Author Archives: mrdrivein

Oct. 25: Elmira Drive-In Theatre, Elmira NY

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It’s Day 298 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Taking the forested short route took a little longer than swinging north to the interstate would have been, but it took less than three hours for me to drive from the Family Drive In Theatre east of Kane PA, just across the border to the Elmira Drive-In Theatre, just west of Elmira NY.

This drive-in, almost halfway between the center of Elmira and the much smaller Big Flats, has an amazing, complicated history. It was built in 1948 and opened on April 16, 1949, owned by the Elmira Drive-In Theater Co., which was mainly Harry and Benjamin Berinstein.

The single-screen Elmira had 13 ramps for 800 cars with in-car speakers. The name on its screen tower was just “Drive-In Theatre”, so some references called it the Elmira and others the Big Flats. In advertisements in the Elmira Star-Gazette, it was listed as simply “Drive-In Theater” (April 1949) or “Drive-In Theatre” (May 1949). Its concession stand may have been outsourced; a want ad for concession manager replied to Theater Confections in Rochester NY.

On May 1, 1963, The 153 Corp. took over the drive-in from the Elmira Drive-In Co. with a “long-term lease”. That put it under the control of the Dipson Circuit, which owned or ran Elmira’s indoor theaters and a couple dozen others in the region. Harry Berinstein’s 1973 obituary said that when he passed away, he was president of Cornell Theaters and “still owned the land on which the Elmira Drive-In Theater stands”, although he hadn’t lived in Elmira since 1941.

In August 1976, the Elmira’s lease, held by Cornell Theaters, was transferred to Galaxy Theaters of Rochester. The manager at the time, Shirley Owens, said that Cornell had been operating the drive-in for a year and a half. In August 1980, Samuel J. Mitchell moved into the ownership group, and his S.J.M. Entertainment Co. ran the Elmira for at least a couple of years.

The International Motion Picture Almanac listed S. Freeman as the owner in its 1984 edition. I’ve got no clue who that was. In the 1986-88 editions, the owner was G. Howell. There was a George Howell in Elmira who was a civic-minded man and the top guy at F.M. Howell & Company, a huge employer in town, but that doesn’t match the next information nugget.

In 1988, the Star-Gazette said that Conrad and Linda Zurich (misspelled Zurick) had bought the drive-in in January 1985. That year it was renamed, at least in newspaper ads, as the Elmira Bargain Drive-In. It had to end its 1986 season early after an autumn fire damaged the building. Fire hit again just after the 1987 season, this time deliberately set a week after vandals smashed the drive-in’s electrical meters.

An August 1998 Star-Gazette article subtitled “Despite rundown appearance, Big Flats facility still draws the crowds” said the drive-in suffered from “badly peeling paint, broken neon lights, (and) overgrown vegetation”. Could that article have prompted the Zurichs to change managers? Dale and Karen Chapman took over the following season, starting by adding a second screen, dropping the “Bargain” from the name, and generally working to spruce up the place.

By 2008, Zurich Cinema was operating the drive-in, and they still do that today. The Elmira closed for the season after Columbus Day weekend, but it promises to reopen next spring.

The YouTube video of the day is a very short piece with a great look at the Elmira’s distinct roofed and pillared front, which looks about the same as when it opened. There’s also a bit of video from WETM, Elmira’s News Leader, about the drive-in’s digital projection system.

Miles Today / Total: 130 / 33870 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 182

Nearby Restaurant: Some folks like the Chicago-style deep dish pizza, others like the thin crust of the New York style. I like both, but while in NY state, I went with the closer inspiration served up at Vincenzo’s Pizzeria. I ordered a 16-inch Leonardo D’Vinci and a side salad to go so I could bring it up to my room, grab something to drink and chill out with a movie on TV.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Probably the nicest hotel in Elmira is the venerable Holiday Inn. My room overlooking the Chemung River was comfortable and had the full set of modern amenities. There’s a full restaurant and lounge on the property, and I got a voucher to use on breakfast. It was a nice experience, and the price was nice too.

Only in Elmira: The local newspaper, the Star-Gazette, has decades of issues available online (for a fee), providing a mountain of details for this post. What makes it more notable is that Frank Gannett bought a half-interest in the Star in 1906 and merged it the next year with the Gazette. The resulting Star-Gazette was the first newspaper of what would become the Gannett Company, publisher of USA Today.

Next stop: Garden Drive In, Hunlock Creek PA.

Oct. 24: Family Drive In Theatre, Kane PA

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It’s Day 297 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Driving along twisty highways into the heart of the Allegheny National Forest, it took me over an hour and a half to drive from the Sunset Drive In just southeast of Waterford PA to the Family Drive In Theatre east of Kane PA.

The drive-in started as the Ideal in June 1952. It was built by Clyde Piccirilo, Joseph Farrell, and Harold Prosser on the former Larson airport field. The Kane Republican wrote that at 2200 feet, it was the highest drive-in in Pennsylvania. The field held 400 cars, and the screen was constructed of concrete blocks. According the Family’s Our History page, that sturdy screen still stands.

Less than two years later, during the 1953-54 offseason, the drive-in was sold to Waldemar “Wally” Anderson, who ran several theaters in the region. He was the one who renamed it the Family before the 1954 season opener. At the time of the sale, he announced that, “A new concession will be added, a modern playground, rides of all types, a new sign, (and) moonlight lighting.”

