Movie Night series begins, Celina Record

Celina's revamped Movies on the Square season kicks off in `Super’ style Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com May 12, 2016 Don’t be surprised to see Spiderman strolling around Celina’s downtown square Saturday night. Or Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman and Captain America for that matter. These and other comic-book legends will likely be represented by fans wearing costumes and T-shirts emblazoned with their images at this year’s first installment of Celina Main Street’s annual Movies on the Square series. Parlaying the success of last fall’s popular Star Wars Night on the Square event, which was attended by upward of 600 people, each of this year’s monthly Movies on the Square events will feature a slate of interactive, family-friendly activities themed around a flick that will be shown on a large inflatable screen. The series, which runs through November, kicks off with Super Hero Night on the Square. The event will pay homage to pop culture’s most beloved fictional good guys and gals with a kids’ costume contest (open to the first 50 children age 9 and younger who register), obstacle course, tug-of-war challenge and face painting, among other activities, followed by a screening of the 2004 Disney/Pixar flick “The Incredibles.” Celina Main Street Director Bridgette Bise said more than 2,000 people have expressed interest in attending the free event on the Main Street Facebook page. “It’s all about the experience,” she said. “We want families to participate – not just the kids, but the moms and dads.” The superhero theme has already proven to be “a good fit” for the local churches, businesses and organizations that pay $250 to sponsor the activities and refreshments during the movie events, she said. Lori Franklin is the children and family minister at First Baptist Church of Celina, which will sponsor the face-painting activity as well as the High Striker carnival game, where players use a sledgehammer to strike a lever that shoots a puck upward to strike a bell. “They can test their superhero strength that way,” Franklin said. All sponsorship dollars and public donations collected during the movie nights will help fund the 27 events Celina Main Street hosts on the city’s square each year. Star Wars on the Square last year made more than $1,000 for Celina Main Street, Bise said. It used the money to help produce the Christmas on the Square event. Following Star Wars on the Square, Bise said, a volunteer committee was formed to plan this year’s movie nights, a few of which are pegged to coincide with the upcoming theatrical releases of big-budget film sequels. The superhero theme nods to the recent release of “Captain America: Civil War” and the upcoming “X-Men: Apocalypse.” “Finding Nemo” will be screened June 11 during Under the Sea on the Square, just days before its highly anticipated animated sequel “Finding Dory” hits theaters nationwide. Activities planned for the marine-themed event include interactive games and a mermaid costume contest for kids. America’s Pastime is the theme for July and will feature an antique car show, an apple pie contest and a screening of the 1993 baseball movie “The Sandlot.” The 2013 Disney Channel flick “Teen Beach Movie” will be shown as part of Back to School Bash on the Square in August, which may feature a water slide. Just in time for football season, 2004’s “Friday Night Lights” will be screened in September, followed by a romantic comedy (the title of which is yet to be determined) in October for the adults-only Date Night on the Square, which will include wine and craft-beer tastings. The season will conclude with what’s being dubbed Star Wars on the Square: Episode II and a showing of the classic 1977 “Star Wars” film to herald the December release of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Similar to last year’s event, Star Wars on the Square activities will include a station for building light sabers out of pool noodles as well as costume and trivia contests. “We expect a huge turnout for that based on our numbers from last year,” Bise said.