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SOUTHWICK – A drive-in movie theater is coming to town at The Wick 338 motocross track, and monies raised from the events will fund the town’s fireworks.
Rick Johnson, who operates the facility, appeared before the Board of Selectmen Tuesday evening on behalf of the Southwick Civic Fund and proposed using a section of the property to host a drive-in movie theater.
“We thought this would be a way to put a little bit of liveliness back into Friday night and gain revenue for the firework display,” Johnson said.
In the past the Southwick Civic Fund raised money for the fireworks by asking for donations from businesses, said fund president and Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Joseph Deedy. But in this time of COVID-19, when businesses are hurting, the group thought it would be more fun for the community to bring back a drive-in movie theater, he said.
“Instead of begging and begging and begging, we thought this would be a fun thing to do,” he said. “The town’s been great, but it gets old, and if a business isn’t making any money it’s a burden.”
Deedy said the first movie, “Sing,” is slated for July 24, with subsequent movies screened about two weeks apart. The movies will be shown when motocross practices are not being run, which calls for flexibility in the schedule.
“We may switch to Saturday in the fall,” he said.
Deedy said the 20-by-35-foot screen is actually a mobile unit on a box truck with a pop-up wall and will be placed in different locations. Eight movies will be shown at the track, four on the grounds of Westfield River Brewing, and one or two at Congamond Lakes. Audio will be played through FM receivers. There is no set price for the movies, but those who attend will be asked for a donation.
Movie ideas include a showing of “Piranha” at the lakes and “American Graffiti” at the track.
“For ‘American Graffiti’ we’ll have a row of hot rods in the front,” Deedy said, and encouraged those with hot rods to attend that movie.
He also said the town’s health department has approved the plan with social distancing guidelines in place.
The request was approved by the Board of Selectmen, with Deedy abstaining from the vote. Chief Administrative Officer Karl J. Stinehart said the request will also be reviewed by the appropriate department heads.
This year’s fireworks, Deedy said, will be held in the fall at the Recreation Center parking lot. Townspeople will be able to see them from most spots in Southwick.
The firework generally costs about $12,000 to produce. Once enough funds are raised for the fireworks, any additional funds raised will be donated to town nonprofit organizations such as the food pantry and the senior center.
In other business, the board was in favor of a request by Police Lt. Robert Landis to change the recently approved Police Department use-of-force policy to include language that requires police officers to intervene when another police officer “is acting contrary to the police policy.”
Selectman Russell Fox made a motion for immediate action on the request, which was unanimously approved by the three-member board.
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