PORT TOWNSEND — Organizers hope to begin youth programs at the Port Townsend Community Center this school year, and are throwing a benefit barbecue at the drive-in on Sunday to help fund them.
“There is no safe place in town where kids can just hang out and be with their friends,” said Jane Storm, speaking for the Friends of Jefferson County Parks and Recreation.
“We want to provide this for them by opening the community center at least part of the time.”
The group hopes to offer youth programs at the Port Townsend Community Center at 620 Tyler St.
To help make this happen — and to raise some funds for improvements at Memorial Field in Port Townsend — a barbecue, auction with some 60 items and games is planned at the Wheel-In Motor Movie, colloquially known as the Port Townsend Drive In Theater, at 210 Theatre Road south of town.
Gates will open at 4 p.m. The movie, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” will begin at dusk, which is estimated by theater manager Rick Wiley to be at about 8:45 p.m.
Admission to the movie is $7 per person, cash or check.
Wiley is donating all gate receipts to the fundraising effort.
Storm said the framework is in place to begin opening the center during the upcoming school year.
She estimates that it will cost about $11,000 to offer programs between September and December.
Optimistically, Sunday’s fundraiser could bring in around $10,000, she said, and “if we get enough volunteers, we can make the money last longer.”
Regular concession food will be served during the event, along with a special barbecue that the theater usually does not prepare, Wiley said.
“This will be a day of family fun,” he said.
“Taking the family to the drive-in is great entertainment, and it’s not just a place to watch a movie.”
For more information, phone 360-385-2291 or e-mail friends ofparksandrec@hotmail.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
