Rialto Kicks Off Weekend Kids' Flicks

may be 75 years old, but it will have the spirit of a five-year-old on weekend mornings going forward.

The Rialto's new management kicked off weekend cartoons for kids this past Saturday. The initiative, first proposed by Rialto owner Bud Mayo during a fall , is designed to bring more young families in to the theater, and will showcase both new and old kid friendly movies.

The program, co-sponsored with the Westfield Memorial Library Foundation and the Mayo Center for the Perfoming Arts in Morristown, will bring Kids Toons, a California based G-rated film company into the Rialto. The company specializes in films geared towards children ages three to seven. Movie showings will take place every Saturday and Sunday mornings and admission is set at $3.50 per person. This weekend's shows are free as the program is being kicked off for the first time at the Rialto, which was outfitted with digital equipment after Mayo purchased the facility and it's sister theater in Cranford.

Sherry Cronin, executive director of the DowntownWestfield Corporation, was on hand to take part in the event. She said she is excited by the new program and how the Rialto sustains economic development in the entire downtown.

“The movie theater has been a wonderful asset to the downtown, an anchor for the people to come to experience the town, entertainment, dining, and shopping,” said Cronin. “The Rialto has always been the centerpiece of downtown Westfield and we consider it a jewel. I am happy that they are expanding their programming beyond just movies.”

During Mayo's press conference in the fall, the new Rialto owner said the theater's new programming would include children's films, along with conference programming and showcasing arts and sports programs on the big screen. He said the digital equipment would allow the theater to showcase musical and sports performances from various cities and countries in the hours when movies were not being shown. He said this will allow for the Rialto to fill seasts during a variety of hours.

The event was opened with a performance by the Mayo Performing Arts Center Performers from Morristown. The group of nine kids sang and performed songs from movies such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.

Councilmen Keith Loughlin and Sam Della Fera were both on hand during the event to express the support of the town government. Both said they and their Council colleagues are excited by the new cartoons.

Roger Sullivan, the president of the library foundation, said the partnership began as the foundation came to life in the fall.

“We are a group of volunteers that just started last fall”, said Sullivan. “We were trying to come up with some ideas for fund raising last fall and we found in the paper a story about a gentleman that was coming to Westfield to buy the Rialto Theater. His name was Bud Mayo. One of us picked up the phone and said we would like to get together and explore some ideas. We were pleasantly surprised to have gotten a response immediately. He wanted to sit down and talk and see what we can do, and here we are collaborating on our first program. We are pleased and thrilled to be here today.”