OPEN((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Big Screen, Small Town
((SOT))
((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
….scheduling of the movies, paying all the bills, because you want to do it.It’s one of those things, like if you don't do it, who will.The elves really never show up to do the work anymore.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Dirty Money
((SOT))
((Marvel Underwood, Bureau of Engraving and Printing))
Just trying to find the identifiable parts, like the mouth and nose, eyes, stuff like that.I’ve seen worse.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Life on the Green
((SOT))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
It's gotten expensive in a lot of cases.So, we've got to figure out how to get golf affordable to a broader range of people.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG))SMALL TOWN THEATERS
((Banner:Small Town Theaters))
((Reporter/Camera:Deepak Dobhal))
((Map:Kimball, Nebraska))
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
I'd like to thank everybody for coming today.Without you guys’ support with donations and buying concessions, we wouldn't be able continue to do this.You guys enjoy the movie and hope to see you guys in a few weeks.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Every first and third weekend of each month, we go on, we show a movie.Anybody that wants to watch a movie can come and watch a movie.They don’t have to pay anything.We do have a free will donation box, so if they do want to go and donate, they can.There's a lot of community pride of keeping this theater going.It's all volunteer.
((NATS))
((Local Resident))
There was like three, four, five years since this place was closed down, and now that it’s back, we are trying to help keep it going.
((NATS))
((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
This is my third job that doesn’t pay me nothing, basically.
My name is Keith Prunty and I am the mayor for the city of Kimball.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Previous owners, you know, that was their livelihood.They just got to the point where they just couldn't make it.All this equipment is obsolete and unfortunately they closed back in 2010.
((NATS))
((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
And when it closed, basically, it's like there's a void left in the town.I think everybody felt the same way.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Just like other communities small communities in the United States, we used to have a lot of stuff going on downtown and there's just few and far between.And we just didn't want to go and see another empty building that just somebody would turn into storage.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
I knew that there's people that were interested in doing anything but with the amount of money that it needed to go and partake to be able to be where we are today, not just one individual could do it.We ended up where we formed a board and then in the process, we became a non-profit.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
Just got the word out of, hey, we're gonna have a community cleanup day at the theater.Anybody that's interested in wanting to help out, show up at this time.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We're such a small community.Word gets around and everybody was excited about wanting to get the Goodhand theater back going.We have a board of six people that have been committed enough to want to be involved and volunteer regularly to go and help run the theater.
((NATS))
((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
Oh, I'm just prepping movie posters for our next movie.
Actually, I work behind the scenes, like I do all the accounting, scheduling of the movies, paying all the bills.It's a major commitment to make sure that things run smoothly and how it should be, and you just do it because you want to do it.I guess that's all I can say.It’s one of those things, like if you don't do it, who will.The elves really never show up to do the work anymore.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We've been fortunate enough that we have people go and sponsor the movie.If the movie sponsors aren’t able to come, we have people that have come up to us and volunteered.
((NATS))
((Local Resident))
Yeah, my brother was here yesterday and he asked me if I want to come and join.I said sure.So, I just came.
((NATS))
((Keith Prunty, Mayor of Kimball, Nebraska))
$244.50 for concession sales.So far, we are at about seven hundred fifty dollars for the weekend.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
So, we’re trying to get the funds to be able to purchase a digital projector because currently we can just show movies using a DVD or Blu-ray.A little by little and that's kind of what it takes.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
We're very fortunate to be able to have the doors open and be able to show what we show.Some of the little kids have never been to a theater before.
((NATS))
((Local Resident))
I used to come here as a child.My brother would help me interpret what the movie say.I was excited to see it reopen because there’s just something really fun about being able to take your family and go and sit and watch a movie and be able to have that experience with them.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
It's awesome that a community can come together to get something like this going.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
It’s pretty neat to go and be able to be outside, see this red neon, you know, put a glow on our downtown.
((NATS))
((Dr. Adrian Fuss, Dentist))
There's been some other projects that you see stuff start but never get finished.And, you know, you get to what everything that's been done so far.You have a really proud feeling.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner:After years of decline, small town theaters are making a comeback across America))
TEASE((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Personal Experience
((SOT))
((Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
This is a personality thing for me. I want to talk to the people that I’m actually buying products from.I don’t want something off the line.Then it gets to my house and it’s not exactly what I want.Well, yes, sort of, kind of like that.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner:Every Last Penney))
((PKG))EXCHANGING DAMAGED MONEY
((VOA Russian))
((Banner:Good Money Gone Bad))
((Reporter:Lesia Bakalets))
((Camera:David Gogokhia, Mike Maisuradze))
((Adapted by:Philip Alexiou))
((Map:Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner:The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing will exchange your damaged US currency))
((Marvel Underwood, Bureau of Engraving and Printing))
Just trying to find the identifiable parts, like the mouth and nose, eyes, stuff like that.I’ll probably finish in about an hour.I’ve seen worse, a lot worse.
