A Mill Village group is looking to the past to keep people entertained during COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Catherine Croft is one of the people working to establish the South Shore Drive-In at the Mill Village Fire Station.<\/p>\n
Croft says she has watched the toll the pandemic restrictions have taken on people\u2019s mental health and wanted to be able to provide a venue for people to maintain connections in a safe way.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people suffering from depression, this was a way that we could still be a community and see our neighbours but still stay within the safe guidelines the government has requested us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Croft says watching a movie from their cars allows people to gather together and feel part of something without having to put one another at risk from the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Croft has been associated with a drive-in.<\/p>\n
Between 2011 and 2014 she helped run the drive-in at the Mill Village Consolidated School with the proceeds going to buy school supplies and provide funding for school lunches and trips.<\/p>\n
The lessons learned from that experience have paid off when trying to make the new drive-in a reality.<\/p>\n
In particular, Croft says engaging the community has built up a level of excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re overwhelmed with the amount of people that have messaged, that have wanted to donate, that have wanted to help and volunteer as they see that this is just something wonderful that can happen to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Croft says the group hasn\u2019t applied for any funding from government and is getting the drive-in off the ground through private donations and sponsorship from local businesses.<\/p>\n
Those local business owners will see their ads displayed on the new 20 by 40 foot screen being installed at the Mill Village fire station at 1519 Old Highway 3.<\/p>\n
The group has also just picked up a new FM transmitter so movie-goers can tune in to the audio from their cars.<\/p>\n
Croft says the drive-in will offer local community groups the opportunity to sell concessions during their movies.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of non-profits are finding it hard to fundraise, they can use us to do that with. That\u2019s kind of, what we want it to be about this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Croft says they\u2019ve already begun marking off the 50 to 60 spaces for their opening on July 4.<\/p>\n
And to involve the community even further, the public will be able vote on which film will be shown opening night by voting on the South Shore Drive-In Facebook page.<\/p>\n
The Mill Village location is temporary as Croft says her group has come to an agreement with the Hank Snow society to build a permanent installation that could accommodate up to 200 cars in the Hank Snow museum parking lot.<\/p>\n
She hopes to raise the $9,500 needed to erect a screen frame through ticket sales and sponsorships in order to move to their permanent home this summer.<\/p>\n
Tickets for the drive-in cost $10 per car and are only available at the gate beginning around 9:00pm.<\/p>\n
The South Shore Drive-In will open July fourth and will show films every weekend throughout the summer.<\/p>\n
For more information you can follow this link to the South Shore Drive Facebook page.<\/a><\/p>\n