City officials turned out for a surprise recognition party for Premiere's long-time Managing Director Don Snyder at a celebration at the Mall of Abilene for 30 years of local service. Mr. Snyder came to Abilene in 1979 when the mall and the cinema opened originally and has been managing the facility ever since.

Like a lot of kids, Mr. Snyder got his first job working at a movie theatre when he was 15 years old. That was in 1949 however. "Who'd have known sixty years later I'd still be working in a movie theatre!" quipped Mr. Snyder who has become a fixture at the Mall.

To say that Mr. Snyder has "the movie business in his blood" would be an understatement. His career running movies has spanned over six decades during which time he has had over 10 million customers. Starting in his hometown at the Lyric Theatre in Big Spring owned by R&R Theatres, Mr. Snyder and his friends made several films as teenagers including "Venus Volcanoes". While serving a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Germany, Mr. Snyder continued running movies at the theatre on base. Upon his return, he joined United Artists and managed theatres in Sweetwater, Crane and notably the Texas Theatre in Dallas from JFK fame.

The cinema in the Mall of Abilene was built by UA but was acquired by Regal Cinemas in the nineties and then by Big Spring-based Premiere Cinemas in 2003. During that time Mr. Snyder has seen lots of changes at the theatre. "It was only 6 screens when it opened but business was good enough that we added more screens and then added more again after that" he explained. Premiere renovated the cinema after purchasing it, converting it to stadium seating. Premiere is in the process of converting the cinema to 100% digital projection which it will have completed by summer.

Mr. Snyder's friends have long referred to him by his nickname "CBD" in honor of his idol film legend Cecil B. Demille. Mr. Snyder's home has been transformed into a modern-day museum honoring a lifetime of involvement in the movie business, replete with movie memorabilia, posters, autographed photos of Mr. Snyder with various film stars, and a collection of thousands of classic movies that would put most video stores to shame. Mr. Snyder has been hosting an annual Oscar party at his home for over 40 years. Mr. Snyder and his long-time Assistant Director Lavone Crosby both appeared in the 1995 film "The Stars Fell on Henrietta" with Robert Duvall and James Keach.

Premiere Cinema Corp. joins the Mall of Abilene and the Abilene Chamber of Commerce in congratulating Don Snyder on his unprecedented commitment to Abilene and his contributions to the movie business.