By MARY STEWART | The Selma Times-Journal

Selma gears up to spend Saturdays in June at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater. The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail looks to educate families while they enjoy the movies.

Park ranger and event coordinator Theresa Hall had the idea to show movies at the amphitheater to bring the community in Selma together with this new event.

“We hope people bring their families and friends, bring a picnic, bring chairs and blankets, enjoy the movie with us, enjoy being outside and learn something,” she said. “I think for some people it might be a new experience, watching a movie under the stars.”

“The Secret Life of Bees” will be shown on June 3, “Selma” will be shown on June 10, “The Help” will be shown on June 17 and “Hidden Figures” will be shown on June 24.

Hall said she chose these movies because they are educational. She wants people to learn a little bit about the civil rights movement and the voting rights movement.

All four movies that will be showing connect in some way to the civil rights movement, the voting rights movement or both.

“Movies are just one different venue to help people learn. All different kinds of people learn different ways,” she said. “Some people learn by physically doing things, some people learn by watching and I think movies are a big thing now days where people are able to learn a lot just by watching movies.”

These movies are not only to educate the community, but also to bring them together.

Hall believes that events like these are the first step to a brighter future for Selma.

“If people begin going out together to events like this, hopefully all different kinds of people come out and start getting to know each other,” she said. “Maybe that will be the catalyst that helps kick something off that will help the city start working toward making the city a better place. If we just communicate with each other, I think it will go a long way.”

Hall said she hopes that using the park in this way will help get citizens excited to use it.

The Riverfront Park Amphitheater will open at 7 p.m., and the movies will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Movies will be rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.

The city of Selma and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail are excited to offer the movies to the community and are hopeful for success.

“I would like for the community to see that we can do really cool things like this, learn about each other and be excited about what’s going to come in the future,” she said.