Local families enjoy Medford’s Movie Nights
Local families made their way to Freedom Park on Tuesday, July 18 for the second iteration of Medford’s Movies in the Park nights, planned to run every Tuesday at dusk until Aug. 22. The movie of the night was “Trolls.”
The event is put on by Camp Dark Waters, a coed overnight summer camp for children ages 7–14.
“Years ago, the township used to put on Movies in the Park every year, and the Rec Department went away a few years ago and in the process of all of that, they asked if we’d be willing to do it for them. And so we worked it out,” the camp’s Executive Director Travis Simmons said. “This is our fourth year doing it. Every week during the summer, we come out, put the screen up and sell a little popcorn and snow cones and put on a movie.”
The families seem to enjoy the event as well.
“We had about 300 people here last week,” Simmons said.
“We come every week,” said Patti Flanagan, a spectator at the event. “It’s a regular thing to check out.”
“It’s free and fun for her,” said Flanagan’s friend Samantha Kennedy, referring to her 3-year-old daughter Finley.
Flanagan and Kennedy go to a lot of local events around the neighborhood.
“We go to all the stuff on Main Street,” Flanagan said.
“We come to Freedom Park to ride our bikes and do all kinds of stuff, and the past couple weeks we missed it,” Mimi Oliveira said. “Today just so happened to be Tuesday and we’re here, so it just worked out perfectly. We knew that they had movie night, but we never attended because it was just sort of hit or miss. So tonight was a hit, so it worked out.”
Mimi’s children Gio, 6, and Michael, 3, say they enjoy the event.
“It’s a good something to do with the kids,” she added as Michael played with a ball of Play-Doh.
However, the event isn’t just for families. Angela Haines and Abrielle Lawyer, two recent Seneca High School grads who are headed to college in the fall, see the event as a fun night out.
“I like to do stuff in the community with everyone. It’s a fun way to spend a summer night,” Lawyer said. “We’re trying to get out more.”
“It’s a fun summer night thing to do,” Haines said. “It’s the type of thing you have on your summer bucket list, go watch an outdoor movie.”
Next week’s Movies in the Park will start immediately after Medford’s National Night Out event in Freedom Park on Aug. 1, and “Beauty and the Beast” is the movie on deck. The last three Movies in the Park events, on Aug. 8, 15, and 22, will feature “The Lego Batman Movie,” “Sing” and “Rouge One: A Star Wars Movie,” respectively.
