September 19, 2008

Evergreen residents ask for more ‘movie nights’

“Movie Night Under the Stars” was such a huge success last month, with nearly 1,000 people in attendance, that residents and business owners are now inquiring when the next movie night is scheduled.

Last month’s “Movie Night Under the Stars” was a huge success, with nearly 1,000 people in attendance.

Sponsored by Involved Evergreen and the Evergreen Village Square Business Owners Association, organizers considered 200 people attending would be the measure of a successful event. Much to their surprise nearly 1,000 people attended the first showing.

Now, the effort for the planners is shifting their sight to how the next Movie Night can be an even better event.

“Movie Night was a huge success from a business standpoint,” said Steve Spadafora, Owner of Java Junction at the Square. I fully support sponsoring more of these events to help bring more crowds to Evergreen Village Square. The event far surpassed the expectations of local businesses which saw a boom in their sales. The audience seemed pleased at the selection of food available at the restaurants that stayed open late for the special event.

“It rocked!” said movie goer Diane Ivey. As the film Nim’s Island played, a silent audience enjoyed the tale of a girl trying to save her father. The movie’s atmosphere brought families together, in addition to bringing the community together. After the movie, the audience cleaned up the area and the refuse was recycled.

Feedback on the first event has been universally positive from community members who attended. Diane Ivey, a mother of four teens, who attended the event, summed it up: “It rocked! It was a positive closeness, and the crowd showed pride in the community and really cleaned up afterward.”

Many residents were ecstatic as the movie drew to a close, and responded with a deafening round of applause at the conclusion. PTA President Sherry Gilmore exclaimed “It brought the community together” said Evergreen resident and mother of 3 Leslie Steinberg, Evergreen resident and mother of 3 noted “It was a fabulous family event!”

When asked about future movie nights, Involved Ever-green Founder Rose Herrera responded “We are constantly trying to improve our events at the Square,” she said. Individ-uals can sign up on Involved Evergreen and submit comments and suggestions. We definitely want to continue with “Movie Night” as soon as possible.

Herrera explained that the organization wants to have big gatherings like the first one and to make the experience even better. “Suggestions received to date include renting portable restrooms to supplement the facilities from the restaurants at the Square, having some food sales move outdoors, purchasing a larger movie screen, and asking the City to turn off a few of the street lamps near the screen while the movie is playing,” she said.

To learn more about Involved Evergreen and to keep informed about upcoming events, sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/involvedevergreen.