Happy Anniversary: Auburn's Silver Screen Classic Movie Series celebrates 25 years

So, your favorite old movie is "Casablanca." Or maybe it's "High Noon" or "Some Like it Hot." If you do have a favorite, odds are you saw the film courtesy of Auburn's Silver Screen series, which has been showing vintage movies to local residents since 1997. How did this 25-year run come to pass, you ask? Enter Susan Rushton. She says her love of old movies is "my mother's fault!" Years ago, when TV movies were not streaming as they are today, a vintage film was often shown at crazy hours, literally in the middle of the night. Rushton's mom would wake her and, at 3 in the morning, they would enjoy Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in "It Happened One Night." This went on for many years and clearly had a positive impact on Rushton's knowledge of, and love for, old movies. Enter now her life partner, Don Rushton. Susan and Don often watched old movies while they were graduate students at Chico State. Their joint love of vintage film was a part of the many connections they have shared over the years. When they eventually settled in Placer County, Susan became part of the Auburn Arts Commission. She offered her time and expertise to show films as a modest fundraiser for the commission. Of course, the fundraiser had to be classic/vintage and thus was born the Silver Screen Movie Series. While movie-goers at the time enjoyed the monthly showings, securing the movies meant the Silver Screen was not breaking even, let alone providing additional resources for the Arts Council. The head librarian at the Auburn Library came to the rescue. It was an "offer you can't refuse." If the library was given credit for hosting the film series, then renting a room at the library would be covered by the library's budget. The library later picked up the cost of the film rentals as well. Silver Screen dodged a bullet and was back in business. If you have attended Silver Screen at the library, you know popcorn and soft drinks are available at modest cost. Proceeds from the concession fund a drawing for simply being present as well as a separate drawing for correctly answering a vintage movie trivia question. Of course, prizes for lucky winners come from an array of vintage movie DVDs. As a Silver Screen movie-goer, I am always appreciative of the time and effort that goes into an introduction to a movie. Rushton treats the eager audience to at least 10 minutes of presentation about the actors, writers and directors. She also assembles a visual display of artifacts that tease details that will appear in each movie. Asked how she has managed to stay motivated in order to achieve a Silver Anniversary for the film series, Rushton was clear: "Think of Tom Sawyer's con game with the now-famous fence-whitewash scene. Doing the painting was work to Tom. To the friends he talked into the project, painting was fun. It has been 25 years of Silver Screen because I love doing it. I regard this as a hobby rather than a job. I get to see old movies on a big screen and do it in little Auburn. I know Silver Screen makes people happy and I know it makes me happy." How can one person do all of this alone? You guessed it. Hubby Don, with degrees in math and civil engineering, is her devoted sidekick and helper, especially with the electronics part of the showings. Thanks, Don. So, what else does Rushton do when she isn't working on Silver Screen? She taught elementary school grades for a number of years and returned to Chico State for an MA degree in English. Her involvement in the local chapter of the American Association of University Women is legendary. She chairs its hugely successful Trivia Bee, which draws the entire community together for a game-style trivia fundraiser. Her new English degree went to work as she handled "general news" stories at the Auburn Journal beginning in 1987. In 1989, she began writing a column, titled "And Another Thing." That commentary is a community favorite some 33 years later. Thank you, Susan, for your enormous dedication to the Auburn area. Thank you for your hard work, your enthusiasm and bundles of energy. And most of all, thank you for 25 years of community enjoyment through your creation of Silver Screen. And, in one last unabashed plug for the movie series, on Jan. 7, 2023, Silver Screen will show the World War II-era movie "Casablanca," at the Auburn Library. That will be the 301st showing of a vintage movie by Rushton and Company. Of course, it has been selected for this landmark time slot since it is Rushton's personal favorite in Silver Screen. Show times are noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30. Says Rushton, "Iconic music and great lines from THIS 1942 movie are part of our culture to this day."