Movie! Beach! Sunset! Community! Muskegon!

How can it get better? Add a sunset. Check. (Photo courtesy of Movies on the Beach Muskegon.)

Can you tell I'm excited, Muskegon? Very, very excited? Not only do I have an upcoming event with amazing elements to tell you about, this fabulous idea sprung from the imagination of some Muskegonites...

Three weeks from now, the Port City community will come together, plop down on the unparalleled Pere Marquette beach, take in a breathtaking sunset, then watch Back to the Future ... (I wish I had a DeLorean ... I'd go now...)

You, me, the Port City ... and Marty McFly. On the beach. At dusk. What could be better, Muskegon? You wanna have a picnic? Bring the food! You wanna get to know your neighbors? Come early and reach out. Don't have much spare cash? It's free, Muskegon! Free! Though a donation would be very much appreciated by the organizers.

I'll give you the background, after the details:

Who: Muskegon community; anyone interested in a unique, interesting experience

What: Inaugural Movies on the Beach Muskegon event

When: Evening of June 15; get there by 9:30 p.m.

Where: Pere Marquette beach, between the main bath house and Lake Michigan

Why: Building community; fun!

How: 120-inch screen from organizer; projector and speakers loaned from the Frauenthal Center

Cost: Free, but donations are encouraged

Movies are fun. Drive-in movies are more fun. Movies in the park with your community transcend fun and become bonding experiences. Movies on the beach as the sun sets ... I can only imagine.

So can Kerry Halloran, Movies on the Beach Muskegon lead organizer: "It's something I saw in a movie a long time ago. I know a lot of places have movies in the park, and a friend suggested we do it on the beach ... I figured, why not, we have this beautiful shoreline that most places don't have..."

Kerry's idea of movies on the beach won a $500 grant from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County back in August. Since then, she and her family and friends have worked tirelessly to get the event off the ground and onto the beach. The driving force is a desire to bring the community together - and the community has proved enthusiastic and encouraging.

"We're working with the Frauenthal Center for the equipment - that'll be a way to get different types of people involved," Kerry said. "We really want to make it a community event.

"It's been quite the undertaking, but people have been so helpful."

Community members voted for Back to the Future and they've promoted the event.

Kerry hopes for a minimum of 100 people; she recommends moviegoers come by 9:30 to get a good spot.

"That way, people can get to know some of the people around them, too," she said.

"The great thing about it being where it's at is, when you come around the corner there, you can see where it's at," so even if someone just happens upon it, he or she can join, Kerry said. "You can bring a picnic basket and watch the sunset with the people around you."

People in your community, or, if you're visiting, in an inviting West Michigan community.

Where we're going we don't need roads ... or buildings ...

See you on the beach, Muskegon.

--Imaginer