JULIE BERTRAND/Independent reporter
Cars queued to enter Donalda’s coulee on May 13 to get a chance to watch a movie, drive-in style.
People from as far as Camrose and Sedgwick started arriving at 7 p.m., even though the movie didn’t start until 10 p.m.
“The night went very well. We had 32 cars. Some cars had two people, some had four. It’s hard to estimate the total numbers of spectators,” said mayor Bruce Gartside.
Volunteers working the concession were kept busy during the evening with village council’s resolution to keep food prices low playing a big part .
“We made more than $500 in profit,” said Gartside.
Spectators loved the experience, not hesitating to tell the event volunteers that they hoped the village would hold another drive-in movie night soon.
“It looked just like a traditional drive-in movie theatre,” said Gartside.
“We had three rows of cars spread out in the area.”
At first, it seemed that Mother Nature wanted to spoil the party, with strong winds that made the placement of the screen complicated.
“We had to locate the screen in a way that the wind wouldn’t do any damage to it,” explained Gartside.
Thankfully, the wind abated by 9 p.m.
Mayor Gartside was satisfied by the event’s turnout, even though preparing the coulee for the evening proved to be a lot of work.
“We cut the grass out there just to make it clear where people could park,” explained Gartside.
“With the weather being dry, we didn’t want hot exhaust systems making contact with the higher grass.”
The road was also graded to make it easier for cars.
Drive-in movie night will probably be a popular topic at the village council’s meeting on May 18. Mayor Gartside believes that council will look into having one every year.