A FUN TIME — Leonardo Huff spins on a sensory-friendly toy at Easterseals Rehabilitation Center’s Sensory-friendly matinee at Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre and Cinema, as Marley Sandreth spins behind him. -- Gage Vota

WHEELING — Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre became an inclusive sensory-friendly space for a matinee showing of “The Secret Life of Pets” on Sunday afternoon.

The free event, hosted by Easterseals Rehabilitation Center, provided free popcorn and discounted refreshments to attendees.

“It’s a way for people who maybe wouldn’t feel comfortable in a theater setting or cinema setting like up at the highlands, they can come here. There’s no expectation for kids to sit still and be quiet,” Easterseals marketing director Betsy Bethel-McFarland said. “There’s sensory friendly accommodations, such as higher house lights instead of it being completely dark, lower volume, so it’s not too overwhelming. There’s closed captions on the movie. So if you’re hearing impaired, you can read, or if you just are visual and you want to look at the closed captions, because a lot of people do that these days.”

She added that the event had a second screening simultaneously downstairs in the lobby.

“They can watch it down here simultaneously. If upstairs isn’t the right environment, they can come down here, or vice versa,” Bethel-McFarland said. “Also in the downstairs lobby, we have some sensory toys for attendees.”

She said the matinee is a family-friendly event for people of all abilities and disabilities in a comfortable, sensory-friendly environment.

Bethel-McFarland said that this is the fourth edition of the sensory-friendly movie event.

“We’ve had ‘Finding Nemo,’ ‘Inside Out,’ ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol,’ and now this… They’re always animated or like the Muppets was a mix of muppets and live action. But we try to keep it G or PG, and usually have movies that appeal to a wide audience,” Bethel-McFarland said. “We want it to be as inclusive as possible. If we did ‘Superman,’ it might be too violent for what people want to bring their kids to. Easterseals is a pediatric facility, so we mainly cater to kids, but we do want this to be for everybody.”

She believes that the event is important because it’s good for all people to feel included and feel like they can come to an show and feel comfortable and know that they won’t be judged, being able to enjoy something that so many of us take for granted.

The 166-seat Towngate Theatre and Cinema offers handicapped accessible parking and an elevator to access the second floor which were able to accommodate several of Sunday’s attendees.

Bethel-McFarland said that although the event is organized by Easterseals Rehabilitation Center it is made possible through sponsorship of the Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre and Cinema and longtime Easterseals board member Barbara Strauss.