GREENVILLE – Greenville My Hometown artist Don Mong presented the original painting of the Wayne Theater to theatre owner Mike Jones. Don, who is a Greenville native, has been supporting fundraising efforts on behalf of the Garst Museum through the sale of a book entitled Greenville My Hometown in the Great Darke County. The main theme of the book is remembering historical homes and other structures of Greenville.
“It’s fantastic, it’s great,” Jones said. “Don was an upperclassman when I was in school. I have seen all his artwork, and it is so fantastic. What he has done over the years is a great contribution to Greenville.”
Don Mong painted the illustrations, and Dr. Steve Gruber provided the illustrations for the new book.
“When Steve and I got together to do the book of the Garst, the Wayne Theatre was such an important part of our upbringing, because we used to go to the show here in high school in the 70s,” Mong stated. “My wife and I used to date in the 70s, and we would come here to go to the movies.”
“It was in a state of disrepair for a while, and then Mike, through his generosity, brought it back,” continued Mong. “I wanted to take one of the paintings from the Garst book about the history of Greenville and donate it to the theatre, so other people could see, and perhaps they could contribute to Greenville and help make Greenville a better place.”
“Mike Jones has done much to preserve several of these homes and buildings, including the Wayne Theatre,” said Gruber. “Having a motion picture theatre once again in downtown Greenville is such an asset to the downtown and the families who enjoy the theatre. Copies of the book are on sale in the Garst Museum store and on Amazon.”
“It is such a joy to be able to recognize Mike and the work he has done here at the Wayne Theatre,” Gruber added. “It is a valuable piece of our community to have a theatre in town where people don’t have to drive a distance, they can bring their families up and see high-quality movie presentations.”
The Wayne Theatre painting will be on display at Wayne Theatre for everyone to view.
“I’m going to hang it up in the lobby,” Jones said. “It’s our pleasure, it’s been a family project, and they’ve come through in flying colors. I am really proud of my family and of the community, also.”
