Gilroy – An outdoor movie night has been added to the menu of events designed to lure residents to Girlie’s downtown.
The area, now in the midst of a year-long road and sidewalk renovation along a two-block stretch of Monterey Street, has attracted a faithful Friday night crowd with live music concerts on Fifth Street. Now, business owners are hoping to kick a little life into Wednesday nights by screening classic movies just around the corner, in the Eigleberry Street parking lot between Fourth and Fifth streets.
Several dozen families turned out last week for a showing of the 1948 comedy classic “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” according to Linda Ashford, who runs Ashford’s Heirlooms in downtown Gilroy. The free event started off with cartoons for the kids and included free popcorn.
The first event was a success despite limited publicity, Ashford said, adding that it had the feeling of a a drive-in movie.
“I think part of it was smelling the popcorn in the background,” she said. “To me, the best part about it was when it said ‘The End’ on the screen, everybody just cheered and clapped.”
She credited the city’s community services department for making the event possible by loaning the projection equipment and a billboard-sized screen.
This week, the downtown movie series continues with a screening of Jerry Lewis’ “Disorderly Orderly.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring fold-out chairs and to arrive by 7:30pm
