New Owners of the Villa Theatre

The Villa Theatre has new owners and will start this weekend with Pictures with Santa on Saturday, December 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with pictures provided by Lynne's Line Photography, followed by a showing of The Polar Express, sponsored by First State Bank of Malta at 2 p.m. An additional showing will be on Sunday, December 19, at 2 p.m. (suggested $5 donation).

The new owners of the Villa are Kari Miller and her husband SaintLouis.

Kari was born in a small town in Humboldt County, California.

"When I was 16 years old, my family took a road trip along the Lewis & Clark Trail," said Miller. "We passed through Montana and I was immediately awe-stricken."

Kari is a full-time social worker, as well as being the Executive Director of the Malta Chamber.

SaintLouis was born in Senegal, West Africa. He moved to Paris, France, and then on to America. He has served 18 years in the United States Marine Corps and is now an attorney and entrepreneur.

"We met at graduate school," said Miller. "We had long philosophical chats and deep discussions. We both have a strong passion for social justice."

"When we were discussing having children, I was happily surprised that he mentioned Montana, with its clean air, fresh water, and locally farmed foods, to raise our children," Miller went on. "During the Covid 19 pandemic, we watched our three boys, Bow, 15 years old, Olycee' or OC, 13 years old, and D'Jah or DJ, 10 years old, struggle during the very strict lockdown. Leaving them disconnected from friends and activities. We decided it was time to move out of California."

The family came to Montana a few times to look at homes. Then they found a beautiful log cabin on a few acres with a pond.

"The sense of peace and the small-knit community is what made us choose to call this place home at the end of 2020," said Miller. "Over the summer we finally got moved in and laid roots."

When asked what led them to the purchase of the Villa, Miller said, "We purchased the Villa because we want to keep our community alive. We want the children in our community to have a positive place to enjoy our town and for visitors to find activities locally. We look forward to having new release movies and local community events like paint night, parties, sports viewings, and more. We are happily accepting suggestions, ideas, sponsorship, donations, and volunteers."

Miller added, "We are excited to get involved with the community partners and ensure everyone has access to enjoy the nostalgia of The Villa Theatre. Thank you for your support!"

Once they start getting the releases, the plan is to have shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

"Our bigger plan is to really work together with our community partners," Miller said. "Like having a matinee for the retirement home and summer movie series for the Kids Club, etc. I'm very excited to get started."