Movies in the Park Brings Community Together

While the sun was setting on Friday, July 26, people flocked to Fleming Park to see “Wreck-It Ralph,” the city’s fourth movie in its annual Movies in the Park series. Families gathered at Fleming Park on North La Cadena Drive as early as 8 p.m. in anticipation of the free movie screening of the Disney film. The series is meant to bring the experience of going to the movies to their own backyard. “This is our annual summer movie series; we do them every summer,” said Heidi Strutz, Recreation Coordinator with the Colton Community Services Department. “It’s a free event, where people come out and we have free snacks and free things to do.” Before the 8:30 showing of the film, people arrived early to enjoy some of the other free entertainment that was offered that night, shared Strutz. There was a jump house for the kids as well as Just Dance 4 for the Wii console, a snack bar, and free burger and fries samples from P&G Burgers. Georgia Smirniotakis, one of the owners of the family-run P&G Burgers, said that although this was the second year the business was giving out samples at the movie series, she loved coming here because everyone is friendly and she gets to see her customers. “It has grown since we first started this,” said Strutz, adding that the event has been going on for a little over a decade. “We have a total of seven [movies in the park events] this year. We have been able to grow them; when I first started here, we only had one per summer and now we have a series,” said Strutz. Fleming Park is a favorite venue of the recreation coordinators, according to Strutz, because of the natural seating arrangements and the sound quality. “We actually start here, come back after two parks and finish up here,” said Strutz. One of the many viewers who follow the series around the city is Lucy Barrera. Barrera, who has been attending the series with her family for two consecutive years now, thinks it’s a great way to unite family members—bringing children closer to their parents. The Movies in the Park series kicked off in Fleming Park Friday, June 28 and will end on August 16 at Fleming Park where “The Princess Diaries” will be screened. The next movie screening will be Friday Aug. 5 at Rancho Mediterranean Park, where guests will enjoy the feature film “Little Giants.” The movie begins at 8:30 p.m.