Summer tradition of films in Vancouver parks draws big crowds

Vancouver residents living near Marshall Park might have thought themselves crazy for thinking there was a battle of galactic proportions happening somewhere in the neighborhood.

There was — but it was confined to the big screen and played out by characters in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Shortly after sunset, a crowd of hundreds cheered when their favorite characters appeared and some booed when the villains had their first scene. Children in pajamas ran and played along the edges of the crowd, couples huddled together while snacking on shave ice and popcorn and watched as X-wing starfighters zoomed through space.

The weekend of July 15 marked the start of a Vancouver summertime staple, with hundreds of community members taking to the grass with coolers, blankets and lawn chairs to watch a movie in the park.

The first movies were set to play July 8, but were canceled due to rain.

Members of the Cloud City Garrison, Vancouver’s chapter of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, were also there. Chewbacca, stormtroopers, a Jedi and a couple Mandalorians mingled with fans and posed for photos. For their part, “Star Wars” fans were out in force. Many were proudly sporting movie T-shirts and more still arrived hours ahead of time to get a good spot on the lawn. Still, their presence was temporarily eclipsed by Seattle Seahawks fanatics who came to the park hours before the movie to catch the team’s 12 Tour.

The 20-minute show was put on by members of the Sea Gals, Blue Thunder drum corps, former players Curt Warner and Ricardo Lockette, and rookies Joey Hunt and George Fant.

“It’s an opportunity for us, the players and Sea Gals to thank the fans,” said Suzanne Lavender, director of communications for the Seahawks. “For Ricardo, it’s been a good chance to get close for him and the fans since his retirement.”

The fans were certainly appreciative and showed it by wearing team gear and waiving “12” flags during the performance.

After the Seahawks left, many in the crowd followed suit, but well over a hundred remained to watch the movie.

“This is a pretty good Marshall Center crowd,” said Johnie Tucker, a member of the city of Vancouver’s special events crew. Some movies draw more than others, he said, but “we average a few hundred regardless.”

Although he’d seen it three times already and owns a copy at home, Michael Halbrook, 44, accompanied his wife and daughter to watch “The Force Awakens” on what was his first foray into movies at the park.

“My wife and kids like the Seahawks, I like ‘Star Wars’ ” he said.

While at work at the Marshall Center, Brandon Margicin said he saw people dressed in Seahawks gear arrive at the building before 2 p.m. and others who staked their place on the lawn before 4 p.m.

Kohr Harlan Jr. and Will Janson, both 5, shared a “Star Wars”-themed birthday party, complete with a watermelon carved like a Death Star and a half-Darth Vader, half-stormtrooper cake.

Harlan Sr. said the boys are big “Star Wars” fans, and throwing the party on the night of the movie was too good to pass up.

“It’s a great event for the city to put on, the staff are nice and the hospitality is good,” he said. “Everybody got a big dose of ‘Star Wars,’ and that’s what they like.”

“The Seahawks stuff is just gravy over the biscuit,” he added.

Although that Friday afternoon was in the low 70s, the temperature dropped to the 50s as darkness set in. Those without blankets left well before the movie ended. Others huddled up in their coats and blankets.

Things didn’t go exactly as planned. Midway through the movie, two lawn sprinklers on either side of the screen activated and sprayed some people in the front row and doused the electrical equipment before staff were able to get them under control.

Aside from the hiccup and cold weather, most of the crowd stayed late to finish the show and they cheered just as loudly at the end as they did in the beginning.