Free outdoor movies planned in Fostoria

FOSTORIA — Enjoying time outdoors with nature makes for a good enough time for some.Add a good movie, refreshments, the company of family and friends, and who's not in and no cost for admission, and who's not in?Fostoria residents EJ Harrison and Patricia "Kay" Julian, owners of Daddy and Kay's Pizza and Cheesecakes, 112 W. Tiffin St., in Fostoria, have evenings of the latter type planned for three Saturdays in the next two months.Jackson Park in Fostoria, located a short distance west on Jackson Street from the intersection with Buckley Street, will be the site for the public to gather for free, open-air movies to be shown after dark on Aug. 9, Sept. 6 and Sept. 20."Just come and bring your blankets or a chair or whatever you need — just come out and watch the movies," Harrison said.The first film scheduled to be shown on a 33-foot-wide inflatable screen is "Lilo & Stitch." Following on the Disney path will be "Mufasa," on Sept. 6 and "Moana 2," on Sept. Julian said she and Harrison conducted a poll to determine which movies to procure.Such an event is an idea that Harrison and Julian have kicked around for some time, and while their business is the only one sponsoring the shows as of now, they're trying to get others involved."We've been talking about this for, like, the last three summers," Julian said. "We were, like, 'OK, this is a big project to take on because you have to pay for movie licensing and Porta-Potties and cleanup, and we're, like, 'OK, how can we manage to do this and make this a free event for the community?'"We spent a couple of years researching things and we decided that this year was going to be the year that we were going to try it. We have put out (notices) to local businesses to sponsor. We want to make it as community-oriented as we possibly can and get other local businesses recognized as well."Harrison said he's hoping to have at least food truck on hand for each film, with Julian noting that multiple businesses would be welcome to offer their wares."Even with no sponsors thus far, we're still going to proceed," Julian said. "If we have to, we will provide the community ourselves."But she and Harrison are hoping others will contribute in order to make series an annual summer feature."We like doing stuff for the community," Harrison said. "And it's really good to see: If one of the businesses is doing it, hey, all the businesses can contribute and do more, especially for our kids."You know, that's one thing we hear all the time: 'There's nothing for the children to do and that's why they're getting into certain things.' So, hopefully, this will give everyone some time to just go out and enjoy family, life, and see what we have to offer."Daddy and Kay's can be reached by phone at 419-701-7028.