Henn Theater

[Eddie Shoe]

Having just visited Murphy from SE Florida in mid-May, my better half and I were smitten by the beauty of the mountains and charm of the area. I saw some construction debris around the Henn Theater and was not aware of the March fire. In fact, my first thought was that the theater might be slated for demolition. I was delighted to learn otherwise today.

I love old theaters...big and small...and only wish I could have had a glimpse of the reconstruction going on inside.


BTW....sorry for my sorry picture. It was taken at a Halloween party my duo played. Its the only pic I could find. Probably a good thing....cuzz I have a face made for radio. :)

Eddie

[Stacy S. Howard]

Have no fear Mr. Shoe, cause we here in Murphy, NC would have a fit if the Henn Theater closed down again!!! We will not let that happen, and i'm pretty sure Mr. Grove wouldn't either. So, the next time u and you're better half are back up this way, u can enjoy a movie and popcorn at the Henn!!

[Dena Howard]

Hi Eddie - It's a shame you weren't online with us at the time. The owner of the Henn is good friend of mine. His name is Bill Grove. He's a great guy - He would have probably taken you inside and shown you around! Next time you're up this way, let us know and maybe we can set that up! The Henn Theatre has some really neat historical movie items.

Great to see new faces on here **even if you do have a face made for radio!** haha.

[John Dilbeck]

Good evening, Eddie.

As someone who also has a face made for radio, I understand what you mean, but when you find a good pic or have one taken, we'd like to see you better. It's never stopped me!

;)

I agree with Dena. Bill's a great guy and I'm sure he'd love to show you around the Henn Theater the next time you visit. There's a lot of history related to the theater and P. J. Henn and Betsy Henn took good care of it before Bill became the owner a few years ago. It's a town treasure.

All the best,

JD

PS. Which part of Florida are you from? I lived near Vero Beach for about five years in the early 1960s.

[Eddie Shoe]

Stacy, Deana, John...
Thanks for the warm, Murphy welcome.
Single screen movie theaters are an endangered species and I admire the appreciation you have for the Henn....and for Bill Grove.

John, I am just up the road from Vero in Stuart. If you were to come back now...I am not sure you would recognize the area. Lots of changes since the 60's. In the 60's, Stuart was more like Murphy is today. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I find it so appealing.

Eddie

[John Dilbeck]

Good afternoon, Eddie.

I first went to the Henn Theater in the mid-1970s and loved it the very first time. I'm happy to see it is in good hands with Bill.

I have a cousin who lived in Vero Beach when I did, but she lives in West Palm Beach, now. She says I wouldn't recognize anything after being away all this time. Actually, I lived about five miles west of Wabasso in a 600 acre orange grove. Dad cared for several thousand acres of citrus groves the five years we lived there.

One of the worst sunburns I ever had was after spending a weekend fishing and oystering at the Sebastian inlet.

Now, I'm just rambling.

All the best,

JD

[Derek Cheek]

My family and I went to the Henn on "re-opening" night to see "Night at the Museum II". The improvements look great and we were so excited that Bill had re-opened. Bill, Beth, and all the staff and friends have done a tremendous job!!!!!!!!!!

[Dena Howard]

I've got to get over there and check it out. Bill needs to get on here and post some pics of the improvements they've made.

[John Dilbeck]

That's a great idea.

Why don't you invite him to do that?

[Dena Howard]

haha - i did smarty pants! right after you ... on facebook.

[Eddie Shoe]

Deana....
Your reference to John about Facebook got me thinking.
Apparently you and John are far more cyber-ific than I.
Last night Conan O'brian said YouTube, Twitter and Facebook were merging. Soon it will be known as YouTwitterFace.

I think I will just have to stay with email for now. :)

If Bill Grove could take some interior pics of the theater, that would be fantastic.

Eddie

[Dena Howard]

HAHA!! I actually laughed out loud at that one. Mainly because I just got off Twitter, YouTube & Facebook!! That's just too funny. Actually you're on the "Murphy version" of Facebook. lol. So, you're getting there. I'll check with Bill and see if I can get him to post some pics of Henn. ttyl (I'm excited because I uploaded a video to YouTube on Wednesday night and it already has 190 views - **congrats to my kids at church**)

[John Dilbeck]

Today, I went to the Murphy SpringFest and spent a couple of hours walking around.

I had a pleasant surprise when I walked past the Artists Common Gallery on Tennessee Street and saw Betsy Henn sitting outside drawing a portrait of her grandson.

We had a pleasant visit and got to talking about her father, P. J. Henn, who started the Henn Theater way back in the early 20th century.

We were talking about the theater and I mentioned this thread. It turns out that she doesn't use a computer, but before I left we agreed that we could get together and jot down her memories of some stories related to the Henn Theater and her dad.

I'm hoping that we'll be able to post several updates over the coming weeks and maybe even tell a couple of stories that only she knows.

All the best,

JD