‘Join or Die’ screening gathers community organizations

The credits rolled and the lights flicked on. The audience rose from their seats and headed for tables where they found signup sheets offering ways to become engaged in village life in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. People added their names to mailing lists, exchanged information, and lingered to talk.

Such was the effect of the Sept. 18 screening of “Join or Die,” a documentary about the decline of clubs and community organizations and the importance of gathering.

The event was presented by Sleepy Hollow Cinema, the nonprofit working to bring movies — and a movie theater — to the Rivertowns. The venue was the Lyceum Club of Tarrytown, a men's organization that traces its roots to 1866, when it was founded as a reading and debating club.