The Heart of Effingham

08/31/2026

🎬 🎥 HEART MOVIE TRIVIA TIME!
So you think you know movies? Prove it!

Let's play name the movie! The clues are:

💇‍♀️ Big hair
🏢 An office
☕ Three women
☠️ Poison
💼 A boss who needs to learn a lesson

Which movie is it?

A. Steel Magnolias
B. 9 to 5
C. Sweet Home Alabama
D. Joyful Noise

Comment your answer down below

08/27/2026

Congrats, friends! ♥️

Well we did it! Thank you who all came out! And we DEFINITELY wouldn’t have made it through without our morning Fox Holler lattes! Great start and finish to the day!

08/26/2026

One of the best parts of bringing the Heart Theatre back to life has been discovering just how many people have a connection to this building. ♥️

We hear from people who remember seeing their first movie here, couples who went on dates at the Heart, former employees, families with stories passed down through generations, and people who simply remember what it felt like when the marquee was glowing downtown.

And sometimes, those connections surprise even us.

Next month, we’ll have the very special opportunity to welcome two granddaughters of the architect who designed the Heart Theatre to Effingham. They’ll tour the building and see firsthand the work their grandfather created more than 80 years ago—work that is still standing and waiting for its next chapter.

These are the moments that remind us that preserving the Heart isn’t simply about saving bricks, plaster and an old movie theatre.

It’s about preserving stories, craftsmanship, memories and connections between generations—while creating a place where entirely new memories can be made.

If you have a Heart Theatre memory, photograph, ticket stub, story—or a family connection to the building—we would love to hear from you.

Because every time someone shares another piece of the Heart’s history, we understand a little more clearly why this place matters. ♥️

08/20/2026

The types of AC advertisements we rolled out in the ’50s during a hot summer weather like today! 😂 Too bad The Heart Theatre needs to be renovated first…otherwise we’d be telling everyone to come cool off with us! 🎬❄️❤️

08/15/2026

We told you guys we would bring you along on our journey every step of the way and we meant it.❤️

Our Business Prospectus for The Heart Theatre is now available for download on our website! This is the same business plan we provided to our city council members ahead of our recent presentation.

We encourage you to take a look, explore the details, and most importantly, see the vision we see for The Heart.

Fair warning: it’s 230 pages long to be exact. 😅 But every page represents countless hours of research, planning, conversations, ideas, and decisions that have gone into understanding what it will take to bring this historic theatre back to life.

We want you to see beyond the building. We hope you visualize a future where The Heart is once again filled with people, performances, movies, events, laughter, and community.

📖 Download the Business Prospectus under Bring Back The Heart page on thehearttheatre.org

08/10/2026

❤️ The Heart continues to beat.

Thank you to the Effingham Daily News for sharing an update on the restoration of The Heart Theatre and our presentation to the Effingham City Council last week.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to share our vision, answer questions, and begin a broader community conversation about what this historic theatre can become — a welcoming, flexible space for movies, live music, theatre, comedy, community organizations, local performers, private events and so much more.

Most of all, we’re grateful to everyone who showed up, spoke up, wrote letters, asked thoughtful questions, and continues to believe in the possibilities for The Heart.

There is still a great deal of work ahead, but we’re excited to keep the conversation going and to keep moving forward — together. ❤️

Thank you, Effingham.

Representatives of The Heart Theatre presented information during a city council meeting about the mulit-year restoration process, and requested that the council ask questions, start a dialogue with the group

08/09/2026

Every great performance starts with an introduction. ❤️🎭

Wils introduces himself and his stage partner, “Mr. Baloo”… but when asked what they’ll be performing today?

“I don’t know.” 😂🐾

The act may still need a little work, but we think they’ve already got the stage presence.

We can’t wait for the day The Heart stage is filled with performers of all kinds — and moments just like this.

08/07/2026

We aim to meet our Heart Theatre supporters on their preferred platform so you can now find us on Tiktok! For the people who love watching short reels 🎥

(But really we joined after Meteorologist Jacob Dickey joined haha 😅)

08/05/2026

Effingham's News and Sports Leader