My youngest son, Christopher, just finished nursing school and will pursue the profession of his mother, Christine and grandmother, Rita Thiel. He has worked part time for the City of St. Cloud, Florida in their parks and recreation department to help pay his way through nursing school.

One of his significant responsibilities is to host a "Movie in the Park" once a month on the shores of East Lake Tohopekaliga here in St. Cloud, Florida, an 11,698 acre body of water in Osceola County.

Christopher's nickname is Gutt, a moniker his twin brothers Cory and Jason hung on him the day he was born, derived from obvious origins. While the gut is no longer there, the nickname remains.

Gutt's job is to erect a huge 25-foot screen, set up the sound and video projection system and host free movie once a month on the shoreline of East Lake Toho.

It is a magnificent setting at the Lake Shore Marina, a favorite fishing hole for folks all over the world. Kids and dogs frolic about as the sun sets over your shoulders in the shadows of the towering palm trees that advertise Florida so well.

Folks bring their lawn chairs and blankets and spread out a picnic. Out comes the bug spray to address the issues surrounding the Florida state bird, the mosquito, and his comrades in crime, Mayflies and love bugs.

Floridian's are the world's largest consumers of sun tan lotion and bug spray. Not a bad price to pay for living in paradise.

As the crowd quiets down and the sun sets over our shoulders, folks visit "Bubba" who is busy making hotdogs on the grill. Nothing is better than a hotdog right off the grill with mustard, ketchup and relish. Yum, yum. And don't forget to grab a bag of 50 cent popcorn for a mid-movie snack.

You settle back to enjoy the darkness and to simply marvel at a sky filled with glorious planets and stars… and, on this particular night, a full moon, which charmingly illuminates and blankets the setting ever so beautifully.

Those of us who imbibe break out a cold one. My current favorite is Yuengline beer, to which a colleague of mine Tim Meals introduced me. I politely wrap my longneck Lager in a non-descript cooler so as to not offend anyone, and sit back to watch the current flick of the month, Disney's 2007 movie, Enchanted, staring Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams.

Life doesn't get much better than this. Every small town in America has its own unique thumbprint, many of which are featured at their annual festivals.

When I lived in South Carolina you could attend a festival practically every weekend, ranging from the Okra Strutt in Irmo to the South Carolina Peanut Party in Pelion to the Chitlin Strut in Salley to the Peach Festival in Gilbert. And those were just the ones in and around my home county.

In Florida, if you can grow it or raise it, we celebrate it. If you stick a broom stick in the ground, it will grow in Florida. You name it- strawberries, tomatoes, citrus or corn. Heck, we even give kids a week off in February to attend the local rodeo so we can throw some spotlight on the horse and cattle industries.

As Julie Andrews narrates the movie Enchanted and Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams do their magic on the huge screen, you can't help but get lost in the splendid setting of everything that's still good and pure about life in a small town.

Most folks know one another and it's almost like events like this one or church or weddings or funerals or Friday night football games just give us a great excuse to reacquaint ourselves with all that is good about life in a small town.

Does it get any better than this?