Randall 10 - Thirteen Years Later

I think it's appropriate to acknowledge that exactly 13 years ago today, myself and about 70 others opened the Randall 10 in Batavia, Illinois. It was not only a turning point in my early career, but it also lead me to develop two great, long term friendships (Chrissy and Moe - you know who you are!) that I cherish immensely. I was only there five months before I was promoted and transferred, but it was still good times. I was usually overworked, stretched to my maximum mental and physical capacity, and dealing with certain people that made my life difficult for what I considered nothing but selfish reasons.

There were a lot of memorable moments from that first official day we were open to the public. Waking up, getting ready and going out to my car to find my tires deflated from nails, thanks to the lovely union projectionists who were picketing our theater for not using them. Getting to work a final shift with an old friend from Willow Knolls 14, who was there to assist in the opening on her last day with the company. Going out to Denny's in Aurora with many of the staff after finishing out the 9 o'clock set. A few of us then piling into cars, driving north of downtown Chicago in an attempt to find an all-night bowling alley; which we found, but a few people (not me!) were scared due to questionable atmosphere, so we instead went straight back to Aurora to spend the rest of the early morning hours.

For the original crew of the Randall 10, everyone should be proud of their accomplishments. While the first month was rough, the gang was able to overcome some challenging obstacles and turn the place into an entertainment destination and a part of the Batavia community. Since 1995 it's grown into a 16-plex, complete with an IMAX theater. While I've heard it's quite a bit run down, it still seems to pull in a crowd the few random times I've driven by.

Just one question now remains - has anyone discovered the time capsule?