Many attended the inaugural drive-in movie hosted by the Winona Business and Professional Association and the City of Winona last Friday night. Those in attendance got to see a Christmas favorite, “The Polar Express,” from the comfort of their own vehicle.
WBPA Committee member Matt Bennett said he counted over 100 cars in the parking lot of the Montgomery County Coliseum as many gathered their families to enjoy the holiday event.
“For the first time, I think it went very well,” Bennett said. “We had a really good turnout. There are some improvements we have to make. We have to find a way that we can lift the screen so more people will able to see it farther away.”
Mayor Jerry Flowers said he is proud of the turnout and neither the city nor the WBPA ever dreamed it would draw over 100 cars and trucks.
“We had a few first-time hiccups, but we plan to make them better,” Flowers said. He said so far the feedback has been very positive.
“I haven’t seen anything negative so that’s always a win,” Bennett said. “The two or three people I did talk to told me they really enjoyed it and had fun.”
Bennett said there are plans to not only make this an annual event, but to do another screening in the near future. Flowers said next month’s movie will be Disney’s “Frozen.”
“If you didn’t get to see the first one, come on out to this one,” Flowers said. Details are still in the works to finalize the date for the next viewing.
“People can watch our [The Winona Business and Professional Association] Facebook page or the Winona Times/Carroll County Conservative Facebook page,” Bennett said.
Bennett said there were many people the WBPA wanted to thank but he especially wanted to mention North Winona Baptist for providing the FM transmitter, the Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership for the projector and HillFire for providing the concessions.
“Mayor [Jerry] Flowers played a huge part in making this happen,” Bennett said.
“I want to thank Amanda Sexton Ferguson and the WBPA for putting this all together,” Flowers said. “And I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
