Memorial Hall Elevator Opening On Saturday March 19 the Carlyle Memorial Hall Board sponsored an official opening and free concert with refreshments to celebrate the new elevator that has been installed in the Hall. The elevator was initially proposed so that patrons with limited or restricted mobility could still attend movies and activities in the theatre. A number of different options were explored, including chair lifts up the stairs and a number of potential locations for the elevator.
Cornerstone Theatre adopted the elevator as its most recent upgrade, and proceeded to fund raise in a number of ways. A major grant was received from Spectra Credit Union, and funds were also received from The Carlyle Lions and The Homespun Committee.
A number of people in Carlyle made personal donations, and with the funds raised through a number of performances, funding was sufficient to proceed. The project construction started just after Christmas 2010 and was completed in time for the opening on March 19.
During the Opening Ceremonies, Doug Waldner, Hall Board Chair spoke, thanking all those who made this project possible. Don Shirley, Mayor of Carlyle spoke, expressing the Town's pleasure at the completion of this project. Paul Twietmeyer, Designer and General Contractor for this project, also spoke expressing his happiness at its successful completion. After the speeches, the official ribbon cutting took place, with Mayor Shirley and Mr. Twietmeyer holding the ribbon, with the scissors wielded by Mr. Nels Dunn. Mr. Dunn was a long time Hall Board member, and dedicated volunteer to the hall. In addition he and his late wife Florence diligently attended productions in the hall, so Cornerstone Theatre decided to honour his contributions by asking him to cut the ribbon. After the Ribbon Cutting, Mr. Dunn took the ceremonial first ride in the elevator up to the theatre.
The attendees were invited to join Mr. Dunn in what is now being referred to as "the Green Room" for coffee and refreshments. This room is currently the Store Front School, and has been the original location for Shirnell Video and was originally the meeting room for the Carlyle Branch of the Order of the Eastern Star. This room has been opened to the theater with a door to ensure that those with limited mobility are not inconvenienced.
A free concert then took place in the theater and patrons were invited to freely move about to enjoy the concert and refreshments. Performers at the concert included Liam Easton of Kennedy, recent performer at Telemiracle, Carlyle's own Emily Klatt, accompanied by Naomi Holter, recording artist Lorri Solomon, accompanied by Lane Easton of Kennedy. Lane Easton then performed a couple of songs by himself. The Twietmeyer family, Paul, Dianne, Jesse and Samantha, again accompanied by Naomi Holter performed a few songs, one of which was a dedication by Sam and Jesse to members of Cornerstone Theatre. The concert was closed with a singalong, ably led by Dianne Twietmeyer and Wendy Rounce in which all performers and members of Cornerstone Theatre were invited onto the stage and audience members were encouraged to join in.
