Sunday, July 19, 2015
An Endangered Species Survives in the Palouse
Along the right hand wall of Howard Hughes Video in Moscow, Idaho sits a section dedicated to the Criterion Collection. In the Criterion Collection you will find "Seven Samurai," the 1954 live-action samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Marc Cramer, a regular customer of Howard Hughes Video since it opened 30 years ago, knows firsthand just what a luxury this is. Cramer briefly moved out of Moscow to Twin Falls, Idaho. In an attempt to find a comparable store in his new town he walked into the Twin Falls local video store. He asked the clerk where he could find "Seven Samurai." Um, I think you can find that in the anime section, the clerk told him.
In Howard Hughes Video, Marc Cramer can find "Seven Samurai" as well as over 30,000 different titles among the neatly organized shelves festooning the aisles and walls of the establishment.
Howard Hughes, not the subject of the Martin Scorsese film "The Aviator" as portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, but a Palouse local businessman, first started Howard Hughes Video simply as a rack of VHS's offered for rental inside his other business, Howard Hughes Appliance, in the mid-1980's.
The store continued to grow as home theater systems became more accessible and affordable, and eventually moved out of Howard Hughes Appliance and into its own building.
Hughes sold off his businesses about ten years ago, and when Howard Hughes Video stopped turning in the profits it had in the past, the store was sold again. The group did well initially, but with the wave of streaming options and RedBox over the past couple years, Howard Hughes Video, like all video stores, has struggled, according to majority owner Patricia Engle.
Hundreds of stores like Howard Hughes Video have been forced to shut their doors over the last decade. Massive franchises like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have ceased to exist. Scarecrow Video, in Seattle, who has one of the largest video collections in the country with over 117,000 titles, had to turn non-profit in order to continue operations.
So what has kept Howard Hughes Video operational when so many others have shut down? It's the community, said Jamie Hill, manager of Howard Hughes Video. The people of Moscow continue coming in to rent their new releases, the hard to find Criterion Collection movies and their British TV programs.
The community aspect is evident anywhere you look in Howard Hughes Video. One example is right next to the employee recommendation section is a customer recommendation section where two customers have their favorite films on display.
In order to have your films on display you have to first answer the trivia question posted on a whiteboard behind the counter. This week's question asks "What do Bill Bixby, Edward Norton, Eric Bana and Mark Ruffalo have in common?" When you correctly answer the question your name goes into the monthly drawing to have your taste on display.
Even so, employees like Ian Pannkuk and Ben Hardcastle worry about the fate of Howard Hughes Video. "People would rather sit on their asses and choose between a few hundred titles than come in and choose between a few thousand.," Hardcastle said.
Engle has reached out to the loyal customers of Howard Hughes Video as well as members of the Moscow community in an attempt to keep the store operational. Howard Hughes Video has not been profitable in about three years, according to Engle, and they are working desperately to try to find a solution to keep it open.
Howard Hughes Video is such a big part of the Moscow community, it would be a shame to have to close down, said Engle. A group headed by Engle and including members of the community meets every few weeks for brainstorming sessions on how to save the business.
Marc Cramer, a regular customer of Howard Hughes Video since it opened 30 years ago, knows firsthand just what a luxury this is. Cramer briefly moved out of Moscow to Twin Falls, Idaho. In an attempt to find a comparable store in his new town he walked into the Twin Falls local video store. He asked the clerk where he could find "Seven Samurai." Um, I think you can find that in the anime section, the clerk told him.
In Howard Hughes Video, Marc Cramer can find "Seven Samurai" as well as over 30,000 different titles among the neatly organized shelves festooning the aisles and walls of the establishment.
Howard Hughes, not the subject of the Martin Scorsese film "The Aviator" as portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, but a Palouse local businessman, first started Howard Hughes Video simply as a rack of VHS's offered for rental inside his other business, Howard Hughes Appliance, in the mid-1980's.
The store continued to grow as home theater systems became more accessible and affordable, and eventually moved out of Howard Hughes Appliance and into its own building.
Hughes sold off his businesses about ten years ago, and when Howard Hughes Video stopped turning in the profits it had in the past, the store was sold again. The group did well initially, but with the wave of streaming options and RedBox over the past couple years, Howard Hughes Video, like all video stores, has struggled, according to majority owner Patricia Engle.
Hundreds of stores like Howard Hughes Video have been forced to shut their doors over the last decade. Massive franchises like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have ceased to exist. Scarecrow Video, in Seattle, who has one of the largest video collections in the country with over 117,000 titles, had to turn non-profit in order to continue operations.
So what has kept Howard Hughes Video operational when so many others have shut down? It's the community, said Jamie Hill, manager of Howard Hughes Video. The people of Moscow continue coming in to rent their new releases, the hard to find Criterion Collection movies and their British TV programs.
The community aspect is evident anywhere you look in Howard Hughes Video. One example is right next to the employee recommendation section is a customer recommendation section where two customers have their favorite films on display.
In order to have your films on display you have to first answer the trivia question posted on a whiteboard behind the counter. This week's question asks "What do Bill Bixby, Edward Norton, Eric Bana and Mark Ruffalo have in common?" When you correctly answer the question your name goes into the monthly drawing to have your taste on display.
