Photo from the Bay Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 286 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I hugged the St. Lawrence River for an hour and a half as I drove upstream from the 56 Auto Drive-in Theater, just southwest of Massena NY, to the Bay Drive-In Theatre in Alexandria Bay NY.

The drive-in’s web site used to have an excellent history page, now available via the Internet Archive. Much of the information here comes from that site, though I’ve also found several pieces to supplement it.

The Bay was built in 1968, and several sites say it was to replace the 1000 Islands Drive-In that was overrun by a new highway cloverleaf, although that’s five miles away from the Bay. The International Motion Picture Almanacs for 1969 through 1976 listed both the Bay and the 1000 Islands, so they either competed for a few years or the IMPA didn’t notice that the old drive-in had shut down.

According to the Thousand Island Sun’s grand opening article, hosted on New York Drive-Ins, recent Alexandria Bay mayor Willard Beach led the corporation that built the Bay. The article said the drive-in would have “the latest in projection and sound equipment” and “will be handling brand new pictures during July and August … due to this being a tourist area the corporation is entitled to first-run movies.”

The Wade family bought the Bay in 1982, and had to work to get first-run movies back. By 1992, with first-run movies being shown again and patronage on the rise, they rebuilt and enlarged the concession stand, adding a 60-seat indoor viewing section.

In the wee hours of July 15, 1995, a severe thunderstorm “demolished” the drive-in, according to the Watertown Daily Times. The theatre was extensively damaged including the building roof structure and the face of the screen. Within 9 days the theatre was back in full operation.

The Alexandria Bay town planning board approved a second screen in March 1997, but it wasn’t built until July 1999. The second field’s layout is unusual because of the lot being only diagonally adjacent to the original. The Bay added a second concession stand in 2001 for the second screen; it sold Pepsi products while the main concessions sold Coke products. Restrooms for the second screen were added in 2006.

There’s a pretty good video at the Spectrum News of Northern NY from December 2015, when unseasonably warm weather and unreasonably strong enthusiasm prompted the Bay to show the latest Star Wars installment during the holiday season. I’m sorry that I couldn’t embed it here, but I recommend you go watch it anyway.

The movie this night wasn’t Star Wars, but it was one I hadn’t seen yet. On a cool mid-October night with rain threatening, it was still worth it to watch something new to me.

Miles Today / Total: 70 / 33068 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: American Made / 178

Nearby Restaurant: Coffee Pot Cathy’s was an easy walk from the Otter Creek Inn (see below), and the name lured me over. There was basic breakfast diner food in the morning to go with the coffee, plus a really nice cheese danish. I think I need more coffee with that!

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are plenty of very nice, slightly quirky resorts in Alexandria Bay, and the Otter Creek Inn is one of them. It’s a quiet place right next to the water, so the views are great. My room had a fridge, which I always appreciate, and coffee in the morning. With breakfast restaurants within walking distance, coffee was all I needed to get there.

Only in Alexandria Bay: In the middle of the St. Lawrence River on Heart Island just across from Alexandria Bay is Boldt Castle, a six story, 120 room Rhineland reproduction built in 1900 by hotelier George Boldt for his wife. When she died in early 1904, Boldt halted work on the castle, which fell into disrepair until purchased by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority. Access is available only by boat.

Next stop: Black River Drive In, Watertown NY.

Photo by Chris1982 via Cinema Treasures

It’s Day 285 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It started with another drive through the wilderness, Five Ponds this time, in the two hours it took to get from the Valley Brook Drive In north of Lyons Falls NY to the 56 Auto Drive-in Theater, just southwest of Massena NY.

The drive-in is about four miles south of the St. Lawrence River. A possibly apocryphal story says that its dirt came from the St. Lawrence Seaway project there. Just a half-hour drive from Cornwall ON, it gets almost a third of its visitors from Canada.

The 56, named for New York State Route 56, was built by Peter C. Papayanakos, misspelled as “Papyanakas” in the local newspaper’s grand opening article, and opened in July 1955. Before the 1968 season, his corporation leased the drive-in to Deb Theatre Corp., a division of Panther Theatre Corp. And that’s almost all I could find about its history before the current owner bought it.

Jeff Szot of JS Cinemas has owned the 56 for about 30 years now. When did he buy it? According to North County Now, “Szot said he bought the drive-in sometime in the early or mid-1980s.” That’s a little fuzzy. The International Motion Picture Almanacs of the 1980s show “W. Leger” as the owner, so that must have been who sold the 56 to Szot.

Talking about the many factors that led to the extinction of most drive-in theaters, Szot told NNY Living about one that rarely gets mentioned. He said that the film industry started releasing only “second-run films” to the drive-ins, and that they only bounced back once they got first-run movies again. I had thought that drive-ins had struggled to get current movies from the beginning until the mid- to late-1980s. I’ll have to check that some day.

Szot told the Watertown Daily Times in May 2015 that there had been a decline in the number of his patrons at the 56. “I think it’s kind of leveled off. They’re coming out, but we’ve seen a decline over the past few years. But there’s still nothing like the shared experience. People enjoy going to the movies to get the experience,” he said.

