James Huysmans and the rest of the staff at the Paramount Theatre are gearing up for a Reel-ay For Life movie marathon this weekend. The event replaces the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which was cancelled last month.
“We were going to have a movie marathon as a fundraiser but put it aside,” Huysmans said. But when the relay event — originally slated for 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on June 22-23 at Bob Dailey Stadium — was cancelled, Huysmans and Team PTC scrambled to pull together their event.
Huysmans said Landmark Cinema immediately jumped on board.
The marathon officially kicks off at 11 p.m. on Saturday, but Huysmans said families are encouraged to come out for the 9 p.m. 3-D movie, Disney Pixar’s Monsters University.
(Because it’s a Disney movie it cannot officially be part of the Reel-ay event. Admission will be regular price.)
The movie marathon will feature Goonies, Harry and the Hendersons and Back to the Future, at a donation of $2 per movie. Everyone who stays through those three will have a shot at choosing the final two movies of the marathon, Huysmans said.
Serious Coffee will be in the lobby with refreshments, The Donut Shop donated six dozen doughnuts and the concession will be open too. Huysmans said since Relay for Life teams have been invited to participate, they are allowed to bring their own food into the theatre — as long as it’s appropriate for a movie theatre.
“We’ve done the relay for a couple of years,” Huysmans said. “Our group at the theatre has been doing well and this year we’ve been doing really well (with fundraising). We were way ahead of projections. It’s an important thing for us as well,” he added.
Team PTC will raise between $7,000 and $10,000 this year.
“There are a lot of teams that have put in a lot of effort. For people dealing with cancer it doesn’t just go away because of circumstances.”
He said the Relay for Life people from Vancouver are supporting the Reel-ay movie marathon. They will have team T-shirts for the teams that signed up for the Relay, and they re-activated the fundraising site at Huysmans’ request so funds could still be raised.
There will be a Zumba event in the lobby in the middle of the night and other fun events.
Tickets for Reel-ay for Life are on sale now at the theatre.
editor@albernivalleynews.com