There Spidey and I were, sitting with a few hundred of our friends, enjoying the light breeze that dissipated the August heat.
I was comfortable -- Spidey? Not so much, as he fought Electro and other bad guys on the big screen hanging on the stage of the amphitheater at North Arkansas College in Harrison.
Say what you will about Harrison, and -- out of my hearing -- some of you will, but they have had a free movie for the community each month during the summer. There have been other activities for the kids, such as a concession stand and trivia contests, at the college's south campus.
Fayetteville hosts movies at the pool -- what a fun concept. Crystal Bridges showed "Monuments Men" outside last week. I had a conflict and couldn't go, plus I had seen the movie. Still, I'll bet those who went had an enjoyable evening.
Rogers has, um, well. Rogers doesn't show free movies to the community. I think that's sad, if not downright pitiful.
I remember lobbying a department head for something similar when Fayetteville started their movies at the pool event. The Lake Atalanta pool was still in operation back then. As small as that facility was, I think it would have been a cool -- and cool -- venue for movies.
However, it didn't involve a ball -- softball, baseball, football, basketball or soccer ball -- so the idea didn't take off.
The previous Main Street Rogers administrators tried to have movies downtown, but it wasn't very successful. I think that was because they didn't seem to think they could publicize the name of the movie to be shown. I don't know why that was an issue, but it sure doesn't seem to be one for other organizations hosting free movies.
Of course, you have to have sponsors to help defray the cost of showing movies -- nothing is truly free. That means someone has to make an effort to convince people to part with their hard-earned money. It's not always easy. I get that. Anything worthwhile isn't.
The Frisco Stage downtown would be the perfect place for movies if something was done with the seating. People would have to bring their own chairs or blankets -- that might be a tad uncomfortable on that brick street.
If I were the decider, I'd dump those uncomfortable bleachers in favor of molded plastic chairs with backs. They can be secured to prevent them from being carried off.
I might even roll movie night in with 3rd Friday activities. I like the idea of having two events bringing people downtown, but it might be a good start to have other events first -- such as an art show and demonstrations, then a movie at dark, possibly one with a similar theme.
There are those of you who will roll your eyes and say there's no reason to have events like this. We will have to disagree. These are the events that bring people -- and their pocketbooks -- to Rogers.
I hope the report from Gateway Planning, a Dallas based group hired to devise a plan to revitalize downtown, stresses the importance of hosting events like community movies, and other thinking outside the box.
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I am the first to say I watch too much "House Hunters" on HGTV. I've no idea why people who can only afford canned meat think they should have caviar, but if ever there's the perfect example of the American mindset, it is on "House Hunters."
Anyway, I couldn't miss the episode filmed in Bentonville. I was ready to throw something at the TV before it was all over because the only adjective the narrator could use to describe Bentonville was "tiny."
Well, yeah, compared to Austin -- where the couple had lived before he took a job with a "large retailer" -- it is small. I looked up the Metropolitan Statistical Area population, which was estimated at 1.9 million. Ours is estimated at 500,000. I don't care. "Tiny" seemed disparaging.
That aside, these two just had to be near downtown Bentonville, even if that meant buying an old house and remodeling.
Just another example of making your downtown a place where people want to go for dinner, for coffee, for drinks, for entertainment.
If Rogers can do that, we might be the next town being called "tiny" on "House Hunters."
Commentary on 08/21/2014