On a warm Friday evening in mid-June, families began arriving at Phelan Community Park with lawn chairs, picnic baskets, and blankets in tow. Kids ran across the grass and played in the playground while parents looked for a good spot to settle in. Some even started a pick-up game of basketball. As the sky darkened, the giant movie screen lit up and The Wild Robot began, kicking off this year’s Summer Movies in the Park series.
Every Friday night through July 25—except for July 4—the Phelan Piñon Hills Community Services District, along with the Tri-Community Kiwanis Club, hosts a free movie night for the community. The event takes place at the Phelan Communitys Park, and it draws a crowd of all ages. Many families come early to hang out, eat dinner picnic-style, and chat with neighbors while the kids play.
This has been a Tri-Community tradition for about 18 years. It started indoors at the Phelan Community Center, where Kiwanis volunteers handed out soda, popcorn, and red vines. Kids sat on mats up front while parents relaxed in the back. As the event grew more popular, bean bags were added for kids to sprawl out more comfortably.
Everything changed during the pandemic. Indoor gatherings weren’t allowed, and movie nights went on pause. But in 2020, the PPHCSD revived the program. They bought all the equipment needed for outdoor movies and put together a team to set it up each week and Tri-Community NewsPlus’s Don Fish Jr. was brought in to handle the technical side of things and emcee each week.
Snacks are still part of the fun. The Kiwanis Club runs the concession stand with help from the Miss Phelan Court and the Kiwanis Key and Builders Clubs, and proceeds go to support local youth programs. The smell of popcorn and the sound of kids laughing make it feel like a small-town festival every Friday night.
“It’s so great to see families come out to the park to have a picnic and watch a movie,” said projectionist Don Fish Jr. “When the kids come up and tell us they had a great time and thank us for doing it, that’s the icing on the cake.”
This summer’s movie lineup includes The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie on June 27, If on July 11, Dog Man on July 18, and Harold and the Purple Crayon on July 25. Movies start at dusk, usually around 8 p.m., and everyone’s welcome.
For families in Phelan, Piñon Hills, and Wrightwood, these movie nights offer something simple and meaningful—time together, outside, with neighbors and friends under the Tri-Community sky.
