Friday, Sept 14 marks what is expected to be an unforgettable day in the high school careers of athletes, fans, and students alike. It will be the first “Friday night lights” home game Staples has been able to host since 2004, when portable lights were brought in for a state playoff game.

The Westport Cinema Initiative is celebrating this monumental event with a Thursday, Sept 13 showing of the movie Rudy, sponsored by the Westport Gridiron Club and The Bank of Fairfield. Rudy, a 1993 classic, tells the story and struggles of a boy as he pursues his dream of playing football for Notre Dame University. The event begins at 6:30 in the Staples High School auditorium. Tickers are $10 per person, available online or at the door. Intended to generate excitement for and kick off the home games under the lights at Staples, all are encouraged to attend the showing.

In addition to the movie, there will also be a guest speaker, Jeff Pecques. Pecques was an All-Conference football player at Staples from 1984-1988, before walking on the Division 1 team at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he received a full football scholarship. He now works for New York’s Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

“Through his career he has earned a reputation for being persistent, yet fair, and he brings these qualities to his nightly news reports,” said Larry Perlstein, Westport Cinema Initative Director of Marketing, Social Media, and Technology.

Rudy is just one part in the series of ongoing pop-up films presented by the WCI.

“We are working on bringing a movie theater back to Westport, a town that once had five theaters but now has none,” said Westport Youth Commission Co-President Doug Russ ’13.

As a result of the group’s efforts, a lease has been secured for a new movie theater behind Main Street.

“I know a lot of people are excited about the first night game and those to come,” said Westport Youth Commission member Zoe Cohen ’13. “The showing of Rudy the night before is a great way to get in the s