For the past 14 years, hundreds if not thousands of folks have been gathering in a parking lot in Old Town Saginaw on Sunday evenings during the summer. They bring blankets, chairs and even an occasional sofa to enjoy movies projected on a screen attached to the side of a building. The free event: The Lawn Chair Film Festival – the first of its kind in Michigan.
The audience is as varied as Saginaw itself, with young and old coming together with a mutual appreciation of community and motion pictures.
“We are an all-volunteer organization,” said Peter Brian Rose-Barry, secretary, Lawn Chair Film Festival.
Over the years, time has taken its toll on the equipment being used to host the event at 221 N. Hamilton St. in Old Town Saginaw.
“The screen was falling apart and our projection and sound equipment was terribly outdated,” said Rose-Barry.
That’s when the group turned to Saginaw Community Foundation for grant support to replace the screen and upgrade the A/V equipment.
“Without the grant support from SCF, the Lawn Chair Film Festival would have probably folded. We just did not have the funds for such an expense,” said Rose-Barry.
With support, the festival will be able to continue as a community summertime entertainment staple in Old Town Saginaw, bringing world-class movies to Saginaw that might not have otherwise been shown here.
