Watch the Cottage View sign lovingly dismantled

Oh, how I wish I could embed the really great video that the South Washington County (MN) Bulletin includes in its story of work crews dismantling the Cottage View Drive-In sign. Along with the projection equipment and the drive-in screen, the sign will be transported to Little Log House Pioneer Village in Hastings, where it will be restored and displayed.

According to the article, “Passersby on Highway 61 honked in solidarity of the beloved drive-in and little by little cars parked along East Point Douglas Road to watch the sign that had stood for more than 50 years come down.” There’s a lot more to read, and of course, you’ve just got to see that video, so go check it out!

Motel going up next to Vermont’s Sunset?

Sunset Drive-In marqueeSeven Days, Vermont’s independent voice, ran a good long article about the Handy family of that state. About halfway through, the article focuses on Peter Handy, owner of the Sunset Drive-In of Colchester, and we get to learn a lot about him.

Handy lives in a house adjacent to the drive-in he’s owned for over 30 years. His parents bought the Sunset in 1948 and ran it for over 30 years before handing it over. Handy started working there when he was 8 years old, tending the carbon arc lamps that lit the projector.

The most surprising paragraph of the article comes near the end of Peter Handy’s section. “Peter Handy’s nostalgia for the good old days of drive-in theaters is evident in his latest business enterprise: a 12-room motel under construction next to the drive-in. Intended to serve drive-in aficionados, he says the Starlight Inn is so named as ‘a tribute to all the drive-in theaters we lost since their heyday.’” That would put it in the company of the Monte Vista CO’s Movie Manor, which faces the Star Drive-In there.

There are more fun stories about Peter Handy, including the time he sort of foiled a hold-up attempt, and there’s a Sunset box office photo, so go read it!

Holiday Twin doing great with its new projectors


The Loveland (CO) Reporter-Herald published a nice portrait of the Holiday Twin Drive-In (Fort Collins) and its owners, Stephanie and Wesley Webb. The Webbs sank about a quarter-million dollars into renovations to support digital projection for their two screens. And you would expect, “We’re in it for the long haul as long as we can stay there,” according to Mrs. Webb.

In the article you’ll find a good history of the Webbs and the Holiday Twin, about the work that working with film used to require, and of course that nice video embedded above. But don’t settle for just the video, go read it!