A recent drive-in movie night at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror. (Supplied)

By Sheldon Spackman

popular attraction halted

AHS brings curtain down on drive-in movie nights in Mirror

Apr 30, 2020 | 10:56 AM

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has put the brakes on a series of drive-in movies in the hamlet of Mirror.

Chris Scott, owner of the Whistle Stop Café in Mirror where the drive-in movies were being screened, says they’d been showing three or four films per week, much to the delight of area residents.

“Our dining room got closed down, and in a town of 500 people with two cafes, we’re kind of limited in what we can do in town anyway,” he explains. “What I started seeing was people looking for and craving something to do to get them out of their houses. So I just started thinking, what can we do to follow the rules and get people out of their homes, doing something with their families, and just get a little bit of normal life back.”

After thinking about it more, Scott thought of hosting free drive-in movies in their parking lot, then started gathering the equipment needed to pull it off.

“The first few times it was a small amount of people, maybe five – six cars, maybe seven cars,” he recalls. “But everyone who showed up, they were raving about it and everyone was so appreciative and from there it just grew and grew.”

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Scott says they did their best to maintain all required health regulations, including physical distancing, as the movie nights became more popular.

“We’ve actually hired more people and increased our own hours so we can keep up with all the extra cleaning,” says Scott. “The rules were known enough that we didn’t really have to intervene. All I had to do was just let people know when they came in the café that they were supposed to stay in their cars and maintain their social distancing and people pretty much followed the rules on their own.”

Scott estimates roughly 200 people attended their most recent drive-in movie night last Saturday, with all of them staying in their vehicles.

“When I realized how big this was getting, it is a nail biter because the bigger the event, the more exposure and the more risk you’re taking on with bodies like AHS,” admits Scott.

“In an effort to control this outbreak, the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) has repeatedly emphasized the importance of prohibiting mass-gathering events and to practice physical distancing. Central Zone has been diligent in supporting these measures and will continue to do so throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ian Plischke, a public health inspector with AHS in Red Deer, said in an April 27 letter to Central Zone municipalities.

“Although there is no ill intent on behalf of the organizer, these types of events do not align with the over-all objectives outlined in the CMOH Order(s) and they are counterproductive in our interest of protecting public health,” Plischke explained, adding the decision to not allow drive-in movie events was not taken lightly.

Scott hopes to continue drive-in movie nights once conditions allow.

“I’ll be looking into permitting a semi-permanent structure so we can go from a 20 foot screen, to a 40 or 50 foot, and it’s going to be part of daily life,” he says. “My objective, of course, is to get back to business as usual and make sure that we keep the doors open here and have a service for the community, and the surrounding communities.”

In a further statement to rdnewsNOW, AHS says its Environmental Public Health (EPH) Inspectors are assessing and providing recommendations for drive-in movie events on a case-by-case basis to ensure public health orders are followed.

“We recognize the pandemic has provided an opportunity to look for creative ways to socialize while still respecting the distancing protocols. That is why, in consult with Alberta Health, we are working closely with event organizers to ensure the proper public health protocols and safety measures are taken into consideration,” the statement reads.

“This will help ensure drive-in movie events can take place, with the appropriate risk mitigation protocols. These include: the availability and the type of food service available, availability of public washrooms, appropriate cleaning and disinfecting of high touch surfaces, all the while respecting physical distancing.”