One of our favorite movie
theaters has shut down after
last night's feature presentations.
I'm not sad.
I'm shocked!
You see the theater in question
is a Drive In!
I'm amazed it ran this long
into Fall!
I've always had a soft spot in
my heart for drive ins!
My Dad was the projectionist
for the first one that opened in the
Hazleton area. He worked at several
over the years.
Way before my 16th birthday I
was learning to drive by steering
his 1950 Buick in between the
rows of speakers. Speakers, for
those of you who don't remember,
used to be hung inside you car
window so you could hear the
sound from the movie.
Every few nights a customer
would drive off before remembering
to return the speaker to it's holder.
That was bad for the speaker
and...sometimes....for the car
window!
Drive In Theaters have always
had a lot going against them.
Their 'prime time' is in the
summer. But since you can't start
the show till it gets dark that means
waiting till about 9 o'clock.
By the time the sun sets early
kids are back in school and the
nights are getting cool.
Many Drive Ins only run
movies on the weekends so
school nights are only an issue
on Sunday in the fall. Except,
around that time they're competing
with Friday night football and
Saturday night dances.
Still, until last night, the
Bay Drive In at Alexandria Bay,
New York, has been running
double features on each of its
two screens since last spring!
Of course, since it's
located about a mile from the
Saint Lawrence Seaway, night
time temperaturs over the past
few weekends have been hovering
around 39 degrees.
The guy who runs the place
is a real 'Die Hard.'
And, of course, the closing
is only temporary....till next
Spring.
I've been tempted to head
out to see a couple of shows
over the past few weeks. But the
five hour trip gave me second
thoughts!
Now I'll have to wait till
vacation time!
Hope you get out to a Drive In
when the season starts up again and,
as always, thatall your NEWS is
good!
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