‘Bee Movie’ starts off another great summer of movie fun in Village Park

By Joanne Gonnerman
Kannapolis Citizen
If watching a movie on the largest outdoor projection screen in the Southeast sounds like fun, then Village Park was the place to be Friday night as Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Department staff kicked off the first Movies in the Park event for the 2008 summer season.
Approximately 2,000 people blanketed the lawn in front of the Village Park Amphitheatre to watch “Bee Movie,” a Dreamworks animation about Barry B. Benson, a bee who decides to sue the human population when he discovers they eat honey.
Special Events Coordinator Becky Tolle explained the 20-by-40 feet viewing area of the screen makes it the largest in the Southeast — and with a movie screen that large, there’s not a bad seat in the house.
“This is great entertainment,” said Terry Triplett, a Kannapolis City police officer who, with his wife, Sheila, was waiting for their daughter, son-in-law and grandson, C.J., to arrive.
“This will be his first movie,” said Triplett of his 9-month old grandson. “But he probably won’t remember it. It’s (the outdoor movie) a good thing for the kids and the city. We love it.”
Movie-goers began arriving at Village Park shortly after 6 p.m. to choose their place on the lawn and to be a part of the live entertainment presented by RadioDisney AM1480.
“We’ve included RadioDisney in our pre-movie schedule to entertain the kids while they wait for the movie to begin,” said Tolle of the Charlotte-based radio station. “They entertain the kids with music, games, line dances and spelling bees. We’re excited about seeing what the crowd will be like.”
On-air DisneyRadio personality DJ Denny kicked the evening into high gear with her welcome and invitation for the kids to play musical hoola-hoops. Nine players from toddler to teen listened as she described the rules for the game.
“Do you know how to play musical chairs?” said Denny. “Then you know how to play musical hoola-hoops. You just have to jump into the center of the hoop when the music stops.”
Outlasting eight other players and claiming the DVD winning prize was Alexa Strickland, 7, who came to the outdoor event with her parents, Marty and Amanda Strickland.
“Just jump in (the hoop) fast,” said Alexa, of her winning strategy. “It’s fun.”
Mabel Yancy, 8, and musical hoola-hoop second-place finisher, liked the music played during the game.
“The music was amazing. That was the best part of the game,” said Yancy.
Yancy was at the Friday night event with her mom, Kaymah Yancy, and her two sisters, Genneh-Ba, 15, and 6-month old, Richma. The Yancys are originally from Liberia, West Africa.
“We like it here,” said Kaymah Yancy about her family’s 27 months in Concord, “but we miss Africa. There’s no where like home, you know.”
Yancy’s husband, Richard, works for RHA Health Services in Concord.
In addition to games, RadioDisney staff hosted a registration tent for adults complete with information, flyers and coupons from area businesses.
“We’re not a typical radio station,” said Megan O’Shields, senior account executive with RadioDisney AM1480. “We’re interactive radio.”
O’Shields explained that RadioDisney is a marketing arm of the Disney Company.
“We bring the bigger Disney to the local community,” said O’Shields. “At our events, every child has something (from the event). The games we play relate to the movie.”
The attendance for the movie grew gradually from about 400 people at 8:15 p.m., to around 2,000 by the time the movie began just 45 minutes later.
By the time Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Department director Gary Mills gave his official welcome around 9 p.m., the event’s success was obvious looking out on park grounds filled with people, blankets and folding chairs. The success of the first Movies in the Park event parallels the four specific core values that direct the mission and vision of parks and recreation department employees.
“Our core values are pretty specific,” said Tolle. “They state that we will have excellence in all we do, that there will be integrity in the performance of our duties, that there will be professionalism in interaction with others and that there will be good stewardship of the resources entrusted to staff.”
Ike’s Construction is title sponsor for the 2008 Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Summer Events series. The series provides 23 events throughout the summer, including live-art performances, concerts, stories under the stars at the Kannapolis Branch library and five additional movies in the park. Additional funding for the summer events series is provided by WCNC Radio and the Cabarrus Arts Council.
For a listing of the 2008 Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Summer Events programs, go online to the city’s Web site, www.cityofkannapolis.com, and scroll down the home page to click on the Summer Entertainment Series Schedule link.
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Contact Joanne Gonnerman at 704-932-3336 or jgonnerman@kannapoliscitizen.com.