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
We are in the Mutilated Currency Division.Any money that’s been somehow damaged to the extent where you can’t determine the value, this is the only place in the world that will accept that U.S. currency.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
It’s just a free service the government provides.We don’t take any taxes out.We don’t charge any fees.It’s just, kind of, like having insurance on your money.If something were to happen to it, we’re there to reimburse you for it.We require 51 percent of the note to be genuine U.S. currency and we would pay face value on it.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
The largest by an individual is two million dollars that I can recall, and it was a case that a lot of people just don’t trust banks.So, when the housing market crashed about 10 years ago, they withdrew two million dollars from their account and they stored it in their garage for over a period of years, and water had, they had the money stored in a bag, but water had creeped into the bag and the notes had solidified together when they went to retrieve it.Animals like to chew up money.So, sometimes it’s just, if you leave 20 dollars on the coffee table, the dog will come and chew it up.Sometimes the dog will actually eat it and the owner will wait a few days and then wait for the dog to process it out.We do require you to wash it off.
((NATS))
((Tina Barnett, Bureau of Engraving and Printing))
This case looks like it was some kind of ATM [automatic teller machine] type of machine where it caught on fire.They’re claiming 38 thousand [dollars].Some of the money is totally burnt.In this bag here, totally wet.Been sitting almost a year, so mold has grown on the sides of it and stuff.So, this stuff is still pretty wet, but it’s not too bad to separate and count them, count them out in batches of a 100.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
Typically, all of our cases come through the U.S. Postal Service.We have a P.O. [Post Office] box, and then those are delivered to us by an armored car service.Usually get about 24 thousand submissions a year and we reimburse just north of 40 million dollars.
((NATS))
((PKG))GROWTH OF PAWN SHOPS
((Banner:Fast Cash))
((Reporter/Camera:Deborah Block))
((Adapted by:Philip Alexiou))
((Map:Waldorf, Maryland))
((NATS))
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
You wind it up here.Once you get to a certain tension on it, let the brake go, and once it gets going….
((NATS))It’s like any other, you know, second hand shop.One man’s trash is another’s treasure.So, I mean, we buy just such a wide variety of things and we sell them at a discounted price, so somebody can come and get a fantastic deal on something.
((NATS))
((Customer))
A wood together, like mounted together.
((NATS))
((Anthony Ruggaero, Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
Well, I’ve been doing business with Mike for about two years now and I came down here to pawn a few of my things, so I can pay for my wedding.
((NATS))
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
Whether it’s jewelry, artwork, musical equipment, we deal with just a wide variety of different items.
((NATS))
((Anthony Ruggaero, Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
Being married in three months.I bought a ring here last week.
((NATS))
((Austen Ballard, Music Producer, MMP Studios))
So much fun to pick up an old instrument that you know is like, for instance, in the old, like 50s or 60s, Gibson Les Paul and just to know there’s probably a lot of history with that.You never know where a guitar’s been.It might be on a record you’ve heard on the radio for all you know.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner:The country has seen a rise in the number of pawnshops.However, pawnshop sales nationwide have gone down))
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
People can go onto Craigslist.People can go on to Letgo.People can go on to Ebay.They could sell their merchandise straight to another customer without having to come through us.So, it’s definitely taken away a bit of the business.
((Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
I guess it’s probably the CPU, but it couldn’t handle Battlefield.I posted it on Craigslist but it didn’t get any hits.Didn’t feel like doing the Ebay thing, so.
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I guess the business took a new direction 10, 11 years ago when it was more about making the loans rather than making the money on the sales.
((Pop-Up Banner:To get a loan, customers pledge their property as collateral))
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I think the average loan in the United States for pawnshop is 150 dollars.So, I know the average loan for my one store is $120, the other one is $140.So, on that we do a 20 percent loan.So, if you borrow 100 dollars, it’s 120 dollars to come and pick up your loan.
((NATS))
((Customer, Top Dollar Pawn))
This is a personality thing for me. I want to talk to the people that I’m actually buying products from.I don’t want something off the line.Then it gets to my house and it’s not exactly what I want.Well, yes, sort of, kind of like that.
((NATS))
((Mike Thomen, Manager, Top Dollar Pawn))
I’m a second generation pawnshop owner. My father opened our first store about 30 years ago.
