And now, brought to you courtesy of the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Storm King Theater in Cornwall-on-Hudson last week, a promotional message from Mayor Jim Kane:

“Don’t make this village, and don’t make the village square, a pass through. Make it a destination that it really is!”

Kane spoke at that ribbon cutting on October 8, an event attended by about 100 community residents, town and village officials and friends and family of Elizabeth Bruschi and Ray Yannone Jr. The father-daughter duo are the proud owners of the newly re-opened Storm King Theater, the ‘anchor’, one could say, of Cornwall-on-Hudson’s village square.

“You are going to want to come here,” the mayor said, “And I encourage you to come here as often as you can. Take a friend, take a family member. and then go to dinner, a Pepettini, or Painters Tavern, or Storm King Lounge & Fare. Because without you, this will just be a museum to look at, from the outside, or to visit on the inside. We need everyone here, and your family and friends, and visitors to come in here.”

Kane thanked Bruschi and Yannone, as well as New York State – the theater project received NY Forward funding. “It’s been a long run for Ray and family. This started back in 2022, prior to the submission of their project to the New York Forward program, and then the many months spent preparing to submit the project,” Kane said. “It took about a year, and Governor Hochul, fortunately, announced that the village and town was awarded $4.5 million. Of that, there was a little bit over $770,000 for this project.”

It was the only private project in the local NY Forward grant which received funding.

“I remember sitting in the room, listening to their presentation, and I was awestruck in what they wanted to do and the personal investment that they were going to make,” the mayor added. “So, kudos to you; today is a day to celebrate not only the restoration of this beautiful building, but the investment in our community. And it’s the investment by private industry and private individuals, not just money coming from the government.”

He said the impact is likely to be noticed in other businesses near the theatre, and the whole town. “We truly appreciate that. What you’ve done, we proudly welcome Storm King Theater back to our village, and we wish you tremendous success in the future.”

Scott Teresi, president of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, hosted the event, calling it “one we’ve all been waiting a very long time for”.

“In 1935, these doors opened up as a movie house, and through the decades, it has been a variety of different things to different people. It was a movie house. It was a playhouse. It was a dinner theater. It was even an auction house,” he said. “Over that time period, this theater was a place where Cornwall got together, and we are so blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to gather here once again.”

He praised Bruschi and her father for their vision, hard work and patience in making the renovations happen.

“They saw was what it could become, and they’ve now created something anew,” he said.

Bruschi spoke briefly before taking hold of the Chamber’s large pair of scissors, handing them off to her dad, and, with her brother, watched as the ribbon was cut. She then welcomed everyone into the theatre, where lunch was laid out and a band was playing on the theatre’s new stage. Quite a few people sat to take in the show.

Thank you, thank you,” she said. “But this wasn’t just us, there were an incredible amount of people who stood up and offered an immense amount of expertise.”

She listed many of those people who helped with “everything”, from securing the new equipment needed to construction matters to paperwork assistance to personal encouragement and more. “I’m still learning every single day. Thank you, thank you everyone.”

More about those who helped rebuild the theater, as well as its events and history, can be found at stormkingtheater.com. Upcoming movies at the theater (The Addams Family, Coco, Ghostbusters, for instance) and live concerts can also be found on social media at stormkingevents.