Archive: Around Town

Last Sunday video gamers came to the Cyberstation at the Pyramid Mall to play games for charity.  The event was hosted by Regal Cinemas to raise money for their Stars of Hope Foundation.  Five dollars bought you unlimited game play for two hours.  Regal's assistant manager and District Promotions Coordinator Emily English organized the event, making sure that flyers went up and being on hand to run the actual event.  Cyberstation's assistant manager David Jones was also on hand.

Games that give prizes were off limits, but everything else, including the popular Tekken5 chens, was fair game.  Gamers who had come last year returned for another round of Tekken5 , and stayed at that game all night.  Cyberstation and Regal have a history of cooperating in Ithaca.  This is the second year a Stars of Hope event has been held in the arcade, and Cyberstation has provided the games in the movie theater lobby. 

Cyberstation's manager Curtis Smith says, "We try to be active with the mall.  Any time there's an event we put posters up.  It's a small community, we keep together."  The arcade also runs its own events like the national Tekken5 tournament and an upcoming Groove2 tournament in June.

The Stars of Hope Foundation was created by Regal to give back to the communities where they have movie theaters.  They give money to national charities like the Boys and Girls Clubs, Child Advocacy Centers, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Will Rogers Foundation, Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center and more. Local organizations can apply for funds as long as they are from a community where regal has theaters.


In the local theater there are various displays, including a fish tank at the ticket counter where you drop in a quarter and win a prize if it lands in a cup.  The local staff does bake sales in the mall, raffles and sells Krispie Kreme donuts.  They recently made $170 doing that in the mall, and plan to do it again soon.  Some fund raisers are integrated with movies playing in the theater.  Regal is planning a carnival to help promote the new Superman movie.  That will include carnival games and face painting inside the theater lobby.  They also plan a chicken barbecue and a rummage sale.


Last year the Ithaca theater made just under $18,000 in their ten week campaign.  They hope to make over $20,000 this year.  Regal's nationwide goal for this year is $3.4 million.  Last year they exceeded their goal.

"We want everybody to have fun," Smith says.  You're coming here for the charity, of course, and it's a worthwhile cause.  But you're coming to the arcade to have fun and enjoy yourself."  About 35 gamers did just that, raising $176 toward Regal's goal.

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