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Movies with a splash of fun

Two pools are showing kid-friendly movies outdoors, but the floats and friends can be as interesting as what's playing on the big screen.

By GRACE CHENG
Published July 4, 2005

	[Times photo: Ted McLaren]
	Michael Johnson, 10, drifts across the pool at North Greenwood Recreation and Aquatic Complex in Clearwater while watching a Saturday night screening of Are We There Yet?. Less than an hour into the film, most kids had lost interest and were back to playing in the water. Several lifeguards stand watch over the pool.

CLEARWATER - Picture this: a pleasant Florida evening, clear skies and smooth breeze. It's perfect for sitting out in the pool, relaxing and ...

Watching a movie?

Both Largo Southwest Pool and Clearwater's North Greenwood Recreation Complex are putting a wet twist on the traditional outdoor movie screening. For a small fee, families can get in and float around the pool as they watch a kid-friendly flick after sunset.

Both pools provide a couple of blowup floats and inner tubes, a team of lifeguards and the movie.

On a recent Friday night, when Southwest put on its second "Flick-N'-Float" event of the summer, Free Willy was the film of choice. The kids who watched seemed as taken by the blowup killer whale floats the pool bought for the occasion as by the movie.

There were half a dozen children in the pool, with 27 people total. Mark Abdo, aquatics manager at Largo, said that the threat of impending rain may have deterred a lot of people from coming. Because the movie can't be shown until it is dark, Abdo said, the 9 p.m. start may have also affected attendance.

"It's such a neat idea, such a cool thing," Abdo said. "Hopefully, as we get the word out, we'll see a lot more (people)."

Michelle Snyder, who brought her daughters Brittany, 8, and Haley, 6, to the event, said she had attended movies put on in the park before, but not at the pool.

The pool area was lighted, and six lifeguards stood watch during the movie. A table manned by Abdo provided drinks and snacks. A crowd of parents sat on the plastic lounge chairs lining the back of the pool, chatting. The movie ended about 11 p.m., but a few families cut out before then.

Largo pays $125 for each movie, and the city's 15- by 12-foot blowup projection screen was easier to see than the considerably smaller 60-inch screen at North Greenwood.

In the Clearwater pool, there was a decidedly rowdier crowd; aquatic programmer Mark Roberson said there were 30 kids there on a recent Saturday night.

When the movie started after sunset, the kids dragged their floats and inner tubes up to the edge of the pool to get prime access to the screen. Less than an hour into the film, though, most had lost interest and were back to playing, fighting over floats and getting chastised by the lifeguards. Soon even the lifeguards gave up on enforcing the movie-watching rules.

There were seven lifeguards on duty, with one in the pool with the kids. A few smaller children were wearing bright yellow life jackets provided by the staff.

Michael Johnson, 10, and Cortez Davis, 13, both of Clearwater, played basketball with their friends, tossing a rubber ball into a plastic hoop positioned on the side of the pool.

"I came to play in the pool; I'm not even watching," Cortez said.

[Last modified July 4, 2005, 01:42:23]