Even so, employees like Ian Pannkuk and Ben Hardcastle worry about the fate of Howard Hughes Video. "People would rather sit on their asses and choose between a few hundred titles than come in and choose between a few thousand.," Hardcastle said.
Engle has reached out to the loyal customers of Howard Hughes Video as well as members of the Moscow community in an attempt to keep the store operational. Howard Hughes Video has not been profitable in about three years, according to Engle, and they are working desperately to try to find a solution to keep it open.
Howard Hughes Video is such a big part of the Moscow community, it would be a shame to have to close down, said Engle. A group headed by Engle and including members of the community meets every few weeks for brainstorming sessions on how to save the business.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Outline and Sources
Outline:
Lead: What happened
Reaction from people
Response from community
Instances in the past
Sources:
Riley Todd, I don't want to publish his phone number but can give it to you in class
Stefanie Ellis, Director of PR for GSWW, 206-633-5600, stephaniece@girlscoutsww.org
My third source was going to be a parent of Girl Scouts in the Seattle area and said he would be happy to answer my questions but did not get back to me in time and I was unable to find another source.
Lead: What happened
Reaction from people
Response from community
Instances in the past
Sources:
Riley Todd, I don't want to publish his phone number but can give it to you in class
Stefanie Ellis, Director of PR for GSWW, 206-633-5600, stephaniece@girlscoutsww.org
My third source was going to be a parent of Girl Scouts in the Seattle area and said he would be happy to answer my questions but did not get back to me in time and I was unable to find another source.
Girl Scouts Triple Initial Goal After Returning $100,000 Donation
Last spring, an anonymous donor gave the Girl Scouts of Western Washington (GSWW) a $100,000 donation. After the very public transition of Caitlyn Jenner, the donor requested the $100,000 to not be used towards trans girls. This prompted the GSWW to return the donation.
This donation covers almost a quarter of the budget for sending 500 girls to camp, CEO Megan Ferland told Seattle Metropolitan, a local magazine.
"In our vision statement, we say, 'Girl Scouts of Western Washington empowers every girl—regardless of her race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or geographic location—to make the world a better place.' And we mean every word." said Stefanie Ellis, Public Relations Director at GSWW.
The Boy Scouts have been less inclusive throughout their history, not becoming desegregated until 1974 and not allowing homosexual boys until 2013.
Riley Todd, a transgender man, feels something like this would have made his childhood a bit smoother. Growing up, he said, he always wanted to join the Boy Scouts. He always wanted to be one of the boys. Violence towards the trans community is significantly higher than it is towards the gay and lesbian community, he said, and having an organization like the Girl Scouts so open really helps move things in the right direction.
"The response, from the entire community, as well as our Girl Scout community, has been overwhelmingly positive," said Ellis, and this is evident by the more than $300,000 in donations through IndieGoGo the GSWW received after the story was made public.
Todd said he knew from the age of five that he was a boy, despite being born a girl. He has met kids as young as three and four-years-old who knew they weren't born in the right body. An organization like the Girl Scouts, and their hashtag #forEVERYgirl, really help these kids feel a sense of belonging. Important with statistics showing transgender youth are more open toward suicide than any other group.
This isn't the first time the Girl Scouts have been in the news in regards to transgender children, back in 2011 a young boy who self-identified as a girl was turned down by his local troop. When the Girl Scouts of Colorado got wind of this they released this statement to 9News of Colorado, similar to the one released by the GSWW:
"Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them. In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach. She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we're better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers."
This donation covers almost a quarter of the budget for sending 500 girls to camp, CEO Megan Ferland told Seattle Metropolitan, a local magazine.
"In our vision statement, we say, 'Girl Scouts of Western Washington empowers every girl—regardless of her race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or geographic location—to make the world a better place.' And we mean every word." said Stefanie Ellis, Public Relations Director at GSWW.
The Boy Scouts have been less inclusive throughout their history, not becoming desegregated until 1974 and not allowing homosexual boys until 2013.
Riley Todd, a transgender man, feels something like this would have made his childhood a bit smoother. Growing up, he said, he always wanted to join the Boy Scouts. He always wanted to be one of the boys. Violence towards the trans community is significantly higher than it is towards the gay and lesbian community, he said, and having an organization like the Girl Scouts so open really helps move things in the right direction.
"The response, from the entire community, as well as our Girl Scout community, has been overwhelmingly positive," said Ellis, and this is evident by the more than $300,000 in donations through IndieGoGo the GSWW received after the story was made public.
Todd said he knew from the age of five that he was a boy, despite being born a girl. He has met kids as young as three and four-years-old who knew they weren't born in the right body. An organization like the Girl Scouts, and their hashtag #forEVERYgirl, really help these kids feel a sense of belonging. Important with statistics showing transgender youth are more open toward suicide than any other group.
This isn't the first time the Girl Scouts have been in the news in regards to transgender children, back in 2011 a young boy who self-identified as a girl was turned down by his local troop. When the Girl Scouts of Colorado got wind of this they released this statement to 9News of Colorado, similar to the one released by the GSWW:
"Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them. In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach. She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we're better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers."
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