A day at the movies

Published 1:15 am Saturday, May 14, 2005

By By RANDI K. PICKLEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Not too many people get treated to a movie complete with popcorn and a soda at 10:30 in the morning, but the Niles Civitan Club did just that.
Each year the club provides free movie tickets and refreshments for the mentally and physically handicapped as well as senior citizens.
This year's film selection was "Kicking and Screaming," a rollicking comedy about a father who is a first-time soccer coach and the problems he encounters with the job. The movie was chosen over an equal favorite, "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe."
The Wonderland Theatre (formerly the Ready Theatre) on Front Street opened their doors early on Friday morning to accommodate a special showing of the movie.
The International Civitan Club sponsored the InterNational Olympics for the Handicapped in South Bend back then, she added. That's what got the movie project started.
According to Parker, the international organization's focus is on funding research to find a gene that might cause various kinds of mental retardation.