The 56 switched to digital projection in 2014. “It was a costly upgrade,” Szot said. “It didn’t put us out of business, which is a good thing.”

The drive-in’s last show this year was on Labor Day weekend, so it was another movie-less night for me.

Miles Today / Total: 105 / 32998 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 177

Nearby Restaurant: When the drive-in is closed, I often go in search of a diner. In this case, Wendy’s Diner in Massena isn’t the hamburger chain but a good small-town diner. I had a country fried steak with a potato and veggies, plus an amazing, huge cinnamon roll. That plus all the coffee I could drink put me in a very pleasant mood.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I heard a lot of good things about the Blue Spruce Motel, and I didn’t find anything to contradict them. It’s one of those little place that looks like it might have been around a long time, but continues to be lovingly refurbished whenever necessary. My king room had all the modern amenities, and although breakfast wasn’t included, the most wonderful homemade donuts were available to purchase there. Mmm, doughnuts!

Only in Massena: Roadside America suggests that when you’re in the neighborhood, you should visit the Eisenhower Lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Seaway is an interesting story of the eventual triumph of common sense and mutual benefit over decades of bickering within and between the two countries involved. And the Eisenhower Lock is the only one in the system with its own Wikipedia page.

Next stop: Bay Drive-In Theatre, Alexandria Bay NY.

Photo from the Valley Brook Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 284 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I drove west through the wilderness, or maybe wilderness-es since the Silver Lake and West Canada Lake Wildernesses were in the neighborhood. The result was a three-hour trip from Queensbury NY to the Valley Brook Drive In, a few miles north of Lyons Falls NY.

The history of the Valley Brook could make a pretty good movie, though most of it is based on a simple, thorough online family tree. The story starts with Michael Matuszczak, who with his wife Bessie owned and operated a dairy farm near Martinsburg. (Michael’s youngest brother, Walter Matuszczak, was an All-American quarterback for Cornell and rates his own Wikipedia page. But I digress.) Michael’s youngest son, Robert Matuszczak, helped on the family farm until he was stricken with polio in 1950 at the age of 22.

In my imagined movie, the next year or two is crucial. The young man’s father, then in his early 50s, and his mother in her mid 40s, learned over the following months that Robert wasn’t going to be able to work on the farm as he had. The two of them together designed and built the Valley Brook Drive-In, which opened in 1952. Robert ran the place for the next couple of decades. In 1974, “due to health reasons,” Robert retired to Florida, where he lived another 15 years.

It appears that by 1974, possibly earlier, Michael and Bessie operated the drive-in in Robert’s absence. Michael died just before the 1987 season, and Bessie was said to have continued to operated the Valley Brook until 1990 before passing it on to her daughter Dorothy Dekin and her family.

An article in The Journal of Ogdensburg flashed back to another movie-worthy scene. Dorothy’s son Michael Dekin had just graduated from high school in 1983 when his grandparents called him. Though it was late June, the drive-in was still closed. His grandparents asked if he would consider learning how to run the cameras and open for the season. Dekin took a crash course shadowing Don Mulligan at the Marcy Drive-In. (Obviously, the movie would include a training montage here.) The Valley Brook reopened in mid-July.

Michael’s sister, Bernice Noody, and his mom helped run the business. Noody died in 2006, and Mom isn’t involved in the current operation of the Valley Brook. Michael Dekin, very young to be a 34-year drive-in veteran, remains the owner even now.

After postponing the digital conversion in 2013, as recounted by the Watertown Daily Times, Dekin reluctantly went digital in July 2014. The Valley Brook benefitted from a grant from the Snow Belt Housing Co., a non-profit that usually helps families find housing. “I think it’s part of our culture, isn’t it?” Snow Belt executive director Cheryl L. Shenkle-O’Neill told the Daily Times. “You grow up going to the drive-in, and it’s an experience you want to have for your children or grandchildren. There are few drive-in theaters around, and it’s a way to promote some entertainment that’s a part of the history of the community.” Sounds like an uplifting finish to this movie as the Valley Brook rolls along.

The drive-in’s last show this year was on Labor Day weekend, so it was another movie-less night for me. Maybe that’s why I invented this one.

Miles Today / Total: 134 / 32893 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 177

Nearby Restaurant: Maybe 1000 feet up the street on Burdick Crossing Road is the River Valley Inn, a surprisingly nice dinner-only restaurant that feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere. I started with a shrimp cocktail and followed it with a pork prime rib. Throw in salad, rolls, a potato, and some veggies, and I was stuffed for the night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The nicest place in Lyons Falls might be The Edge Hotel. It seemed like there was wood paneling on every surface in the common areas, giving it a cozy atmosphere. There’s also an adjacent restaurant and bar that’s just as woody. My king room was simple, clean, and comfortable, with all the modern amenities. Continental breakfast is included, and the price was very reasonable. Neat!

Only in Lyons Falls: Less than a mile west from the Valley Brook is a tiny, homemade Russian Orthodox Church. The Watertown Daily Times wrote that it’s the work of Charles “Ed” Scherneck, a former Lowville Academy art teacher and convert to Russian Orthodox. When he died in 2003, his funeral was held in the church he built.

Next stop: 56 Auto Drive-in Theater, Massena NY.