Editor's Note: Community Magic

I'd like to explain why El Cerrito Patch is giving unusually prominent coverage today to the Cerrito Theater.

The theater is not only a splendid movie house that looks like it was lifted in pristince condition out a giant time capsule. It has also become a landmark and source of civic pride that reflects an extraordinary outpouring of citizen initiative and volunteer spirit for the sake of the community.

Whenever I walk past the Cerrito Theater, I marvel at the bright marquee rising in modest majesty. 

I don't know why, but I can't completely escape the feeling that it's a dream. I find myself still astonished that the Friends of Cerrito Theater and other dedicated residents were able to pull it off.

The word "community" is used so much that it almost ceases to have meaning. But when I stand on the sidewalk gazing at the theater and its intricate Art Deco decorations and inviting lobby and consider the long hard hours of volunteer labor, painstaking planning, frustrating meetings, seemingly insurmoutable odds of finding enough money and the multitude of people who contributed in some way, I feel that here at this one spot at least -- at 10070 San Pablo Avenue -- the word "community" reclaimed its full meaning and power.