SAUGUS — The Free Family Flicks Program, which is run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, screens films at different DCR-operated locations, including Breakheart Reservation, where it screened “Elemental” on Thursday evening.
DCR Director of Visitor Experience and Programs Julie Martin said the program has been running for more than three decades now, and had its beginnings at the esplanade in Boston alongside the DCR’s Charles River Reservation.
DCR and WBZ, a local news organization and one of the program’s sponsors, decided approximately 20 years ago that they would like to expand the program to reach broader audiences at other DCR-operated locations in the area.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the program paused briefly, but the DCR is now committed to rebuilding attendance at the series.
This year, the program is running four movies at Breakheart Reservation, having already screened “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.”
The program at Breakheart will end for the summer with a screening of “Wonka” on Thursday, Aug. 8.
Movies are selected in collaboration with WBZ.
“It’s a little bit of a combination of what’s popular and also what’s available for movies that we can show,” Martin said. “We also try to do a variety.”
Martin said that retro and classic movies, such as “E.T.” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” are screened to allow families to introduce them to a younger audience and experience them together.
“Folks that grew up with those movies might want to come out and enjoy them again, seeing them under the stars at a park,” Martin said.
Peter Rossetti Jr., chairman of the Friends of Breakheart Reservation, which helps in assisting the DCR with various activities and programs at the reservation, said that initially, the movie nights there were held indoors during the fall, but moved outdoors after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rossetti suggested bringing bug spray, as mosquitoes can be problematic, and said that no alcohol is permitted.
Cherylle Enwright, who was at the screening of “Elemental” with her daughter Abby, said that she was excited to see the movie, and that this was their first time attending the Free Family Flicks Program.
Enwright said that they just recently became aware of the program, and learned about it through an electronic sign that advertises it on the Lynn Fells Parkway.
