After success last year, the Main Street Moviehouse is holding
its second annual “Free Family Film Fest” at 10 a.m. Saturdays,
starting Jan. 20 and running through Feb. 17.

“It was very successful last year,” said James Guelfi, the
chairman of the “Light up the Marquee” committee which raised the
funds to re-open the Moviehouse and the liaison between the DBRC
board and Dipson Theaters. “Many of the shows were filled to
capacity. And we wanted to make it an annual thing.”

Kris Monago, a school teacher with the Bradford Area School
District, said the Bradford Area Education Association partnered
with the Moviehouse for the film fest last year and will be
involved again this year. Working along with the teachers were
student organizations, including the Bradford High Key and Leo
clubs and teams from SALSA (Students Advocating Life without
Substance Abuse) and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions),
all of whom are asked to help with the film fest again this
year.

“A number of us helped initially,” Monago said. “We solicited
teachers from the association to be there on Saturday morning. We
had six or seven that did it every week, but we also had others
that did it once or twice. It was very gratifying. There were a lot
of lovely families that came out – a lot of families that came
every week. There were grandparents that came with (the children).
There were many positive comments.”

Monago said at the end of last year’s film fest, the BAEA held a
food drive with a good turnout for contributions.

This year’s family films will run for five weeks instead of the
10 weeks that they ran for last year. According to Guelfi, 10 weeks
is too long of a commitment for the volunteers, whom the film fest
depends on.

“It may be better” this year with five weeks instead of 10,
Monago said. “I know last year we ran into soccer and other
activities at the end. This year with five (weeks), it should be
perfect.”

“This is a great time for Bradford area kids and their families
to build happy memories and a mindset for frequent movie going in a
carefree hometown environment, such as we all had when we were
kids,” Guelfi said.

The film schedule for this year is as follows:

Jan. 20 – “All Dogs go to Heaven”

Jan. 27 – “Peter Pan”

Feb. 3 – “Stuart Little”

Feb 10 – “Annie” (starring Carol Burnett)

Feb. 17 – “The Indian in the Cupboard”

Again this year there will be free candy, door prizes and a
grand prize of a bicycle the last week. The bicycle, donated by
Just Riding Along in Bradford, will be given away on the day of the
last show. The more shows attended, the more chances to win. The
winner does not need to be present to win.

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, and an adult
must be accompanied by a child. This series is sponsored by The
Blaisdell Foundation, DBRC and Dipson Theaters.

More information on the series is available by calling the Main
Street Moviehouse or by visiting its Web site – dipsontheaters.com
– and clicking on “Events.”