If you were offered tickets to excellent live childrens shows for 34 cents apiece, first youd probably be amazed, then wonder if the tickets were for real, and then buy all you could for your own kids and the neighbors.
Well, thats exactly what has been happening as the years have gone by with the Childrens Theater Festival. You see, the $1 price for tickets originally set in the festivals inaugural year of 1979 had dropped in value thanks to inflation to just 34 cents of comparable buying power in 2009.
Ah yes 1979: a first class stamp cost 15 cents, a gallon of gas ran 86 cents, McDonalds hamburgers were 38 cents apiece, a gallon of milk $1.62, movie tickets averaged $2.51, and the average cost of a new house was $58,100.
Nowadays those prices sound like nostalgic relics yet through the past 31 years the Childrens Theater Festival has held its ticket price for Super Saturday shows to that 1979 $1 each. It hasnt been easy, and was possible only through the generosity of individual and corporate sponsors who contributed funds to keep Super Saturday afloat.
In a tough economy, it would be wonderful to be able to stick with a 31 year old price for a ticket. But that just cant be done any longer and still keep Super Saturday going. So now as year 32 approaches, the time has come to have Super Saturday ticket prices soar all the way up to $2 each . . . which means 68 cents in 1979 money. A huge bargain, even in 2010 money!
Enjoy! Super Saturday is the only festival dedicated to childrens theatre in the state, though many other communities have tried over these 31 years to follow Tryons lead and establish a festival of their own. None has succeeded . . . just this special little town with the help of its neighboring communities and generous donors.
Tickets will go on sale in schools March 1, with ads in the newspapers for general public ticket orders soon after.
The 32nd annual Super Saturday presented by the Childrens Theater Festival will take place in Tryon Saturday, March 20.
For further information on this years performances, go to tryonsupersaturday.com. And if you would like to make a contribution to help support Super Saturday, please call Marianne Carruth at 859-8322, ext. 219.
&bsp;