While the evening was ostensibly focused on the movie being projected on the giant LED screen right beside the building, if you had asked organizers what was drawing people out to the Cass County COA’s Lowe Center Thursday night, they would have just pointed up.

Floating in the skies above the complex that evening was a giant hot air balloon, which no doubt drew many a curious person to the Cassopolis complex to see what the excitement was all about.

Midwest Energy Cooperative held its first Family Movie Night at the grounds last week, drawing in hundreds of people from around the area. While nearly 200 people stuck around to watch the showing of Disney/Pixar’s 2009 classic “Up,” the main attraction of the event was the eight-story tall balloon, provided by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, which ferried families into the summer skies throughout the evening.

There was plenty of other fun throughout the night as well, with face painting and balloon animals available for children, raffle items up for grabs for the adults, and some good old fashioned BBQ that the entire family could enjoy.

What made the evening that much sweeter was the fact that it generated at least $4,000 in donations for the West Michigan Cancer Center, which provides cancer treatment services for residents throughout southwest Michigan. The event was part of Midwest’s “Fueling the Fight” campaign, which has raised more than $35,000 for cancer treatment and support services since its creation in 2013.

If you ask us, Thursday’s movie night was a success on two important fronts.

First, it helped raise money, and, perhaps even more importantly, awareness about an important medical service that benefits our community. As we’ve mentioned in previous editorials, cancer continues to be one of most critical medical issues of our time, with nearly every American touched by the disease in one form or another. From the American Cancer Society to Cass County Cancer Services, any group of people dedicated toward cancer research, care or support is worthy of at least our time and attention, if not our monetary support.

Second, it provided a venue for families to spend an enjoyable and relaxing evening with each other. With fall sports already underway and the beginning of the school year right around the corner, parents and children are resuming daily routines, where opportunities to spend time with one another sometimes becomes scarce.

With Thursday’s movie night, local families were given one last chance to spend an evening together and make some fond memories with each other. And with many people getting a rare chance to take the skies in an actual hot air balloon, there’s little doubt that it was a night to remember for most attendees.

We commend Midwest for their efforts putting this evening together. We hope that it was simply the first of many more to come.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.