This article evoked vivid, early teen memories. Sultry Friday and Saturday nights in August. Shad flies filling the night time sky over the Kootenay River. We would race our bikes to beat the twilight turning to dusk. We’d hide our bikes in the bushes and go searching for a grassy spot on the hill at the Sunset Drive-in. The tantalizing smell of buttered popcorn and hot dogs. The car window speakers cackling. The older high school kids cozying up to their girls.
I googled the Sunset Drive-in and was shocked to learn that it showed its last movie in 1986, over 25 years ago. The old drive-in is now a RV Park known as Kootenay River Kampground.
Italo Calvino’s words capture my recollection of these memories from where we sit today, in front of our screens, big and little, in our homes: “Melancholy is sadness that has taken on lightness.”
Here’s a few excerpts from the BusinessWeek article titled: America’s Last, Remaining Drive-Ins Face a New Threat
- “the number of drive-ins in America has dwindled from over 4,000 in the 1960s to about 360 today.”
- “By the end of this year, Hollywood distributors are expected to stop producing movies in traditional 35 millimeter film and switch entirely to digital. The digital push is good for moviegoers who like crisp, shiny blockbusters and for the Hollywood studios who make them; it costs over $1,000 to print one 35 mm film copy, compared to the $100 it takes to release a digital version on an encrypted hard drive.”
- “But at $75,000 to $100,000 for just one projector, the cost of upgrading to digital is expensive for movie theaters, sometimes prohibitively so. And America’s last remaining drive-ins—the majority of which are still family-owned and seasonally operated—are finding it hard to switch.”
Calvino Quote Source: apoetreflects
i have so many fond memories, during the various stages of my life, of the drive-in )
Me too Beth…
I can only echo the memories this brings up. It has been years since we had a drive-in in Edmonton, but we took the boys when they were young.
Yes Ivon. The memories overflowing for me too. Drive-ins where certainly a legacy of our generation and the two before us.
I have wonderful memories of going to the drive-in when I was a kid.
Me too Darlene.
Mary Poppins was my first drive-in. I can still taste the foot long hot dogs and deep fried onion rings!
We had the foot long hot dogs, but not the onion rings. French Fries in abundance. And in Canada, it was with vinegar and ketchup.
The one here in Scottsdale had 6 screens but closed 2 years ago. Only 1 left in Arizona. Thanks for the memories of ours back home along with Paul & Adrian Strelieff.
Ahhh yes, the Strelieff’s made a go of the Sunset Drive-in. Thank goodness for their dreams.
I never went to a drive-in..the deprivation of growing up in NY. Seriously – I have this on my bucket list. Don’t even ask me how old I was before I finally scratched ‘intimate activity in a car’ off my list.
1) You need to get a Drive-In on your bucket list. Have Andy find you one. Bet he’s had the experience. 2) No further questions on your intimate activities. Save it for your autobiography. And we’re all buyin’. Just sayin’.
Laughing out loud…trust me, don’t buy it for those stories – my hunch is that you and others have far better stories to tell…
I would not bet “me” on that. And I would bet far less on our Lori. Woman sat in the front row in middle school listening attentively to the teacher. Answering all the questions.
True – but I’ve seen pics..She was a looker even then. AND a lot can happen when your teachers trust you. Me? I was stuck in the front row – right next to the teacher’s desk because I was too short to sit anywhere else and I was a bit of a jabberwocky (“she’s so smart and would do even better in class if she was a little less social”). And besides – in Indiana they do some wild and crazy things. My hunch is Lori – still waters…
Laughing. (Jabberwocky part) Nope. My bet is still on you. When she rolls out of bed, perhaps she can chime in.
Ok, alright, I get to the computer a bit later than usual and I find that all hell has broken loose. Firstly, WHAT, may I ask, is so awful about the front row (am I truly THAT transparent?!), secondly, I may look all sweet and innocent, but I’ve been known to get a “wild hair” now and again, and besides, thanks to Mimi, I learned just this morning that someone who (ahem) “embraces the life of the mind” *can* be sexy… (Though none of my h.s. classmates seem to have gotten that memo). Going back to getting my notebooks, pencils and ruler ready for back to school season now….
Oh Boy. “Let your hair down.” Yes, as you put it, “in your mind.” Couldn’t stop laughing at this comment. Yes, you are that transparent. You win the funniest comment of the month. Hands down.
Yeah! I never win anything….soooo excited! 🙂
🙂
So sad…I, too, have many happy childhood memories of nights at the local drive-in. I was utterly captivated by the fact that we could pull in in our car, park and watch a movie…. 🙂
Yes, and it’s all drifting away. Including the sense of community at the drive-in. At least when you are buying popcorn.
We still have one left here in the San Francisco East Bay, and I’m happy to report the one I grew up attending in Sacramento is still in business, too! I can’t wait to take my son one of these days, when he’s old enough to stay awake past 8:00pm. 🙂
I would imagine that every major metro area would have a least 1 drive-in that could survive. Cultural nostalgia for older folks and something different to do for the younger generation. Have a good week Linda.
Wonderful memories of everyone jumping into our station wagon with picnic basket, pajamas, blankets and pillows.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
W onderful, yes. I’m with you Francine.