The annual Belmont movie night allows people from nearby cities to connect with one another while watching the amusing movie “Trolls.”
The City of Belmont planned the event for the people of local communities to enjoy the company of one another on the evening of Sept. 20.
“I like it when the city tries to do events for the community,” Carolin Knoble, a volunteer, said. “The movie night is something people look forward to.”
This year, the administrators of the event took a slightly different approach and organized three movie nights instead of just one as they did in the past years.
Visitors settle down and get ready to watch the movie.
“We saw that the event gained popularity. We had about one hundred people for the past two events this year,” Knoble said. “We had a lot of fun watching the movie and raffling out prizes.”
The movie night is a tight-knit event that allows youth groups to participate and integrate themselves with the people in their community.
The event was planned and organized with the help of the Parks and Recreation Department, the Belmont Library, and 4-H, a global youth leadership organization.
“We have set up the food tables for the movie night,” Paul Friedrichs, a 4-H leader, said. “We are doing this as a fundraiser for the STEM projects that 4-H participates in.”
Groups similar to 4-H allow the youngsters of Belmont to explore some leadership opportunities and participate in hands-on projects.
“It is important to have these youth groups since youngsters get to focus on STEM-related hands-on projects that they do not usually do at school,” Matt Stewart said. “We try to focus on leadership skills for students from kindergarten to senior year of high school.”
Many citizens consider Belmont to be one of the most welcoming towns around the area.
“I moved to Belmont about a year ago from Pacifica,” Jimmy Sweeney, a visitor of the event, said. “Events like the movie night help to create a certain sense of community that was not prominent in Pacifica.”
For some visitors, the movie night provides an ideal location for celebrating important milestones.
“My wife and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary,” Larry Roz, a visitor, said. “We have not been to a similar event before but we are very excited to see this movie.”
Overall, the event ultimately helped create a sense of community and bring the residents of Belmont together.
“This is a nice event to get me out of the apartment on a weekday night,” Sweeney said. “It is something fun and relaxing to do close to home.”
