By ANGIE RIEBE
Mesabi Daily News 6/
18/06
COOK — “There’s no place like home,” said Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” — one of the first films played at Cook’s main street theater — the Comet — after its 1939 inception. And today, there’s no place quite like the historic Comet Theater. Carol Carlson, who owns the vintage theater with husband John Metsa, says so. So do customers, local and from afar. No doubt, they’re right.
Where else can you watch a first-run movie on a 1939 screen, while surrounded by Tiffany-style lamps? And shop for beaded handbags and one-of-a kind totes — suspended from an indoor tree; along with jewelry and gemstones, hand-made silk shoes, skirts and shawls, teapot sets and cut glass and other collectibles. And sip a vanilla green tea latte or a frozen banana split espresso, while doing a little antiquing. And maybe even learn a bit about Kundalini yoga.
The Comet Theater embodies all of the above — and much more.
“It’s like a girl’s day out” type of shop, Carlson said. It’s a fashionable boutique brimming with exquisite things, yet “it’s a down home place” — still embracing the romance of old-time cinema.
The Comet in Cook is Minnesota’s longest continuous running movie screen, Carlson said. Originally located at the end of the main street in the 1920s, the theater was rebuilt in its current location in the summer of 1939 by owner Lawrence “LD” Gustafson, who sold it in 1970.
The theater changed hands a number of times, but was always owned by local residents. It never closed — remarkable “for a to
wn this size,” Carlson said.
In August 2000, Carlson and Metsa, both originally from Virginia and from entrepreneurial families, relocated to Cook, drawn to its setting as a “gateway to Lake Vermilion.”
Carlson, long involved in dance and a yoga — having run her own yoga studio in Manhattan — had a love for theater. When the Comet became available, she viewed owning it as a “great, romantic idea.”
She mostly operates and manages the theater/boutique, but Metsa, principal of the Cherry school and involved in real estate, has helped make the Comet what it is today.
Carlson sees herself as a steward of the historic theater and its wide 22-by-13-foot screen, where movies are played twice a day in the su
mmer and where live performances are held on its stage.
The theater has overseen the evolution of cinema since opening with classics such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind.” “It (1939) was a magnificent year” in motion picture, Carlson said.
The Comet has also weathered its share of history, especially during Cook’s Great Flood of 1970, when main street was awash with several feet of water. “People were catching northerns off the stage,” she said.
Though her role is guardian to the theater, the rest of what is found inside “feels like it’s mine.” Carlson knew she wanted its entry to contain a coffee shop serving specialty drinks offered at large coffee houses. That grew into the clothing and gifts, blossoming into antiques and home decor.
Metsa remodeled the lobby, tearing down the dark paneling and installing windows. It was his idea to put a tree in the store; now a main feature, its branches adorned with colorful fashion handbags and dressy clutches of all shapes and sizes.
“Some of what you see is ‘off-the-wall John,’” Carlson said. “He keeps me thinking big.” A b
ig part of the shop is the array of vintage and modern jewelry. Like artworks in their own right, cases are bejeweled with sparkly necklaces, dangling earrings, beaded bracelets and shiny gems.
Stylish attire includes summer dresses and skirts and chic hoodies, embellished shoes and sandals, along with “unique T-shirts,” such as the “Bad girl of the north” clothing line.
The Comet is the only shop in the area offering Franz porcelain, Carlson said. Tiffany-style stained glass lamps, which “I sell at a good price,” trim all areas of the store. More reside past the curtains leading from the concession area into the theater, where a collection of lighting fixtures lines the front row and rear seats.
|
Carlson sells some northwoods accessories, but focuses mostly on elegant, dainty, whimsical, unusual and interesting items — marking them at the best prices possible. Everywhere you look there’s more to see — wine and champagne glassware, pottery, clocks, baskets, vintage mixing bowls, salt and pepper shakers, hand-painted trunks, crocks and planters and vases, art pieces and antique decorative objects.
“We have re
al unique stuff other stores don’t have,” she said. “There’s no place like this.”
Women are the prime customers, but guys, feeling guilty after long fishing trips at the lake, “stop in and shop for their wives or girlfriends.”
The boutique and movie theater are each hits with visitors, Carlson said. “Tourists love both.” At some point, nearly “everybody pops in... The resorts are supportive.”
The Comet coffee shop features fresh roasted Alakef Coffee, chosen for its gourmet beans and its commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture and fair trade.
Flavored or plain cappuccinos, lattes and teas are made with milk or soy. Frozen drinks and fruit smoothies are a summertime favorite, Carlson said, including the Frozen Irish Brownie made with Irish cream, Frozen Mocha Berry, and Frozen Bear Claw, an iced blend of espresso, chocolate, coconut, caramel and milk. Fresh cookies, muffins and donuts are available as well, and can be enjoyed on the outdoor patio — a place “where vacationers and locals can come and relax,” Carlson said. Of course, coffee and pastries can also be ordered up in time for a show, along with candy, popcorn, or ice cream treats at the concession stand.
Movies change each Friday, with occasional two-week runs. A 1 p.m. matinee and 7 p.m. show is held daily in the summer; and weekend matinees in the winter. There’s a requirement of at least four people to present a film, due to wear and t
ear on the old equipment. Admission is $6 for adults; $4 for children and seniors, except on Thursdays, when a long-standing Comet tradition is honored — two-for-one movie admission. The Comet also books private shows.
For the past three years, the theater has hosted “Chick-Flick Night,” a fund-raiser for the W.C. Heiam Medical Foundation of the Cook Community Hospital. Some 120 women gather at the Comet to raise money for the non-profit organization that supports the hospital, sample hors d’oeuvres and wine, and watch a movie. “It’s a fun time for the locals to get together,” Carlson said. This year, the event raised $2,288.64.
Live performances on the theater stage are an acoustical wonderment, she said. “The concerts here are amazing. Musicians love to play here.”
The Brittany Lee Band did a show there during the recent Cook Timber Days festival. Stage acts slated for this summer include “Love, Sex and the IRS” by the Virginia Repertoire Players with Peter Pellinen in July; the music of Paul Mayasich Aug. 11, and a performance by blues artist Paul Metsa, John Metsa’s brother.
Carlson is also cultivating her own artistic talents at the Comet, with the
help of friends. A mural stretching across the building’s outside wall has been in the works for a few years. It’s a cinema timeline of sorts, including depictions of Dorothy and the Tin Man and the yellow brick road, Walt Disney characters, scenes from “Casablanca” and “Gone With the Wind,” Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, Indiana Jones and “The Little Mermaid.”
Carlson plans to incorporate other movies into the mural, such as “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” — maybe even have a three-dimensional spaceship crashing into the building. Looking after an old-time theater and operating a boutique “is constant work,” but worth the effort, said Carlson, who only recently hired her first employee.
When small business owners can say their labor has “evolved into their passion” and “you feel it expresses who you are... while always keeping a sense of integrity,” it’s a sign of success.
Carlson, who teaches yoga three mornings a week at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cook, aspires to one day open a yoga studio and spa on property near town and rent the upstairs apartment at the Comet.
She has more plans for the
theater as well.
They consist of a larger patio with more seating, a second mural on the opposite outer wall, perhaps even a wine bar. And Comet merchandise &
mdash; handbags to lamps — will be available online at www.comettheater.com by July.
“It’s a fun place,” Carlson said of her little slice of history on main street Cook. “I think it’s special.” |
