Drive-in movie theaters a family affair
With gasoline prices hovering around $4 a gallon, the $3 children’s admission price is a bargain. But that’s not the only reason people head to the drive-in theater and park car beside minivan and truck beside sport utility vehicle. It’s not the two movies for one ticket price, either, although that’s a double bang-for-your-buck kind of deal.
No. The two biggest reasons people still go to drive-ins are the atmosphere and the accessories. The atmosphere is one of almost-complete freedom: Camp out, throw a Frisbee, play ball and wear pajamas. The accessories include salty, buttered popcorn; french fries; sticky cotton candy; glow sticks; mini-golf; and sometimes, fireworks.
And, the price is right.
“We had 200 cars the other night,” said Roberta Nese, who operates the ticket booth for her son-in-law Joe Warren, owner of Evergreen Drive-In in Mount Pleasant. At age 70, Nese said she’s tired of housework and prefers exchanging money, tickets and conversation with movie patrons. Dogs are permitted at Evergreen, so between joking with families and teasing older couples about “steaming up the windows,” Nese distributes doggie treats.
A family affair
Local drive-ins are a family affair in terms of both ownership and audience. At the Evergreen, while caravans of minivans line up four to a row, Nese, Warren and his wife, Debbie; son, Bryan, 13; and on occasion, daughter, Joie Gibbons, keep the reels rolling and corn popping.
At the Brownsville Drive-In Multi-Theater on Route 40, co-owners Tom Clark and his stepbrother John Sebeck ensure the smooth progression of both film in the projection booths and cars through the box office.
At the Skyview Twin on Route 88 in Carmichaels, Liz Walker and her husband, Chuck, operate the drive-in rain or shine, continuing what the couple views as a venue for community entertainment that has spanned decades.
“People are still going; I can’t explain it,” said Liz Walker, noting that families comprise most of the audience at the Skyview. “But there are also young teens and older people who revisit the area and want to reminisce, come and see a movie.”
Although the cost of a night out at the drive-in is a comfortable fit for family budgets, it’s the casual environment that attracts most people.
“You can take a child,” said Walker. “Nobody is going to ‘shush’ children. It’s not like you can’t talk; everybody else is bringing a kid.”
Other than a requirement for shoes, especially in snack bar areas, there’s no rigid dress code at the drive-in, either. That comes in handy if the children fall asleep during the second feature.
“We see kids in pajamas all the time,” said Walker.
Families also make up the majority of theatergoers at the Comet Drive-In on Route 119 in Connellsville, said owner Brian Erwin.
“They can relax, talk among themselves, sit in lawn chairs and have a relaxing evening. It’s a summertime thing,” he said.
Everybody – Boy Scout troops, caravans from Maryland, teenagers and middle-age people – go to the Brownsville Drive-In. One time, a man even came on a horse, said Clark, who as a teenager worked as a “paper picker” for the original owner, Isadore Ficks. “Baby boomers come because it takes them back to their childhood,” he said. “Everyone gets out and circulates. We have as much fun as they do.”
The Brownsville Drive-In, constructed in 1949 by Ficks, will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year. The Comet is a year younger, opening in 1950, said Erwin. The drive-ins were two of four operated in Fayette County during the decade following World War II. A plaque at the Brownsville Drive-In testifies to its status as the last full-time drive-in on the National Road, Route 40.
The drive-in’s popularity, like other outdoor theaters across the nation in general, began to wane in the 1960s, when television took over as a major source of family entertainment. During the 1970s and 1980s, many drive-ins alternated family movies with adult-rated ones in an attempt to attract patrons. The following decade brought a new generation to drive-ins and a return to family films. In 1990, the Brownsville Drive-In was rededicated to family entertainment, which is enjoying a new era of popularity in drive-in history.
Dinner and a movie
Coinciding with the new era of popularity in family entertainment is a new era of technology.
The posts with clumsy speakers that hung on car door windows are gone, although the Evergreen Drive-In has a couple speakers displayed on the bulkhead of its concession stand. Now drive-in enthusiasts tune in on FM radio.
“It’s full stereo, full fidelity,” said Clark. “When a plane flies over in the film, it flies over in your car.”
That’s not the only change. Snack bars and concession stands may look the same, but kitchens have been modernized. The snack bar at the Brownsville Drive-In looks like it did in 1949, but behind the scenes are new appliances – three huge deep-fryers – “stuff that people don’t see,” said Clark.
Like cheese on fresh-cut french fries at the Brownsville Drive-In, concession stand food is the perfect condiment for drive-in movies.
“People come a couple hours before shows just to eat,” said Clark.
The existing concession stand at the Evergreen Drive-In, which opened in 1947 as the Ruthorn Drive-in, is small and compact, and the owners have decided to open a second snack bar in another building on the property.
“The concession stand is the biggest part of our business,” said Joe Warren.
The menu includes pizza, sandwiches, popcorn, candy and beverages.
“It’s fresh every night,” said Debbie Warren, noting that her husband is particular about the quality of the food. “He uses ground steak for the hamburgers.”
Dinner and a movie are fine for most drive-in enthusiasts, but some people feel compelled to bring other accessories to enhance the experience.
– Albert Medofer of Brownsville wore an “Indiana Jones” hat and took his “new whip” to the drive-in on a recent Friday night.
His wife, Cathy, knew how much he wanted to see “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” so she invited family and friends to an impromptu party for his 47th birthday at the Brownsville Drive-In.
– Kevin and Bonnie White of Jefferson Hills were spotted at the Brownsville Drive-In, sitting on seats pulled from the family minivan. The first attempt to use the seats as drive-in Barcaloungers failed; they sank into the ground. Kevin White, a machinist, solved the dilemma by making platforms. There are no cup holders, but the seats are padded.
– John Nicholson of Somerset didn’t take a universal remote to the Evergreen Drive-In during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but he was able to flip back and forth between “Indiana Jones” on the big screen and the Pittsburgh Penguins on a small-screen TV he brought along.
Friends and family in adjacent minivans stopped by to check on the score and to indulge in brownies baked by John’s wife, Shelly.
Dose of nostalgia
Accessories and atmosphere have been drive-in staples for 75 years.
Another reason people go to drive-ins is nostalgia. The outdoor theaters conjure memories of childhood laughter at Disney movies, teenage screams at horror flicks and first-date whispers at romance films.
“We had one couple who brought their grandkids,” said Debbie Warren.
“They said they had to bring them; the kids didn’t know what a drive-in was. We also had a couple who had their first date here. They came back to celebrate their 50th anniversary,” she said.
The Warrens added that the Evergreen has been the site of many marriage proposals and even a wedding.
Clark recalled one wedding in particular at the Brownsville Drive-In – his sister’s.
“They shot fireworks after they said, ‘I do.'”