Staff

In their own words

We asked our dedicated board members and staff four questions to introduce them to you:

  1. Why are you involved with the Aron Theatre Co-op?
  2. What you love about the Aron Theatre Co-op?
  3. What is your background and experience, including professional, volunteer, and with the Aron Theatre Co-op?
  4. What are three of your favourite movies?

Joel Parkes, Operations Manager

  1. I'm involved in the Aron Theatre because I want to support what I consider to be a vital part of a community, namely a place where you can go and experience movies outside your home in a community setting.To me it's a form of media that enriches people in such a profound way.  
  2. I love that it even exists at all. I love that the guidance of the Co-op can be made up of members of the community.
  3. I have a diverse background. I've been on the Board Of Directors of the Peterborough Chamber Of Commerce, worked in the film and TV business, been a songwriter for Universal Music Publishing and, most important of all, I'm a husband and father to two daughters.  
  4. My three favourite films, films that I always check into all throughout my life, are: The Godfather, The Unforgiven, Interstellar.

Russ Christianson, General Manager

  1. Like many others in our community, I originally got involved with the Aron Theatre Co-op to keep the doors open and revitalize this little gem of a theatre.
  2. I love the fact that we are a small rural community that has rallied to keep our own movie theatre operating, pre and post pandemic!
  3. I am a business start-up consultant and a co-op developer. I was the founding president of the Aron Theatre Co-op and I have volunteered hundreds of hours to revitalize the theatre and keep it going.
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Open Doors (1990), The Thin Red Line (1998).

Mary McLeod, Bookkeeper

  1. I was looking for a way to combine my finance experience with anything related to the entertainment industry. I wanted to contribute to my community and thought the Aron Theatre Co-op would be an ideal vehicle for that. I try to support local endeavours wherever I can. Plus, I'm retired and wanted something to do outside of my other hobbies.  
  2. I love that it is owned by community members, that it is homegrown, and it caters to the town and surrounding area in which it is located. It has a quaint and old-fashioned feel to it but runs the same movies that the big guys do. I'd rather support the little guy!
  3. I worked for many years as a senior finance manager with Bell Canada, CTV, and CHUM. Before I became the bookkeeper for the Aron Theatre Co-op, I volunteered on the finance committee.
  4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Silence of the Lambs, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Mrs. Doubtfire, any of the Star Wars and Harry Potter movies. I have been an avid viewer and collector of movies for years with a collection of over 1,000 movies and series. My children quote from the movies we have watched together as a family to this day. Working and contributing to the Aron Theatre Co-op is a natural progression for me.