Author Archives: mrdrivein

Sept. 24: Sunset Drive-In, Colchester VT

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It’s Day 267 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Desperate for a drive-in that was showing movies on a Sunday night, I drove almost three hours almost due north from North Hoosick NY, just west of the border, to the Sunset Drive-In in Colchester VT, just east of it.

The Sunset opened as a single-screen drive-in on May 29, 1948. According to Seven Days, Vermont’s independent voice, Ernest and Dorothy Handy bought the Sunset from a developer that year and ran it until their retirement in 1979. That’s when it passed to their son, Peter Handy, who has owned it ever since.

The year after Peter took over, he added two more screens to the Sunset. It stayed at three screens until he added a fourth in 1994. Another big change came in 2013 when with the need to convert to digital projection looming, Peter built a 11-room motel facing the drive-in. I wrote about it back then when it was planned, Seven Days had an article about its unveiling. “The Starlight Inn will support the drive-in, and the two will play into each other,” Peter said. “So I think our odds of staying open now are better than ever in the face of this digital Armageddon.” WPTZ, Burlington’s News Leader, offered a slide show of how the Starlight looked.

That motel must have done the trick, because the Sunset converted all four screens to digital the next year. “It’s a labor of love,” Peter told the Lake Champlain Weekly (pdf) years earlier. “It’s not for the profit. As I said, it’s like a member of the family now.”

The YouTube video of the day comes from Stuck In Vermont, a whimsical-looking series from Seven Days.

With four screens on this Sunday night, I was surprised to find that I’d already seen all of the early movies. I picked American Assassin for a second viewing as a flick that wasn’t bad enough to avoid.

Miles Today / Total: 121 / 31331 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: American Assassin / 169

Nearby Restaurant: The Guilty Plate Diner is right across Porters Point Road from the Sunset, although I probably would have driven across town for its food. I love breakfast all day, especially when I can get a great eggs benedict like theirs for lunch.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Well of course I had to stay at the Starlight Inn on the Sunset grounds. I could see some of the screens from my room, which was immaculate and had all the modern conveniences. (After all, this hotel isn’t very old.) There was no breakfast included, but that’s a quibble since the best restaurant in town is literally across the street.

Only in Colchester: In nearby Burlington, there’s a plaque marking the first scoop shop of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. It was located in an old gas station on the corner of St. Paul and College Street and opened in May 1978.  The location is now a parking lot and the plaque is embedded in the sidewalk in front.

Next stop: Fairlee Motel & Drive-in Theater, Fairlee VT.

Sept. 23: Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre, North Hoosick NY

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Hathaway's Drive-In marquee and screen

Photo from the Hathaway’s Facebook page

It’s Day 266 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Even though it was barely 100 miles between Milford NH  and the Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre in North Hoosick NY, it took almost two and a half hours to drive there.

Hathaway’s opened on May 7, 1948, “built by a partnership between Chase & Mary Hathaway and Dean & Dorothy LeBarron Hathaway,” according to New York Drive-Ins. The hurricane of November 1950 blew down the original screen, which was rebuilt using wooden poles heavily braced to support the screen. In 1994, wind destroyed that screen, so it was replaced with the current steel screen.

The Pingree family owned and operated Hathaway’s since 1988 according to a story in the Brattleboro Reformer. (An article in Hemmings Motor News said the date was 1990.) They put it up for sale in 2004 but had a hard time finding a buyer. Duane Greenawalt bought the place in 2009.

In August 2013, Greenawalt announced that Hathaway’s needed a digital projector and would close unless he got support from the community or was a winner in Honda’s Project Drive-In. “Maybe people don’t think I’m serious when I say we will close,” Greenawalt told the Bennington Banner. “But, my family and I have discussed this at great length and we just can’t afford to stay open without help. We need to win this.”

The next spring, that help came from an unusual source. As documented in The Eastwick Press, Lynn Caponera from In The Night Kitchen at Scotch Hill Farm in Cambridge NY came to the rescue. The late Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of such children’s books as Where the Wild Things Are and In The Night Kitchen, created In the Night Kitchen Farm, a non-profit that grows and distributes fresh produce to those in need. The Greenawalts agreed that Hathaway’s would run on-screen public service announcements promoting awareness for hunger relief in exchange for the funding.

