“I’m really excited about the next six months of Movies in Many, Music in Many, and Happy Hours Creative Classes at the Depot Museum,” says Many Mayor Ken Freeman.
“Our Cultural District Advisory Committee has worked really hard during the last few weeks to plan and finalize these programs from July through December, and I want to thank them for coming up with such appealing programs,” Freeman continued.
“Let me just hit some of the highlights,” the mayor explained. “Our popular Movies in Many program will be showing Jurassic World and Ferdinand in July. We’ve got a really special movie and party on September 15. The movie is Grease and we’re giving a 1950s sock hop along with the movie. We want people to dress in costume, and we’ll have some fun activities along with the movie. We are showing the acclaimed film Dunkirk on Nov. 10 in honor of Veterans Day. And we’re showing Justice League in November. And, of course, we’ll have Halloween and Christmas movies and parties for the children.”
The mayor emphasized that all movies are free to everyone, with concessions for only $1 each. Movies are shown on the first and third Saturday of each month. They are family friendly movies with ratings from G to PG 13. An R rated movie may be shown rarely if the story line is important enough to merit showing it. Freeman said he could think of only two movies in the past four years that received R ratings.
The mayor explained that people are warned in advance of an R-rated movie. The R rating is posted on the theater marquee, on Save the Date Facebook page and also the Town of Many’s Facebook page, as well other pages. Local media are also advised through news releases.
Freeman is also looking forward to the popular Music in Many concert series. The fall music concerts will begin in September, after taking a break for July and August. Freeman said that a parish wide gospel singing concert will be a new addition to the music shows. It will be performed on October 13 and will feature some outstanding gospel singers and praise dancer from around the Central Louisiana region.
Willie Stewart, Family and Friends will perform their second annual Christmas Concert on Dec. 15. Last year’s Christmas show was the first time the popular Stewart family had performed at the Many Community Center. “The show was a huge hit and one of our most popular music shows in 2017,” Freeman said. “So we asked them to come back this year, and Willie accepted.”
Freeman is especially proud of the Happy Hour Creative Classes taught on Saturday afternoons at the historic Depot Museum.
Members of the Depot Art Guild work closely with the Cultural District Advisory Committee to feature creative classes in several areas.
The creative classes last for three hours on the second, third and fourth Saturday afternoons of each month. Painting classes are taught on the second Saturday of every month starting on July 14. Well-known artist JoAnn Cason will teach the classes through November.
Crafts with Art Guild President Shanna Gaspard will begin on August 18 and will run through November. These are popular classes to bring children and grandchildren to, and they’re taught on the third weekend of each month.
One of the most popular classes to be taught is the Jewelry Design and Jewelry making class taught by professional jewelry designer Cheryl Pearsall. Pearsall has almost 20 years of experience in designing and creating one-of-a-kind jewelry. She shares her skills with her students. And students can take home their creations! Pearsall’s classes are taught on the fourth Saturday afternoon of each month.
Each of the Happy Hours creative classes have small class fees to cover the cost of materials and supplies that are provided.
Mayor Freeman emphasized that many hours go into planning and providing all these activities for the people of Many, Sabine Parish, and the surrounding areas.
“I don’t like to hear that there’s nothing to do here in Many,” Freeman said. “Now, thanks to some hardworking volunteers, our people can attend movies, concerts, plays, and different events at the Many Community Center. And they can also learn to paint, make something for their homes, or make a beautiful piece of jewelry.”
“We are lucky indeed to have these activities and we hope to add even more,” Freeman concluded. “Many is a great place to live with great people. And now we have some great activities for them.”