UVIA Hosting Family Movie Nights

Go to the movies these days and you can drop $10 per person to sit in a dark theater, unable to talk with companions. The Unionville Village Improvement Association offers an alternative: on four Friday summer nights, the UVIA will play family-friendly movies for free on the back lawn of Union School.

Families with children, seniors and others interested in classic cartoons and movies are invited to attend the evenings. Audience members are welcome to bring a picnic or chat with neighbors. The series is all about community.

“Movies have become more expensive and there are not a lot of drive-ins around, so families can come for free and anybody can see great movies,” said Ted Lindquist, who organized the project for the UVIA. “They know they’re going to get a movie that’s been looked at and they can come for free and have a great night with kids of varying ages. It’s a wonderful family and community event and also a chance on a summer night to just see friends.”

Movies, including The Black Stallion, Babe, Monsters Inc. and Toy Story 2, are taken from Parent Magazine’s 100 Best Movies for Children, Lindquist said. In addition, the screening takes place near the Union School playground, so families are able to bring a picnic, watch the movie and play on the playscape.

The UVIA hosted two movie nights last year and when about 300 people attended, the group realized it could be a very successful resource for the community, as well as a way to bring more people into the village.

The group also realized renting the equipment to show a movie to 300 people was not cost effective. So they looked into buying it with the support of Farmington Community Chest, Farmington EXCL and Farmington Recreation Department.

“It was Ted’s idea about purchasing the jumbo movie screen… all of us chipped in and the equipment’s going to be used by town entities,” explained EXCL Director Vincent LaFontan. “We tested it out and the screen is 21 feet – it is really fun. The screen is giant… it was almost too big to fit at the cafetorium at Westwoods [Upper Elementary School]."

In addition to the 21-foot inflatable screen, the group bought the equipment to project movies and connect to the internet. It will be used by non-profit town groups to show movies related to their purpose.

The project received support from those three organizations.

“Our goal in this was to create a partnership so we would provide the community with movies but also so those organizations could use this and we could make it available to all nonprofits in town for free,” Lindquist said. “The Community Chest has done a great job buying into our idea that outdoor movies are community events for getting together and socializing.”

The Community Chest, which raises funds to support town services, divides its funds between community, education and social services. The movie project fit the bill for the community category, said Paula Ray, Community Chest president.

“When Mr. Lindquist proposed the idea to us, we felt it was a great way to provide community events — something people would enjoy. The movies are for free, which in these economic times is a great boost for young families to come together and participate and for older people, too. It’s something fun and exciting.”

Movies under the stars will run on the following schedule in the field behind Union School:

• July 1: Black Beauty
• July 22: Babe
• August 5: Monsters Inc.
• August 19: Toy Story 2

Cartoons begin at 7:30 p.m. and the movie begins at dusk.