Our Past, Present and Future
The Avery Memorial Theatre
The historic Avery Theatre is a privately owned by the Scott Valley Theatre Company, a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing arts space in the City of Etna, California. Once a Gold Rush town called “Rough and Ready,” Etna is now home to a cozy population of 700-ish, tucked between Callahan and Fort Jones in a place called Scott Valley, “where the mountains meet the sky.”
Don Avery opened the theatre in 1948, when Disney movies and westerns drew lines of families down the block. By the Summer of 1956, Don had opened the Del Rio Theatre in nearby Happy Camp with a new audience attraction - widescreen Cinemascope - and drafted plans for a theatre in Fort Jones that never left the blueprint phase.
Throughout the decades movies were beloved by Etna, creating indelible memories, every Siskiyou County resident will tell you, “Oh, I remember seeing ____________________ there!” In the 1990’s a stage was built where melodramas, high school plays, concerts, improv comedy, and novelty shows would entertain locals.
Today, there is newfound energy and established leadership targeting a revitalization of the Avery, but we need help. The 300-seat theatre hit a slump during the Covid pandemic and requires some tender loving care to not only reopen but be reinvented.
The Board of Directors of the Scott Valley Theatre Company is seeking donations, grants, and financial gifts for this effort. Such a wonderful location at the foot of the Marble Mountains deserves an A-grade social hub and event center. Its time has come.
But the walls could use some work (asbestos ain’t chill). We need to check the plumbing and expand the bathrooms. Get a bigger movie screen installed. New speakers. Stage and auditorium lighting. Fresh coat of paint and a marquee that lights up with upcoming Music, Movies & Live Theatre events (all shows will have the best popcorn in the area).
On the back of the red upholstered seats at the Avery, dedicated plaques tell a story of love and possibility, but they’ve been empty for too long. This is a place to be preserved and upgraded for this Scott Valley generation and the next. A place to share with neighbors from Mt. Shasta up to Southern Oregon and the traveling PCT hiker.
The potential is limitless, and this community’s ready to work together and achieve these goals.
Thank you for your consideration.
-Robert Alan: President, Crystal Curry :Vice President, Dee Jones :Treasurer, Jennifer Bray, Mike Cress, and Christopher Browne
