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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Lightning and rain sends people to their vehicles at the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. The crowd was there to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," but the movie ended up not being shown.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
A crowd gathers at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018, to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Ginger Randall of Sumiton, Alabama, and Michael Horowitz of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, wait for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" to be shown on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Emma Waldrep of Decatur, Alabama, and her cousin, Carsyn Whitaker of the Inverness community in north Shelby County, Alabama, check out something on a cell phone as they wait for the start of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Barbara Wllingham paints the face of Laila Austin of Birmingham, Alabama, at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, as they wait for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" to be shown on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series on Friday, June 1, 2018. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Balloon twister Deborah Sartino, at right, blows up a balloon for 5-year-old Christa Browning of the Oak Mountain community in north Shelby County, Alabama, at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. The balloon twister was there for the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series, but the movie ended up not being shown due to lightnning and rain.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Jocelyn Austin of Birmingham, Alabama, shows off the rainbow painted on her face at the Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. A crowd was there to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," but the movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
Qiao Lin, at left, her sons Michael and Derrick Wu, Isha Nehwal and her son Shrey Nehwal and Smita Shukla wait for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" to be shown on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
A crowd gathers at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018, to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
A crowd gathers at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018, to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
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Jon Anderson
Free Friday Flicks 6-1-18
A crowd gathers at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama, on Friday, June 1, 2018, to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on a big screen as the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series. The movie ended up not being shown due to lightning and rain, but organizers said they planned to reschedule to a later date.
The Force was strong at Veterans Park in Hoover Friday night – the force of nature that is.
Lightning, thunder and rain canceled the showing of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which was supposed to be the first installment of the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series.
With threatening skies, the crowd already was slim, with only about 100 people milling around the pavilion at the park before organizers called off the show and encouraged people to leave the park just about the time the movie was supposed to start — at dusk.
Organizers said they would try to reschedule the Star Wars movie to a later date. The rain date for this year’s Free Friday Flicks series is July 27.
Clark and Cassie Whitaker of the nearby Inverness community were among those who showed up Friday night. They brought their daughter, Carsyn, and her cousin, Emma Waldrep from Decatur.
“We love “Star Wars,”” Cassie Whitaker said.
The Whitakers try to come to a couple of the free outdoor movies each year, depending on whether they are in town and what is showing, she said. Their daughter just likes to come and watch the movies outside and take part in the activities, such as the inflatable bounce house, she said.
Michael Horowitz of Vestavia Hills said he came to the Free Friday Flicks about four years ago with his kids and enjoyed it enough to come back this year with Ginger Randall of Sumiton.
“It’s nice to get outside and kick off the summer,” he said.
Qiao Lin, who lives in The Abbey at Inverness apartment complex, and Isha Nehwal of Chelsea said they came to the movies with their boys, ages, 3, 4 and 7, last year and had a great time.
“We love the park,” Lin said. “They (the boys) love the pizza, and they love the movies. They’ve got everything they enjoy.”
They love all the events that Hoover puts on at the park, including Free Friday Flicks in the summer, Celebrate Hoover Day in the spring and the Hoover Hayride and Family Night around Halloween, the women said.
Check out the rest of the schedule for the 2018 Free Friday Flicks summer outdoor movie series here.
