Families gather in front of the movie screen before a showing of “Zootopia 2” at the Movies in the Park event. (Photos by Emily Baierl)
Families spread blankets across the grass and unfolded lawn chairs at Machado Park on the evening of June 13 as the City of Lake Elsinore hosted its annual Movies in the Park event.
The free community event featured a showing of “Zootopia 2” and was hosted in partnership with the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station.
“Machado is a really big park,” said Officer Serrato, a community service officer with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. “It was a good area to host something free for the community and give back.”
Before the movie started, families had the opportunity to take photos with “Zootopia 2” characters and participate in crafts.
Melissa Veliz, the city’s special events coordinator, said the city tries to make each Movies in the Park event unique by adding activities beyond the movie itself.
“We always try to bring something different to a Movies in the Park event,” she said. “We always try to bring activities or games.”
Veliz said the city has hosted Movies in the Park for about 18 years.
“We used to do it every Wednesday during the summers,” Veliz said. “Then we started doing a bunch of other events.”
While the city now hosts a variety of community activities throughout the year, Veliz said Movies in the Park remains a popular way to bring residents together.
“We love seeing the community come together and utilize our parks,” she said. “We love seeing families using the parks and being together doing different activities.”
The event also gave residents a chance to interact with city staff and law enforcement in a casual setting. Serrato said events like Movies in the Park help bring the community, the city and law enforcement together.
“It’s good to close that gap,” Serrato said. “We try to partner as much as we can.”
The partnership will continue at National Night Out on August 4 at McVicker Park, where the city and Sheriff’s Office will once again host activities for local families.
“This is kind of like our teaser of what’s coming for National Night Out,” Serrato said. “It’s a law enforcement based event, so we bring out canine swat and we try to get our helicopter out sometimes. Then the city brings out all their vendors.”