I was happy to watch another new release on a Saturday night. The latest Kingsman installment makes a fine drive-in movie.

Miles Today / Total: 103 / 31210 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Kingsman: The Golden Circle / 168

Nearby Restaurant: Jean’s Place is a little diner that’s probably the closest restaurant to Hathaway’s. They had a Sloppy Joe special for dinner this night, but they also serve breakfast all day, which tends to be my favorite. Blueberry pancakes and plenty of coffee hit the spot any time.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Google Maps said that the closest hotels to Hathaway’s were all in Bennington across the border in Vermont. Honestly, I didn’t go out of my way just so I could stay at another Hampton Inn; it was just a coincidence. It was all the very nice, dependable Hampton standard including a clean, comfy studio suite with all the modern amenities and a solid breakfast in the morning. Thank goodness for happy coincidences.

Only in North Hoosick: One of 29 historic covered bridges in New York State is the Buskirk Bridge in Hoosick. Wikipedia says that it’s perhaps the state’s earliest surviving William Howe truss bridge.

Next stop: Sunset Drive-In, Colchester VT.

Sept. 22: Milford Drive-In Theater, Milford NH

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It’s Day 265 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. With lots of twisty highways, it took an hour and a half to drive from Laconia NH to the Milford Drive-In Theater, in Milford NH of course.

According to its About Us page, the Milford Drive-In was built in 1958 and owned by “a local group of people. Several area contractors contributed labor and materials during construction hoping for a share of future profits.” The New Hampshire Union Leader wrote that Bob Goodrich built the Milford and owned it until he died in 1969. Then again, Sidney Goodridge’s 2014 obituary says that he was “the original owner and builder of the Milford”.

At any rate, the drive-in had a single 84 foot wooden frame screen when it opened. During the 1960’s the drive-in was leased to and managed by another couple. In 1969, Bob and Fay Scharmett purchased the Milford, and the Scharmetts have operated it continuously since then, except for three years during the 1970’s when the business was leased to Fall River Theater Corporation.

In 1984, the drive-in became a twin when additional acreage was cleared and a second screen was added. A second floor was constructed above the original building to provide room for a new projection room.

The Milford has been a leader in drive-in modernization. The Scharmetts replaced the original screen with a new steel screen, built a new marquee and box office, and was the first drive-in in New Hampshire to provide both AM and FM radio sound. In 2012, it was one of the first drive-ins to convert to digital projection. Barry Scharmett, who ran the theater with brother Steven at the time, told the Union Leader. “Everybody has a choice: Switch to digital this year, or next year. That’s it, because all of the companies we deal with are not going to be making film anymore.”

There’s another advance that I haven’t seen elsewhere – a track for radio-controlled toy vehicles, available to rent. That’s another great way to keep the kids busy and make enough to cover any extra expense.

The YouTube video of the day is one of a daily video series by Keller. The aerial views are terrific, though I can’t agree that “there were thousands more drive-ins in the 1960s” equates to “drive-ins aren’t making a comeback.”

With two active screens, the Milford gave me a choice on this Friday night, so I went with the new release. With a bucket of popcorn and a hot fudge sundae, I was ready to enjoy the show.

Miles Today / Total: 75 / 31107 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Lego Ninjago Movie / 167

Nearby Restaurant: For something different, I tried the Russian cuisine at My Sister’s Kitchen for lunch. The potato pierogis were amazing, and I passed the crepes (are those Russian?) in favor of the bread pudding. It’s so rare to find good bread pudding, and this made me happy I stopped by.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Google Maps said that the closest hotel to the Milford was the Hampton Inn in Nashua. Since TripAdvisor users voted it the best hotel in Nashua, and since I enjoy the predictable niceness of Hamptons, that’s where I stayed. There were cookies waiting for me at check-in. My room had the full set of modern amenities. And the breakfast was the standard, very nice Hampton spread.

Only in Milford: A piece of Milford is on US currency. According to Wikipedia, it was once home to numerous granite quarries, which produced a stone that was used, among other things, to make the pillars for the U.S. Treasury in Washington DC, as seen on the back of the $10 bill. Also, the downtown Milford Oval (live cam here), officially designated Union Square, is neither square nor oval in shape but triangular.

Next stop: Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre, North Hoosick NY.