To the editor: This is in reply to a recent "Letter to the Editor" concerning the Ashland and Medford theaters and their usherettes.
    The woman who wrote the letter doesn't seem to realize that children, referred to by her as "monkeys," are also entitled to their rights as theatergoers. She forgets that an usherette's life is a difficult one, and if these small children were stopped from their "every-five-minute" pilgrimage to the restrooms the results would be disastrous.
    The Saturday matinee is "their day," and they pay what they consider a large price to see whether their serial "queen" will get away again or not.
    Since when has the education for children begun at the theater? I always thought that a child was taught its manners at home and its manners reflected its environment. We, the usherettes, do not consider ourselves as part-time teachers, nor do we overlook the fact that this situation is becoming bad. If we browbeat these small charges of ours, not only do we run the chance of losing our job but we also have a flock of irate mothers on our necks complaining that "little Johnny or Janie" was mistreated.
    Why doesn't this woman address her letter to the mothers whose duty it is to train their children, instead of the already misunderstood and overworked usherettes?
    We would also like to add that the younger generation will try to be better when asked--it's the older patrons who are very difficult to handle and become most indignant when spoken to.

    Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1924. The first movie shown at Hunt's Craterian is "In Hollywood," a comedy with Norma and Constance Talmadge.
    The theater, on Central Avenue near Main, opened the night before with a stage show, the actor Elliott Dexter in a dramatic reading.
    Thursday, Aug. 23, 1984. The last Hollywood movie to be shown is "Sheena," a fantasy about a woman who rules jungle animals.
    About 60 days short of 60 years after the Craterian opened, Maestri Management Corp., San Francisco, has decided to close the theater, except for an occasional special program. Spanish-language movies will continue at the Craterian on Sundays. An evening repeat of the usual Sunday Spanish matinee has been added on a trial basis.
    Robert Maestri, president of MMC, said Thursday from San Francisco that a number of factors governed the decision to close the theater. Most are related to poor attendance brought about in part by the increase in the number of movie theaters in southern Oregon in the last five years.
    In 1979, Medford had three indoor one-screen theaters: the Holly, the Craterian and the Cinema Center, all operated by subsidiaries of MMC, which also owns and operates the Starlite Drive-in.
    Now, in Medford, the Medford 4 Cinemas and Cine 4 have eight screens between them. In White City, The Movies operates six screens under one roof. In Ashland, the Varsity has four, including a 16-millimeter theater. The Rogue River Cinema in the city of Rogue River has one screen. Medford 4 Cinemas is owned and operated by a subsidiary company of MMC. The others are competing theater interests.
    Another reason is the scarcity of suitable "product" to divide among the theaters. Maestri said that he has had increasing difficulty in trying to find the kind of picture he'd like to book into the Craterian. He said that booking family-type pictures into the theater hasn't worked as well as it once did, because families usually go now to the smaller, newer theaters which have more modern equipment and convenient parking.
    The Craterian, Holly, Starlite and Cinema Center are operated by Oregon-California Theaters Inc. Don I. Evans is the district manager in Medford.
    Oregon-California leases the Craterian from Central Avenue Properties Inc. and the Rogue Valley Art Association, which each own undivided half interest in the building. Principals in Central Avenue Properties are Mrs. Shirley Lowry and Medford lawyers Otto Frohnmayer and William Deatherage.
    Evans said the lease between Oregon-California Theaters and the building owners expires in January 1985.
    Maestri said that projected operating overhead during the winter months is high in comparison with the theater's thin box office receipts, so he decided to close it.
    "Otto Frohnmayer's been about the most wonderful landlord we could ever have," Maestri said, adding, "We're just not getting enough people to go there."
    Jean Boyer Root, speaking for the art association, said Thursday that announcement of any plans for future use of the theater would be premature at this time.
    Evans has previously said that should the theater be used for stage shows, extensive remodeling would be required to bring the structure up to code. He said the stage would have to be reinforced, among other necessary renovations.
    The Craterian seats about 800 people, about 50 fewer than the Holly. Maestri said that the single-screen design of both theaters limits the programs they can offer.
    Maestri said he has no plans to close the Holly. He said that MMC redecorated the interior and exterior of the Holly a few years ago. The corporation owns the Holly, at the corner of Holly and Sixth streets, and rents office and shop space in the theater building.
    The Robert L. Lippert Co., predecessor to Maestri, began operating theaters in Medford in 1947. Other theaters included the Esquire, once located on the south side of East Main Street near the Bear Creek bridge, and the Rialto, on West Main Street in the present location of the Weeks and Orr furniture store. Maestri's father was Lippert's partner. He acquired the company after Lippert's death.
    Maestri said, "I think we've reached kind of a textbook case in this particular instance. Old downtown theaters just become old."
Medford Mail Tribune, August 24, 1984, page B3