A musical comedy/drama about animals singing to save a historic theater is the first of four movies that will be shown in First Things First's Movies in the Park, which begins Saturday, July 7.
A family-friendly movie will be shown each Saturday in July in Coolidge Park, 200 River St. Each free movie will begin at sundown (about 9 p.m.) Come early, bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets to picnic in the park before watching a movie under the stars.
The best feature about the event is that it brings families together, says Julie Baumgardner, First Things First president and chief executive officer.
"The heart of it all is relationships," she said. "That's certainly what we've been about going on 21 years and we see it play out in the park."
First Things First launched Movies in the Park 16 years ago to celebrate its fifth anniversary and to sponsor an activity that facilitated its mission of bringing families together. Baumgardner says about 5,000 to 7,000 people attend each movie night.
"Since we're all about strengthening families and life is so chaotic, we thought that Movies in the Park would be a great thing to bring the community together and bring families together," said Baumgardner. "I look back over the years and that's exactly what it's done. Thousands of people come out."
Children under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Baumgardner says the show usually goes on despite threats of rain. Only one movie night has been canceled because of rain in the 16 years First Things First has hosted the event.
First Things First is not allowed to list the movie titles in the newspaper, but titles are available online at firsthings.org.
Baumgardner can, however, give teasers about what films are upcoming. See if you can guess what they are:
-July 14: A strong-willed teenage girl, the daughter of a chief of a Polynesian village, sails across the ocean on an adventure to save her people.
-July 21: A 12-year-old boy wants to be a famous guitar player despite his family's ban on music. The boy goes to the Land of the Dead where he learns more about his heritage.
-July 28: A mature race car gets pushed out of his sport by a new generation of cars. But the mature car's friends, young and old, help him make a comeback.
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or (423)757-6431.