SUMMER '08 CHILLIN': A win-win situation in downtown Lancaster

Jess Garland (clockwise from top left), Josh Anthony, Ashton Anthony, Tara Anthony and infant Elijah Garland wait for "Ghostbusters" to begin at Binns Park. Photo Courtesy Lancaster Newspapers

Dinner and a Movie series provides an inexpensive and fun night out

Lancaster New Era

Julyl 10, 2008

Hey, guys.

Yes, you. All you males who are already getting bored with summer.

Whose girlfriends somehow don't seem impressed by your vicious hacky-sack skills or your mind-bending "Guitar Hero" solos anymore. (I don't understand why they're not impressed, either.) The dates to the movies and the mall are starting to get old. And expensive.

I have a solution. A real winner.

If you want to bring back that glimmer of fascination she had when she first saw you master "Enter Sandman," then here's what to do.

Go old-fashioned. And I don't mean go dig up your Sega Genesis. I mean really old-school.

I mean dinner and a movie. Before your eyes glaze over, though, hear me out. It's a win-win.

It's relatively inexpensive (more on that later), and it's just romantic enough to make her friends say "aww," without requiring a mushy poem. And you get to see a movie.

Now, to facilitate this, the good city of Lancaster has come up with a special series of weekly dinners and movies, creatively titled "Dinner and a Movie."

This series, brought to you by the Mayor's Office of Special Events, or MOOSE (now that is a creative title), features a variety of participating restaurants and a free showing of various movies outdoors at Binns Park, on North Queen Street.

This is Dinner and a Movie's third year. The idea originated when Mayor Rick Gray's administration first took office, according to Jen Baker, of MOOSE.

The event is becoming more and more popular.

"We've seen an increase in attendance from last year," she says. "People didn't even know about the event (before this year)."

This year, there are eight participating restaurants. They offer discounts on Thursday nights to those who are planning to see the movie. Just show up with the brochure, and you've got a discount.

The movies are shown at 9 p.m. They range from "Ratatouille" (cute) to "Cinema Paradiso" (an Italian film - I've never heard of it either) to "Casino Royale" (Enough said.). Oh, and did I mention the movies are free?