Community
South Central Regional Library happy with turn out for Drive-In Movie Night
The South Central Regional Library’s (SCRL) Morden branch brought the community together for a summer highlight on Thursday, August 7th, with a movie night under the stars at the Stardust Drive-In. SCRL Morden Branch Administrator Gail Hildebrand was pleased with the evening “Last night, we had our major activity for the summer, which was a movie at the Stardust Drive-In. We were sponsored by the Morden Elks branch. They paid for the use of the Stardust Drive-In, which we really appreciated. We have a budget for activities, but something on that scale, it really helps when another community organization steps up and helps us out.” The evening featured The Wild Robot, based on book geared for young readers. “I hadn’t read the book myself. It’s been a super popular book, so people were looking forward to seeing the movie,” she said. “We ended up having about 100 kids and adults there last night to watch The Wild Robot. We had a great turnout, and everybody had a great time watching the movie.” Related stories: $18K fundraiser and 1,700 young readers: The year so far with South Central Regional Library A quest for colourful clues through Winkler Library's Bookland Explorer's program Despite some rain earlier in the evening, Hildebrand said the weather didn't interfere with the fun. “The rain missed us. There were a few mosquitoes, but other than that, most people were sitting outdoors watching it and getting the full experience of coming to the drive-in.” Hildebrand noted that opening the event to the public, beyond summer reading program participants, helped spark broader interest. “We did get more interest, which was great, and so hopefully we are on the radar with those people… We do hope that opening it up to the community this time will get us on the radar for next summer.” The real joy of the night, she said, was seeing people connect. “We saw full families. It was just good to see people doing something together with their kids… There’s just something so peaceful about sitting at the drive-in and watching this movie together with your kids. I even got to sit and watch it with my kid, even though she’s 25 years old. It was just a great family time.” Hildebrand expressed gratitude to everyone who made the event possible. “Again, I just really want to thank the Elks for stepping up and thank Stardust Drive-In for making it work. And thank everybody that came last night, because yes, if they don’t come, it’s not a success. We’re always just so happy to see everybody come out.”