Trio concert.