((Eric Rizer, Owner, Royal Pawn))
My mother was an antique dealer. She started dealing antiques in England.We moved here to the United States and I just grew up with it.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner:30 million people visit 11,000 pawnshops in the United States each year))
TEASE((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
It’s About the Score
((SOT))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
The cool thing about golf, which is changing a little bit now, but golf’s all about one thing.It’s the score that matter.You know, how tall or short or fast or strong or that you are, it was what score you shot.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG))PIA – MARK BROOKS
((Banner:Life on the Green))
((Executive Producer:Marsha James))
((Camera:Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map:Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
Golf's supposed to be a game of, you know, testing oneself, against one's self.The golf course is just an element that's there to bring those things out.And I'd proved to myself that I had a chance and then worked hard enough, got lucky enough and made it for a long time.And I've played over eight hundred tournaments.Fortunately or unfortunately for me, I went straight to the PGA Tour.I never played any other tours.In our world, I went straight to the show and had to learn how to play once I got to the show.But I was very fortunate there.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
My name is Mark Brooks and I'm a traveling PGA Tour Champions Tour golfer.I was fortunate enough to be able to go to University of Texas and played four years there, and by my junior year, I started playing a little enough good golf to consider, you know, maybe trying to as a professional and turned pro right after college.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
You know, you think you're really good when you come out of college, you know, you're all American.So, you think you're gonna make it easily and you get out there and you start mixing it up with the guys that have been doing it for, you know, five, 10, 15, 20 years, that have become very proficient at their craft and you realize you have a lot of shortcomings.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
You know, I think I learn something every day.You don't try to do it consciously.I mean life experiences come for me with stretches.You know just not going to happen in a moment.
((Courtesy of PGA Tour))
I think playing the PGA Tour as long as I have, that was probably my greatest achievement and I've played over eight hundred tournaments and when you start doing the math, you just go that's insane.I mean if you played, you know, 20 tournaments a year, that's 40 years.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
((Announcer:Now, Mark Brooks for victory))
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
I think the game of golf does have some challenges.It's not just how long it takes to play or how difficult the sport is.It's gotten expensive in a lot of cases.So, we've got to figure out how to get golf, I'm not going to say cheap, that's the wrong term to use, but it's got to become affordable to a broader range of people.
((NATS))
((MARK BROOKS, Professional Golfer))
The cool thing about golf, which is changing a little bit now, but golf’s all about one thing.It’s the score that matters.You know, how tall or short or fast or strong or that you are, it was what score you shot.But today's world, a lot more analyzing of people from the outside, you know, even from their inner circle.I feel like golf was a sport for pretty much any size person, any strength, ability, and it's like trying to change it under our feet here, and if you're not, you know, some superhuman athlete, then you might as well pick something else.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
In my opinion, it's to the detriment of sport and what sport's really about, which is the human endeavor to do something that you don't think you can do, but then you realize you can through hard work, perseverance and pain sometimes.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
Golf has become more difficult as I've gotten older.Your mind wants your body to do certain things and then sometimes your body just doesn't listen.I mean, I've had knee issues, back issues, herniated disc.You know, when you're more prime years, you can go reproduce a shot eight or nine out of ten times.As you get older, it's far more difficult to have your body repeat those things.That should lead you to segue into what are you going to do for the rest of your life.
((NATS))
((Mark Brooks, Professional Golfer))
I would say having joy or satisfaction from playing golf, it's definitely evolved for me over the years.The biggest things I've done in my career, played over 800 events, more than anybody has ever played.
((NATS))
((Courtesy of PGA Tour))
((MARK BROOKS, Professional Golfer))
And number two, I’ve hit very few shots, very few shots right and give it my full utmost hundred percent effort and attention.I mean if you can go by those, you know, try on every shot, being professional, taking pride in what you do, it'll take you a long way.
((NATS))
TEASE((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Unplugged
((SOT))
((Charley MacCrum, Volunteer))
I think everybody should have the opportunity just to unplug from the rest of the world for a while.From cell phones, Netflix streaming, computers, all of it, because there's none of that available here at all.Our only contact to the outside world is there is the radio with the Forest Service office and a satellite phone in case of emergency.
((Banner))
Baby Goats!!
((SOT))
((NATS))
Hello babies!
((Scout Raskin, Founder, Party Goats LA))
So, what we do with goats, we do parties where we bring the goats around for feeding, petting, playing with them.
((NATS))
People want the goats to come on a hike with them we do that as well.Goats were the second animal domesticated after dogs.So, despite what most people know about them, they are very social animals.
((NATS))
BREAK THREE
BUMP IN((ANIM))
BLOCK D
((Banner:Going to the Dogs))
((PKG))DOGS’ GYM
((Banner:A Place to Play))
((Reporter/Camera:Deborah Block))
((Adapted by:Philip Alexiou))
((Map:Alexandria, Virginia))
((NATS))
((Erica Grooms, Stella's Pet Parent))
She's so active and so I see how happy she is when we're at the gym, and she's playing, and she's able to jump through the hoop or go up up on the balance beam and she's very proud of herself, which of course, then makes me happy.
