Have you ever had the chance to watch a movie under the stars, minus all the cars and the expensive popcorn? Well, you can have that experience on Thursday when the Gannon Goodwill Garden celebrates its fifth year of existence with an outdoor movie night.
The Gannon Goodwill Garden will be hosting a screening of “Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The event will be a part of this year’s “Surviving and Thriving in Uncertain Times” Speaker Series.
According to the American Community Gardening Association’s website, the Gannon Goodwill Garden was started in 2013 by a group of students who learned about urban gardening on an Alternative Break Service Trip (ABST) to Detriot. Its goal is to provide fresh produce to be donated to local food pantries. An important part of the Garden is its mason bees, which aid with pollination of the food supply.
The film focuses on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is the phenomenon of worker bees leaving their hives for no obvious reason and not returning. Because the queen bee and immature bees cannot sustain the beehive on their own, it is eventually lost.
CCD is responsible for the death of millions of bees each year and poses a significant threat to agriculture in the United States and Europe. Today, over 10 years since CCD was first reported, scientists are still trying to find a cause they can agree upon, and the film goes into detail on their studies and attempts to prevent CCD.
Gretchen Fairley, director of Service-Learning at Gannon, has been busy organizing the event and said the film ties in nicely with this year’s Speaker Series theme. She said that while many people are afraid of bees, it is important to know just how important they are to our environment.
“The film is a great illustration of how ecosystems are connected, and it also provides a hopeful note about what people can do to support pollinator bees — helping them to survive, and helping ourselves at the same time,” Fairley said.
While the film is mainly about raising awareness of CCD, there is more than just one reason for students and faculty alike to attend the event.
“One of the reasons we picked this film is that it is just visually striking — a gorgeous nature film,” Fairley said. “And it also has an international perspective — just another way to bring new awareness and perspectives as part of a Gannon education.”
The event is free and interested members of the Gannon community are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. They’re also encouraged to bring an appetite, as fruit and honey-themed snacks will be provided.
The Gannon Goodwill Garden is located on the corner of West Seventh and Chestnut streets. In the event of rain, the backup location for the film screening will be in Room 104 of the Zurn Science Center. For more information, contact Fairley at [email protected].
“We are excited to open the garden for this event,” Fairley said. “It will be a great way to create some ‘buzz’ about this important issue, and have a fun outdoor screening on campus.”

KYLE JOSEPH
[email protected]