Puttin' on the Ritz

Press Release

Release: Immediate

Contact:  Christian Hamilton, 706.898.5777

Date: 07/18/16

RE: Puttin’ on the Ritz

TOCCOA, GA, July 18, 2016 – Main Street Toccoa is happy to officially announce the date and time for its unveiling of the Ritz Theatre marquee at the Schaefer Center. On August 25^th, come down to the Schaefer Center on Doyle Street at 5:30 P.M. for refreshments, live music, and a ceremony, which will conclude with the official unveiling of the marquee.

At 6:15 P.M., we will be recreating the iconic picture of the Ritz Theatre seen below. Please invite any friends and family that may have been a part of the original photograph to come out for the recreation of the picture. All attendees are invited to be a part of this photograph. Main Street Toccoa will also be showing a short clip from Once Upon a Horse, as seen on the marquee in the historic photograph. At 7 P.M., the marquee installation will be celebrated with a free movie for all, Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out, co-sponsored by the Toccoa-Stephens County Public Library.

 The construction of the marquee is due partly to a grant from the Fox Theater Institute in Atlanta. The installation of this historically-inspired marquee will help serve to make the Ritz Theatre a focal point in Downtown Toccoa for the foreseeable future.

The Schaefer Center has been a staple in Downtown Toccoa for many years. After its tenure as the Ritz Theater in the mid-1900s, the Schaefer Center was purchased and renamed by Mrs. Orville Schaefer. Soon after, it was bought by the Currahee Arts Council and became a community theater and performing arts venue. In 1999, the Currahee Arts Council installed a brick veneer over the front façade, covering the original iconic Art Deco design. The City bought the Schaefer Center from the Currahee Arts Council in 2014 and began renovations to restore the Schaefer Center. The first renovations began in 2012 through a collaboration between the City of Toccoa and the Currahee Arts Council, and were both interior and exterior, culminating with the restoration of the original front façade. The reinstallation of the Ritz Theatre marquee is just the next step in restoration of the historic Schaefer Center.

For more information about Puttin’ on the Ritz, please contact Sharon Crosby at the Main Street office at 706.282.3309

###