Shelburne Falls makes you work to find some of its gems.
One is its bowling alley. Tourists come and go without ever noticing the tall, narrow sign on Bridge Street with the candle pin and ball on it, directing people down an alleyway between Greenfield Cooperative Bank and the now-closed Village Restaurant.
Just wide enough for one person, the alley leads to the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley, which opened in 1906. It’s a place of beautiful wooden floors and lanes and the reassuring sound of balls rolling back towards you.
Another gem is Pothole Pictures. It’s a few feet from the bowling alley sign, but there is no “Pothole Pictures” sign. The movies happen in Memorial Hall on Bridge Street in a gorgeous theater above Shelburne town offices, with old-fashioned wooden seats, a balcony and a tin ceiling. Decades ago, this is where West County residents came to see all the newly released movies.
Pothole Pictures is a volunteer-run group that plays usually 16 movies a year over 16 weekends. I am on the board, and we show foreign films, black-and-white films, independent films, documentaries, musicals, classics, and well-loved movies we know will draw. I have loved getting to know marvelous movies on the big screen here, such as “The Last Picture Show,” “La Strada,” and “Mostly Martha.” My favorites often involve music. The American-roots driven “O Brother Where Art Thou?” A sing-along “Fiddler on the Roof” (people danced down the aisles). “West Side Story!”
Recently the place to be in Shelburne Falls was the showing of “The Big Lebowski” on April 23.
Board member Janice Sorensen of Buckland turned it into an event, with a costume contest, a trivia contest, virgin White Russians, bowling ball cookies and toe-shaped cookies with green nail polish. (And $1 bags of popcorn, as always.)
Meanwhile, The Frost Heaves and Daniel Hales played originals and then songs from the movie: “Dead Flowers” by the Rolling Stones, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by The Eagles, “Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis Presley, “The Man In Me,” by Bob Dylan, “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” by Kenny Rogers & The 1st Edition, and “Looking Out My Back Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
We always have a half hour of live music before our movies. The music starts at 7, the movie at 7:30. This band puts hours and hours into creating sets for us, all as volunteers. They played at another of my favorite Pothole Picture nights, when we showed “A Hard Day’s Night” in 2014. That time, The Frost Heaves performed the Beatles’ “Love You To,” “I’ll Follow The Sun,” “In My Life,” “Blackbird,” “Two Of Us,” “She She Said,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “Baby You’re A Rich Man.” A bunch of people in the back screamed like 13-year-old British girls in 1964. Afterwards, Daniel Hales confessed it felt good to hear their adoring screams.
For “The Big Lebowski,” The Frost Heaves sported red button-down shirts, black ties and black pants, a perfect reproduction of the pseudo-nihilist band Autobahn as it appeared on the cover of a record the Dude looks at in The Big Lebowski. Autobahn is a parody of a band I liked a little back in college, the German band Kraftwerk. Remember them?
Once the movie ended, a bunch of people walked single-file down the alleyway to the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley. Some bowled, some sipped on non-virgin White Russians, some settled down for a Rolling Rock and a chat about the show. It had been the best attended movie of recent seasons, with 255 sitting in the house over Friday and Saturday.
Now the Pothole Pictures board is invigorated and is looking for a show that will be equally successful. A “Princess Bride” with a sword-fighting demonstration beforehand? “Wizard of Oz” with green witch cookies? A sing-along “Mama Mia” with prizes for the best Abba-inspired costume?
For me, the April showing of “The Big Lebowski” epitomized what I like about living in Shelburne Falls. A democratically run, volunteer board creating a wonderful event. Quirkiness, such as audience members arriving in bathrobes, boxers, bowling shirts and hairnets. People supporting a small business, in this case, the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley. And, mostly, an opportunity to see neighbors and former colleagues and friends at an event we’ll all remember for a long, long time.
Jackie Walsh, a former Recorder reporter, is a fan of all things Shelburne Falls. She lives on Bridge Street as she has since 1996.