((NATS))
((Kim Gilliam, Co-Owner, Frolick Dogs))
About four and a half years ago, we opened in June of 2014.We definitely got some eye rolls and some scratching heads when we told folks we were opening a dog gym, but once you come in and you really see how people are working with their dogs, bonding with their dogs, and also getting them that exercise that they so badly need, it really does make sense.
((NATS))
((Steven Siwecki, Pet Parent))
I got tired of getting cold or hot outside.I would freeze in the cold.He likes it, but for me it’s cold.In the heat, he could only do so much exercise outside, and inside here, we have all the agility equipment we want to practice on and its air conditioned.
((NATS))
((Nadja Moore, Ziggy's Pet Parent))
He tried, he did.I think everybody's getting in the gym and yeah, just trying to, you know, lose some extra pounds.
((NATS))
((Kim Gilliam, Co-Owner, Frolick Dogs))
And so, you know, we as owners, maybe, we want to give them the best food.We want to give them treats when they do something good and before you know it, we might have a weight problem on our hands and its more than just running around.It’s really that mental stimulation piece.So, the more you’re making them think as they’re working, the more you’re going to tire them out more quickly.
((NATS))
((Natalie Petrone, Marshall’s pet parent))
It’s a lot of fun.I love seeing him jump around and play with the other dogs here and see what all the other dogs can do, and so then, we can learn from that and try to teach him that too.
((NATS))
((Kim Gilliam, Co-Owner, Frolick Dogs))
The whole basis of everything we do here is that it be that mental stimulation, that physical stimulation, and that owners are really working with their dogs.I've had some folks tell me they're just as tired as their dog when they leave.
((NATS))
Let’s go.Up, up.Good Boy.Yeah, good boy!
((NATS))
((PKG))DOG HOTEL
((VOA Russian))
((Banner:A Place to Stay))
((Reporter:Lesia Bakalets))
((Editor:David Gogokhia))
((Camera:Sergey Sokolov))
((Adapted by:Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Cottonwood, Idaho))
((NATS))
((Dennis Sullivan, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
I remember saying to Frances, I have an idea and I’d like to build a big dog.And she, kind of, wondered and said, how big a dog?And I said, a really big dog.
((NATS))
((Frances Conklin, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
He’s about 30 feet (9 m) tall, which is the equivalent of three stories, and from nose to tip of the tail, he’s almost that long as well, and he’s about 14 feet (4 m) wide.
((NATS))
((Frances Conklin, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
Dennis and I met each other, fell in love.He was already carving dogs but for two of us to work together, then we needed to grow the business somehow.
((NATS))
((Dennis Sullivan, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
Over dinner one evening, as seen in movies sometimes, you sketch things on a paper napkin, and it was decided over that dinner that we would make it a little wider than originally planned and make it a room, rooms, and turn it into a bed and breakfast.
((NATS))
((Frances Conklin, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
Turned out we were able to buy the acreage that we have here and then start working away on our dream.We had already had a vision of a place called Dog Bark Park.
((NATS))
((Hotel Customer))
We came here a year ago because we have a beagle, and our daughter and us were planning this for about two years, to get a time we could drive all the way out because we live in Colorado and come with the beagles.So, we came last year, spent about three or four days here, and loved it so much that we came through on another road trip.It’s been great.It’s, our dog really liked it.We liked it.It’s very comfortable and you realize when you’re up in the loft, you’re in the beagle’s eye, and then we were joking because we were in his body, and it was a really special time the first time we came.
((NATS))
((Frances Conklin, Owner, Dog Bark Park Inn/Bed and Breakfast))
We feel that there’s magic in that dog, but I think, often times people are searching for something different in their life.And sometimes they find their solutions right while they’re here.So, we’re hugely honored and humbled by the fact that just building a silly big beagle, and inviting people to come and stay in it, would have those results because we had no expectation that that would happen.
((NATS))
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Unplugged
((SOT))
((Charley MacCrum, Volunteer))
I think everybody should have the opportunity just to unplug from the rest of the world for a while, from cell phones, Neltflix streaming, computers, all of it.Because there is none of that available here at all.Our only contact to the outside world is the radio with the Forest Service office and a satellite phone in case of emergency.
((NATS))
((Banner))
Baby Goats!
((SOT))
((Scout Raskin, Founder, Party Goats LA))Hello babies.What we do with goats, we do parties where we bring the goats around for feeding, petting, playing with them.People want the goats to come on a hike with them. We do that as well.Goats were the second animal domesticated after dogs.So, despite what most people know about them, they are very social animals.
CLOSING((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
BREAK
BUMP IN((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
