Downtown Washington merchants celebrated the reopening of the Turnage Theater, counting on increased traffic to boost their own business — a little sharing of the Turnage wealth.

Arts advocates celebrated the reopening of the Turnage Theater, counting on the increased traffic to the theater itself to support the Beaufort County Arts Council’s effort to turn the theater into an arts mecca — a regional arts center issuing an open invitation to every member of the community.

The community celebrated the reopening of the Turnage Theater, counting on its rebirth to offer someplace to go, something to do, entertainment and more — a reason to stay in town rather than seek those things elsewhere.

A whole lot of people are celebrating the return of the Turnage Theater. The question is: have you been yet?

A free spoken-word performance launched the theater’s rebirth. The following evening, Beaufort County’s award-winning artists Jeff Jakub and Pat Holscher held an opening reception for their show, which will remain up in the Turnage gallery until Feb. 13.

So if you missed those two events, how about the next three: a gospel concert featuring the East Carolina University gospel choir on Saturday night; on Sunday afternoon, the waterfowl-calling contest for the East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival will be held at the Turnage Theater. Next weekend, an Elvis impersonator, Keith Henderson, will be treading the Turnage boards.

All those who celebrated the theater’s revival should be checking their calendars — and checking regularly — to make a date for the theater. Celebrate its reopening by showing up and supporting the arts council.