Haar’s reopens with digital projection

Line of cars waiting to get in at Haars Drive-InWe’ve got two sources for the great news that Haar’s Drive-In of Dillsburg PA is reopening this weekend with its new digital projection system. We had already written about its conversion efforts, and it’s great to see that they’re ready to go.

The York Dispatch ran an article with a photo of Haar’s workers unloading the projector crate. The article quotes owner Vickie Hardy as saying that the digital upgrade might not boost attendance. “I don’t think the format is why people come. I think they come because it’s a cheap night of family fun,” she said. That would be my guess as well. (Of the three news sources I’ve seen so far, the other two spell the owner’s name “Vicky”. But the Haar’s site matches the Dispatch’s spelling, so congrats to the Dispatch for getting it right. But I digress.)

The Patriot-News of Mechanicsburg also wrote about Haar’s reopening, and correctly points out that its technology investment is “proof positive that ‘we intend to remain here for quite a while,’” Hardy said. There’s also a cute file photo of a couple kissing at the drive-in, so go read that article too, even though it (probably?) misspelled the owner’s name.

More drive-ins in MI, PA commit to digital

Getty Drive-In marquee

photo by MichiganDriveIns, used by permission

Here are a couple more notes that support what, thankfully, looks like a growing trend. The Lehigh Valley (PA) Morning Call ran a happy note about Shankweiler’s in Orefield and Becky’s in Berlinsville, which have both switched to digital projection.

Not only is Shankweiler’s indisputably the oldest active drive-in, it appears to have been only the second drive-in ever built when it opened in April 1934, according to the book Drive-in Theaters. Becky’s isn’t quite as old, it opened 12 years later, but it’s always nice to hear of another drive-in making a successful conversion.

Over at Mlife.com is a similar story of the Getty Drive-In (Muskegon MI), except that it hasn’t quite made the transition yet. The story says that the Getty’s general manager, Kevin Sims, wasn’t sure exactly when it would happen, but it could be as early as June. ”Luckily, we have a great company that backs the drive-in,” he said. For the full story, plus a photo of the film projector, go check it out!

Delsea finds a great source for transition cash

Delsea Drive-In marquee

photo by applesticker, used by permission

New Jersey, the birthplace of the drive-in theater, is down to one active drive-in. But news this past week suggests that it’s going to stay around for a long time.

The Daily Journal of Vineland NJ and nearby towns reported that the Delsea Drive-In was a little slow opening this season because it installed digital projectors. “It was a very intense decision,” owner John DeLeonardis said of the investment of $135,000 for his two screens.

What’s especially nice about this story is the source of the money. It wasn’t Kickstarter or other fundraisers, it was the city of Vineland itself. According the The Daily Journal, “Vineland issued a $130,000 loan of Urban Enterprise Zone funds to finance the purchase. It’s repayable over 15 years at 5.5 percent interest.”

An agreement about virtual print fees (VPFs) appears to be what proved to be a reliable source of income to pay off the loan. Big indoor theaters have been getting VPFs from the movie industry to help pay for their conversion to digital movies, which are a lot cheaper for the movie industry to store and ship. Now a version of that is available for the Delsea, which will receive a $150 fee for each first-run movie it plays. I suspect that’s been true for other drive-ins, but The Daily Journal’s story is unusually thorough in its description of the VPF program. That’s just another reason why you should go read it!

I went to Bengies’ season opener, and all I got was this crummy photo

Bengies drive-in marquee at twilight.

Bengies marquee at twilight. Photo by Neon Michael from the Carload Flickr group.

We’ve done a lot of talking about Bengies, Maryland’s only remaining drive-in theater. I hope it sticks around for a long time. Earlier this month, I happened to be visiting Washington DC and was pleasantly surprised to be able to drop by for Bengies’ 2013 season opener. But I didn’t go in. Let me explain.

First I visited Bengies’ web site, which is where I learned the good news that the place would be open while I was nearby. On its Home page, Bengies hauled out the all-caps to say “Click Here for things EVERYONE needs to know BEFORE they arrive.” So I did.

First of all, getting pictures for Carload was going to be a problem. “No photographing, image capturing, or audio recording anywhere on the premises, this includes the entrance road.” Yikes! And that was the friendly version compared to the House Rules page: “If we see any sort of camera, video recorder, or cell phone with the capabilities of taking pictures being used to capture a picture OF ANYTHING, you and the party with you, will leave immediately without a refund. NONE of these DEVICES may be used AT this theatre FOR ANY REASON.” All-caps and bold! Double yikes!

Over in the FAQ page, there’s a long explanation of why they’re so sensitive about all that. To summarize, they had some bad experiences, then some folks were posting Bengies photos on the internet without permission, and somebody even recorded the owner’s voice and used it “in ways you could not even imagine.” You’re right, I can’t imagine that. To summarize, “You may record NOTHING you may capture an image of NOTHING.” Ooh-kay then.

As I prowled around the web site, I found similar stern warnings about any number of other inflexible drive-in policies. Mind you, I’m a firm believer in letting any business set its own rules. There’s nothing wrong, per se, about all these all-caps rules, and anyone who patronizes such a business should go along with them. But their tone made me wonder whether Bengies would be an unpleasant place to visit. So I didn’t. I stood in the parking lots of neighboring businesses and photographed the glow of the Bengies sign against the turquoise twilight sky. Then I grabbed a snack at the McDonalds drive-through and drove back to my hotel.