Anderson sold the Family to Clifford Brown and the Holmes Poster Advertising Company in July 1957. In 1969, Fred Holmes became the projectionist for the theater. During at least some of the following years, the Family showed a mixture of family and not-so-family movies, though not on the same bill. Brown added AM radio sound in 1975.

In 1983, Fred purchased the drive-in and continued to run it, along with his wife Mary and their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. In 2013, the Holmes family upgraded to a digital projector, then Fred passed away. The drive-in was dark for most of 2014, then Lowell and Jackie Watts bought it and reopened in it April 2015. “This is an icon of the community,” Lowell told the Bradford Era. “No matter what we do, we can’t lose the drive-in.” Tracy Smith is in the mix there too, sometimes called a collaborator, sometimes co-owner.

The Family has embraced digital projection to the point where there’s a nice little video of somebody playing Pac-Man on the big screen. They also have an annual Squatchfest concert including a “Sasquatch call” contest in which participants compete to see who’s best at luring Bigfoot.

The YouTube video of the day is a long aerial view that goes all over Kane, but the part we care about starts around 6:45. For as bright as it is, for the lot to be as full as it is shows just how popular the Family can be. And although the Family is still open on weekends, that didn’t help on the last Tuesday before Halloween.

Miles Today / Total: 79 / 33740 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 182

Nearby Restaurant: It’s been around for over a century, so I had to eat at the Kane landmark Texas Hot Lunch. (Hint: Don’t go to the Urban Dictionary on this one. Just don’t!) In a nod to its Greek heritage, I chose the gyro burger, topped with gyro meat, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce. In lieu of dessert, I also ate a true Texas Hot, which is a hot dog in special sauce. Good stuff!

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t any chain hotels in Kane, but there is the Kane Manor bed and breakfast. My room had a separate bath (in consideration of other guests) and was quiet and comfortable with wifi, a TV, and an old fireplace. Breakfast was very good with meat, cooked-to-order eggs and plenty of coffee. Lots of history in a unique setting.

Only in Kane: Just a little east of town is Kinzua Bridge State Park, a monument to man’s hubris or nature’s fury. The bridge, or railroad viaduct, was 301 feet tall and 2052 feet long. It was first built from wrought iron in 1882 then rebuilt with steel in 1900. During restoration efforts in 2003, a tornado struck the bridge, collapsing half of it. The state repaired the remaining portion and added a new observation deck and visitor center to showcase the ruins still in place underneath.

Next stop: Elmira Drive-In Theatre, Elmira NY.

Oct. 23: Sunset Drive In, Waterford PA

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Sunset Drive-In marquee and back of screen

Photo from the Sunset Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 296 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was time to sweep through some of the drive-ins along the New York / Pennsylvania border, so I started by driving 2½ hours from one Sunset to another – from the Sunset Drive-In in Middleport NY to the Sunset Drive In just southeast of Waterford PA.

Waterford’s Sunset opened on June 10, 1948. The first movie shown was The Westerner starring Gary Cooper. The Theatre Catalog list of drive-ins that year named the owners as Ray Woodward, E. Wilson, and Alden Phelps. Those three names shifted around in the ownership records for the next couple of decades. In 1958, the Huntingdon PA Daily News said that Phelps was the owner. The International Motion Picture Almanacs for 1955-66 listed Woodward.

The drive-in showed X-rated movies for a while in the 1970s into the early 1980s, as evidenced by advertisements in the Titusville Herald. Who knows who owned it then?

The modern era began in 1988 when Dennis and Margaret Koper bought the Sunset. Dennis told WJET, Erie’s News Leader, “The wife liked to go to the movies, so I bought her a movie theater!”

A story at GoErie.com says Dennis began working at the Sunset in 1968 as an electronics technician. That should mean that he’s comfortable with the digital projection system he installed before the 2013 season. The couple has had 30 years of owning this humble drive-in, and I hope they continue with it as long as they want. For now, it’s closed for the season.

I wish I could have embedded a couple of minutes of nice video here, but you’ll have to go to YourErie.com to watch. Then you can watch a half-minute of video recorded earlier at YourErie. Then you can check out some nice photos at GoErie.com.

Miles Today / Total: 138 / 33661 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 182

Nearby Restaurant: It had been a long time since I’d gone for Chinese, and I was happy to find Maggie’s Chinese Inn in Waterford. It’s not a buffet, so everything’s prepared fresh. The egg drop soup, my personal measuring stick for Chinese restaurants, was great, and I find shrimp fried rice to be a certain kind of comfort food.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The closest hotels to the Sunset are past Waterford to where I-90 scrapes past Erie. And one of those, less than 10 miles from the drive-in, is another Hampton Inn. It’s a place where I know what to expect. Coffee all the time in the lobby. A comfortable room with all the modern amenities. The great Hampton breakfast. Yes, I’m spoiled that way.

Only in Waterford: According to Wikipedia, Waterford contains a statue of George Washington wearing the uniform of an officer in the Virginia Militia. In December 1753, at age 21, Washington was asked by Governor Dinwiddie to carry a British ultimatum to the French on the Ohio frontier. Washington delivered the message at Fort Le Boeuf in present-day Waterford. The message went unheeded because he delivered it to the wrong person.

Next stop: Family Drive In Theatre, Kane PA.