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Community Corner

'Party in the Park' Kicks Off Summer Movie Festival

Free family movies to be shown weekly on Fanwood's new, inflatable screen.

Fanwood kicks off its summer movie festival this Tuesday with the third annual “Party in the Park” at LaGrande Park. This year’s festivities include food, contests, rides, and three exciting additions: DJ music, laser tag, and a free showing of WALL•E projected onto a brand new, 16-foot-wide, inflatable movie screen.

The event has attracted over 500 people in past years and promises to have a similar turn-out this week if the weather holds up. Aside from the much anticipated laser tag, other attractions include a Moonwalk, an obstacle course, a balloon typhoon, and a Robot Relay Race, which is sponsored by Sports Place.

Also new to the party is an Eco-Robot Building Contest, which celebrates the theme of the festival’s opening film. Open to all ages, participants will be instructed on how to build a robot out of recyclable materials they bring from home. Prizes will be awarded to all entries.

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Replacing last year’s Pasta Eating Contest will be a Corn-on-the-Cob Eating Contest. The contestants will be grouped by age and will each receive one ear of corn. Prizes will be awarded to the fastest eater in each category.

The summer party improvements are largely due to the efforts of Bob Budiansky, Fanwood Director of Recreation, who took office in September 2006. Budiansky has also significantly revamped Fanwood’s summer camp program during his tenure.

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“It’s a fun night for the town, and we’ve gotten a lot of local merchant participation over the years,” Budiansky said. “Everyone’s really happy to get involved. For the Corn Eating Contest we’re getting help from Panettone’s, who will boil up the corn for us. Double Dipper is providing an ice cream cart and ices and South Street Pizza and Café is providing pizza, both at a discount.”

The party marks the beginning of Fanwood’s outdoor summer movie series, a tradition that dates back over 17 years. Every Tuesday night for eight weeks, free family films will be shown on the town’s new 16-foot-wide, inflatable screen— instead of being projected onto the side of the park building as in past years. The new screen will feature a clearer, larger picture and will be positioned against the outfield fence of LaGrande’s baseball diamond (assuming conditions are dry), allowing viewers to sit on the grassy field instead of the festival’s usual hard, blacktop location.

Two years ago, Fanwood invested in new outdoor speakers and recently purchased a projector to replace the existing one, which isn’t powerful enough to project onto the larger, inflatable screen. This summer's film festival will be the first time all three elements will be used together, offering a much improved outdoor theater experience to local residents.

While most Fanwood Recreation events are funded through the town’s budget, the new screen and projector were paid for by grants provided by the Fanwood Recycling Association and Union County Kids Recreation Trust Fund. The new equipment is owned by Fanwood and will be used throughout the year.

“We bought the inflatable screen last fall, and we tried it out at the Halloween Costume Contest,” Budiansky said. “We lent it out to Scotch Plains for a film festival in May, and now I’m happy to say we’re going to use it for the purpose it was intended for.”

Movies begin at dusk, and moviegoers should arrive early with blankets and low beach chairs, as the event is usually well attended. Light refreshments will be available for purchase, but families may bring their own snacks as long as they clean up after themselves.

“Now that we’re showing the movies on the field, people really need to make sure they clean up their trash,” Budiansky said. “It’s too hard for the Department of Public Works to clean up in time for the summer camps that run in the park the following day. If families don’t show some discipline, we’ll have to move the event back to the hard asphalt.”

The films are provided free of charge by Palmer Video in Scotch Plains, and they are all rated G or PG and hand-picked by Budiansky, who researches the titles on family movie web sites to make sure they’re appropriate for the festival’s typically young audience.

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Fanwood’s Party in the Park

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

5:30 -8:30pm

LaGrande Park, Fanwood

*Bring a shoebox, bottle caps, nuts & bolts, and paper towel/toilet paper cardboard rolls to participate in the Eco-Robot Building Contest.

*Fees will be charges for rides, laser tag, pizza, and hot dogs.

 

Fanwood Free Movie Festival

Tuesdays at dusk (8:30pm in June and 8 pm toward the end of August)

Raindate on Wednesdays

LaGrande Park, Fanwood

*Bring your own blanket or low beach chair

 

Schedule:

6/30     WALL•E (rated G)

7/7       Horton Hears a Who! (rated G)

7/14     Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (rated G)

7/21     Kung Fu Panda (rated PG)

7/28     Beverly Hills Chihuahua (rated PG)

8/4       Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (rated PG) 

8/11     Bedtime Stories (rated PG)

8/18     Bolt (rated PG)

For more information: http://www.fanwoodrecreation.org or call 370-7092.

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