MOUNT VERNON — After a well-attended first summer of showings in 2017, ‘Movie Monday’ will return to Mount Vernon’s Ariel-Foundation Park on Monday night for another season.
The first showing of the summer will be the movie ‘Wonder,’ rated PG and beginning at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free and Domino’s Pizza will also be served free-of-charge for children ages 18 and under.
Monday night will kick off a summer that includes five movie showings at the park’s Schnormeier Event Center, a covered venue which houses a 20-foot screen and space for viewers to lay down a blanket and enjoy the film.
Here are the five ‘Movie Monday’ showings this summer:
- June 4: ‘Wonder,’ rated PG
- June 18: ‘Geostorm,’ rated PG-13
- July 2: ‘Dunkirk,’ rated PG-13
- July 16: ‘Leap,’ rated PG
- Aug. 6: ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ rated PG-13
Last summer served as a trial for the ‘Movie Monday’ idea, according to Foundation Park Conservancy Events Chair Sam Barone. Expectations for the event were blown out of the water, however, as an average of 400-500 community members showed up each time to watch the movies.
“It proved to be one of the most popular events that we had at the park all season long,” Barone said. “Like everything we’ve done, it was an experiment. But it was an experiment that worked tremendously.”
After a successful first summer of movies, the board decided to go from three showings to five this summer. Barone reports that community businesses have donated over $50 thousand this summer for the Foundation Park Conservancy to provide concerts, movies and physical fitness opportunities to the public. This funding has kept the cost of all park events free, which Barone says is the goal.
“For all the things that we’re doing to improve the park physically, we’re also working to improve the programming to provide a better variety of things for people to do — and things that are available to everybody, regardless of their socioeconomic situation,” Barone said.
Corporate sponsors such as Youth Philanthropy Initiative, Domino’s Pizza, R & M’s Southside Diner and Velvet Ice Cream will also be present at the movie showings, serving refreshments and movie treats.
Barone believes that ‘Movie Monday’ will attract even bigger crowds this summer because of the wider variety of movie selections. The board chose to feature films geared towards all ages this summer in an effort to reach a wider audience, as the showings range from kids films like ‘Leap’ to more mature films like ‘Dunkirk.’
After a successful first summer, Barone can feel the anticipation growing for a second summer of movies.
“You hear people buzzing about it all winter long, so you know it’s something that resonated with people,” Barone said. “We talked to people about it just being a wonderful evening, a nice way to spend time with your friends and neighbors and children. And it costs literally nothing.”
Barone said that the board’s goal last year was to create an environment similar to that of the old-fashioned ‘drive-in’ theaters, giving families and neighbors a place to relax and enjoy a movie on a summer night.
“I think a lot of us on the board recall drive-in movies as younger kids, how that was an opportunity on a summer night to stay out late with your family, probably fall asleep in the back seat with a blanket while the parents watched the movie,” Barone said. “And we just wanted to duplicate that.”
Barone reports that over $12 million in donated funds have helped develop the park, which opened July 4, 2015. The park currently hosts a summer concert series as well, which kicks off on Sunday at 6 p.m. with the Knox Community Jazz Orchestra. Nine concerts have been booked for this summer.
“We’ve got a real variety of entertainment coming this summer. Because of contributions increasing, we were able to kind of raise the stakes and bring in some bigger bands and so forth that cost a little bit more,” Barone said.
In the park’s third summer of use, Barone said that the board’s vision is coming along nicely.
“We just want it to grow,” Barone said. “Our whole vision for this park has been that it would become something that would become a memory builder for families; that 10, 20, 30 years from now they look back and where we had particular memories of our own, as younger people growing up in the summer and doing things, we want this park to be central to the memories that they retain and the memories that they’re building today.”
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