Curtain to come down on area dinner theater

ST. ANTHONY - Just like all good things, the St. Anthony Dinner Theater productions, which for many folks marked the start of the Christmas season, have come to an end.

Janie Timmerman, the founder and president of the nonprofit, faith-based organization, decided to cease the theatrical productions after a nearly 23-year-run that she said generated over $1.2 million in assistance to roughly 250 families.

"Just like when I started it, I got a message from the Holy Spirit. It took me five years to say yes," she said. "But then I also got a message when it was time to quit. It's time to quit. And the way the year went, there's no way I could have done it with the circumstances with everyone's health and just different things."

Though the Christmas plays at St. Anthony Parish Hall have concluded, the dinner theater will maintain its name and persist in raising donations to help those down-and-out families, Timmerman said.

"There's still a lot of families in need," she said.

The dinner theater is a 501(c)3 agency consisting of a 14-member board, attorney and accountant. It will continue to seek out grants through area organizations and donations from local businesses, with all proceeds going to families.

"We put out a newsletter and we still ask the businesses if they would donate," she said.

The quarterly newsletter spotlights volunteer efforts and offers updates on the families who have been lifted up over the years.

"I'm going to miss the people because I love meeting people. Working with the young people, that's awesome," she said of the actors and hundreds of volunteers required to pull off the productions. "But the people that I really get attached to are the people that we help so that will continue. I keep in contact with probably 90% of them."

Timmerman said some people were sad when news broke about the end of the plays. For them, the 12 performances delivered on weekends in November ushered in the Christmas season.

"They loved the message that we sent every year, the Christian Christmas message," Timmerman said. "And humor. They loved the humor. We always added humor."

Though the dinner theater's emphasis was generating funds for people in distress, it also established a sterling reputation for offering top-notch entertainment. Patrons were escorted to their tables where they enjoyed a formal dinner before before watching a different play each year that lasted up to two hours.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," Timmerman said of the theater, adding the success it enjoyed over two decades exceded her wildest dreams.

The plays boasted casts of as many as 50 actors, a 35-member choir, detailed, professional sets and well-rehearsed scripts and songs.

The Christmas message - the birth of Jesus Christ - resonated with audiences in different ways, she said. After one performance, Timmerman said she encountered a man in his 30s crying in the hallway. She asked if she could help him.

"He goes, 'I need to go back to church, don't I?'" Timmerman recalled. "And I said yes and he walked away. I don't know who he was. I've never seen him since."

She also mentioned receiving a five-page, hand-written letter the summer following the theater's production of "A Second Chance Christmas."

"This person did not want to come but her friends made her come and she found (in the play) that God gave this person a second chance," Timmerman said.

The woman's alcoholism caused her to lose her family, her job and her faith, Timmerman said. But after viewing the play, she sought her own second chance and everything she lost was slowly restored, she said.

Timmerman saidroceeds from the productions were dedicated to families left in dire straits from medical issues. Their stories were highlighted in the annual theater program. Furthermore, additional proceeds are funneled to other families throughout the year who wish to keep a low profile with their situation.

"It's not always that we give them money. Every family is unique. We bought a car. We paid utility bills, electric bills. We've added on, I think, five or six handicapped restrooms," Timmerman said.

The families are grateful for the assistance but also for the seemingly random concern shown for them by strangers, she said.

"They just feel like, 'Somebody is out there that cares for me,'" Timmerman said. "That's a good feeling for them. It's not always the money, it's the people."

The dinner theater will host an online and in-person auction at the St. Anthony Parish Hall on Oct. 8. The time has not yet been set. Set to be auctioned are tables, chairs, desks, costumes, lights, spotlights, microphones, a sound mixing board, Christmas trees, wreaths, bulbs, Nativity sets, chandeliers, props, lumber, plywood, doors and many other items.

"Every penny will go back to families," Timmerman said.