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_Welcome to our Dinner and a Movie series, where we feature nostalgic essays on some of our favorite films from the '80s and '90s, and share recipes inspired from movie moments._

“Hey, you wanna s’more?” asks Hamilton “Ham” Porter, a stout, freckled redhead. “S’more what?” asks our young hero, shy bookworm Scotty Smalls. “No, no. You wanna s’more?” Ham repeats,

slowing the pronunciation and pointing to his display of burning candles, marshmallows, stacks of graham crackers and bars of chocolate. Nervously and innocently Smalls says, “I haven’t had

anything yet, so how can I have more of nothing?” “You’re killing me, Smalls!” Ham cries out, giving us an often-repeated phrase for expressing exasperation. "The Sandlot" is a

film about baseball, lasting friendships and coming-of-age. Photo Illustration: MOA Staff; (Source: Sandlot: 20th Century Fox/Photofest; TV: Getty Images) It’s 1962, and Smalls, Ham and the

rowdy boys of _The Sandlot _crew are hanging out in the clubhouse, eating s’mores and making memories. And Ham is only too happy to initiate Smalls into the wonders of the perennial

summertime treat: “First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the mallow,” Ham patiently explains, placing a puffy ball of marshmallow on a reshaped

wire coat hanger and heating it over candles. “When the mallow’s flaming, you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then you scarf.” And scarf he does, though not

before sharing a gooey, sweet bite with Smalls — who relishes not only the s’more, but the friendly sign of inclusion that proves even more fulfilling. And that’s the joy of _The Sandlot._

It’s a movie about baseball, but it’s also a movie about lasting friendships and coming-of-age. This year marks 30 years since the film’s debut, and it still charms today. By far the most

heartwarming theme is seeing shy newcomer Smalls, who acts like a foreign exchange student in the land of American boys. He knows nothing about baseball — the neighborhood’s chosen sport —

but he’s adopted into the group because he’s the needed ninth mitt-holder to fill out a team. He successfully catches a ball and that cinches it — he’s in. And there’s nothing better than

acceptance, especially at this critical time in a person’s life. The movie shows the boys are growing up in subtle ways, facing new and old challenges and learning what they’re made of. And

somehow they squeeze a lifetime of adventure into one summer.