by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A Thursday-night movie-and-music festival began Thursday at Pinecone Central Park in Sartell with the showing of Wall-E, a wildly popular computer-animated science-fiction adventure from 2008.
It is the second year of “Movies and Music in the Park.“
The movie series, sponsored by BankVista, will continue with two more movies: Dirty Dancing Thursday, July 23 and A Bug’s Life Thursday, Aug. 13. Both will screen at 8:30 p.m.
Pinecone Park is located at 1105 Central Park Blvd, just off Pinecone Road N. Movie-goers and music lovers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, mosquito lotion and their own snacks, although there is also a concession stand at the site for food purchases.
Dirty Dancing, released in 1987, is an adult-themed romantic movie with lots of music and dancing, not to mention personal intrigues thrown in for suspense. The film, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, was a blockbuster hit. Its plot involves a young woman who visits a resort in the Catskills in upstate New York, where she and a dance instructor fall in love. The movie features the smash hit song, I’ve Had the Time of My Life.
Like Wall-E, A Bug’s Life is another computer-animated comedy-adventure released by Pixar-Walt Disney in 1998. It’s about an ant who seeks out help from the world of bugs to help fight off a grasshopper invasion of his ant colony. The bug warriors he recruits happen to be members of a circus troupe. The film, which earned rave reviews and many awards, was a box-office blockbuster.
Music line-up
There are five musical shows scheduled for “Music in the Park.” All shows will begin at 7 p.m. In case of inclement weather, the shows will take place in the nearby Waters Church, 1227 Pinecone Road N.
The line-up is as follows:
July 23: John McCutcheon. A master of many instruments, including the hammered dulcimer, McCutcheon is a widely acclaimed folk singer-songwriter who has performed for decades throughout the world. A Wisconsin native, McCutcheon is a graduate of St. John’s University, Collegeville.
July 30: Imagine Haggis. This band performs ballads of a Scottish folk flavor with plenty of up-tempo songs thrown in for good measure.
Aug. 6. The Becky Schlegel Trio. A South Dakota native, Schlegel and her co-performers sing a blend of bluegrass, folk and country songs, many of which were penned by Schlegel.
Aug. 13: Greg Herriges’ New Whirled Band. Herriges creates his band sound (“whirled music”) with multiple instruments, including guitar, bouzouki, tabla and vocals. He was heavily influenced by musical styles and cultures from throughout the world.
The music series at Central Park is sponsored by Chris and Deb Stalboerger, the Biersheid Family, AmericInn Sartell, Mahowald Insurance Agency, Grand View Estates, St Cloud Orthopedics and the Central Minnesota Arts Board.
John McCutcheon
Becky Schlegel.