Almost-famous old truck to help drive-in

The 1963 Dodge pickup, as shown in the trailer for Man of Steel.

The 1963 Dodge pickup, as shown in Trailer 2 for Man of Steel.

Brian Grams, director of the Volo Auto Museum in Volo IL, had to search all the way to Kansas to find the beat-up 1963 Dodge D200 pickup truck that will be featured in this summer’s Superman movie Man of Steel. The Daily Herald of suburban Chicago had a nice story about how Grams found the right vehicle for the movie, and then a bunch of close matches for the filmmakers to use in other shots.

Although Man of Steel looks like it’ll be a fine drive-in movie, normally I wouldn’t care enough to write about it. The great part about this story is the Grams has donated that truck to the McHenry Outdoor Theater to help it raise money to buy digital projection equipment. From May 3 through August 24, each patron’s ticket stub will be entered into a drawing to win the truck. Sounds like it’ll run just well enough to return to the drive-in each week. The Daily Herald wrote, “Though the truck runs, Grams says he wouldn’t recommend driving it cross country.”

St. Albans Drive-In is for sale

WFFF, Burlington VT’s news leader, came up with a great bit of investigative reporting. It found that the St. Albans Drive-In, just across the border in St. Albans NH, is for sale. The implication is that St. Albans’ future is in doubt.

According to WFFF, the St. Albans had been owned by Paul Gamache, who died in January. Now his son, Anthony Gamache, owns the place, and he wasn’t talking to WFFF. Oh, and did we mention that there’s a new Walmart being built across the street?

A nice touch at the end of the report: “Regardless of the motive for selling it on the drive-in’s real estate listing the property is called superb for retail.”

Iowa’s 61 Drive-In reopens with digital projection

KWWL, Waterloo IA’s news leader, provides with yet another happy story of a nearby drive-in converting to digital projection in time for the opening of the 2013 season. In this case, it’s the 61 Drive-In of nearby Delmar.

I love what 61 Drive-In owner Dennis Voy said when a reporter asked him why he spent all that money on the new projection equipment. “It was either making the conversion or going out of business,” he said,” and we have too many drive-in theater fans in the eastern Iowa area that enjoy this theater.”

It’s great to see another example of a drive-in doing what it will take to stay with us for a long time to come.

Niagara CCC excited about Transit’s reopening

Sunset at the Transit Drive-InIn the Niagara County (NY) Community College newspaper, The Spirit, there’s a front-page story about the reopening of the Transit Drive-In of South Lockport. The lengthy article (4.2 MB PDF) by Katie Murawski fairly gushes about the place “that looks as inviting to drive by as it is going in.”

According to the article, business is more than sufficient to support this largest of New York drive-ins. Murawski writes, “It’s not uncommon to drive past on the weekend and see a line of cars about a mile long just waiting to get their spot.”

In addition to the renovated snack bar (always a good idea), another thing I like hearing about the Transit is its retro night Tuesdays. On what would otherwise be a disappointing box office night, the folks there instead show older films such as The Goonies and Ghostbusters. I’ll bet that taps into a whole different audience, and the film rental has got to be a lot cheaper. If you’ve got a broadband connection for that big PDF, then go check it out!

Family Drive-In opens for 58th season

Family_fromsiteWHAG, Hagerstown MD’s news leader, recently ran a video report about the 2013 season opener of the Family Drive-In across the border in Stephens City VA. The Family bills itself as “the only drive-in left in northern Virginia and the DC Metro area”. I’ll grant the northern Virginia part, but the Family really isn’t near Washington DC. Bengies, in suburban Baltimore, is at least 10 miles and 10 minutes closer to the Washington Monument than the Family. But I digress.

I really wish I could embed that video here, but you’ll have to go visit Your4State.com to see it. I also wish that video’s page wasn’t messed up; there’s more to read but you’ll need to highlight the text or view the page’s source to overcome the black-on-black type after the first few paragraphs. Or maybe it’s just my computer. I digress again.

Jim Kopp owns the Family, but longtime box office employee Paula Cooper has the best quote. ”Every night, somebody will say ‘will you show the movies?’” Cooper said. “And I say ‘as long as we get some cars’ and ‘what’s the magic number?’ I don’t know because we’ve never closed it down.” Go watch the rest!

Aut-O-Rama adds digital for its 2013 opening

Autorama_facebookCleveland.com reported that the Aut-O-Rama Drive-In (North Ridgeville OH) spent over $150,000 for two digital projectors and reopened for the 2013 season. The woman in charge, Deb Sherman, said “They just arrived, so that’s why we were able to set our opening date for (last) Friday.”

Sherman’s family has been running the Aut-O-Rama since they opened it in 1965. At first, it showed movies all year, but it shifted to the more traditional April-October drive-in schedule.

The good news is that the audience is growing again. “I’ve noticed a whole new audience coming lately,” Sherman said. “A lot of the baby boomers who went to the drive-ins when they were teenagers themselves are now coming back on a date night.”

Update: The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram also ran a nice article about the new digital projection system. It includes a few photos and more info about the 2013 season, so it’s also worth reading.

The Aut-O-Rama. Man, I love that name. Glad that one is in it for the long haul.