photo by Granola via Cinema Treasures

There’s a great article in today’s Carthage (MO) Press about the changing of the guard at the 66 Drive-In Theatre there. After restoring the 66 and running it for 30 years, Mark and Dixie Goodman have sold it to Nathan McDonald, his wife, Amy, and three children.

McDonald, a former Jasper County Sheriff’s Deputy, had worked for the 66 for 10 years, starting as security. He said, “Every time I would sit here on a nice Sunday evening in the warm sunset, I wanted to be a bigger part of it. I’ve been given an amazing opportunity, it’s something that the more you hear, the more you want to be here.”

But this article is much more than a simple transaction notice. It includes a nice history of the 66 and its sister Webb City Drive-In. Goodman bought the 66 shortly after it closed in 1985 and used the lot for a used auto-parts business. Then in the 1990s, cars got too complicated to fix as easily and drive-ins started getting popular again. Goodman restored the 66 and reopened it in 1997. For more details and a photo of the happy new owners, you should go read that article!