It’s Day 223 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. The drive from Norwalk OH to the Sundance Kid Drive-In in Oregon OH (suburban Toledo) took a little over an hour.

Once again, Cinema Treasures has some drive-in history that I can’t find anywhere else. The Sundance began its life in April 1949 when it opened as the Parkside Drive-In. The drive-in got its name because it was (and is) across North Avenue from Pearson Metropark. It opened as a single screen with a 622-car capacity, owned by Jim Dempsey.

Ray Searles purchased the Parkside from Jim Dempsey. After Searles’ death in 1960, his sons Dan and Edward, took ownership.

In 1978 a second screen was added to the Parkside, at that time part of the Co-Operative Theatres of Ohio chain and the Jack Armstrong Circuit. Later the Great Eastern Theatre Company took over management of the drive-in.

In 1987 it was renamed the Sundance Kid. It’s the last drive-in standing in the Toledo area. In the August 1998 issue of Playboy, Don Sanders, co-author of The American Drive In Movie Theater, provided a top 10 drive-ins list and the Sundance Kid was there. Jim Walter, president of the Great Eastern Theatre Company told The Press in 2013, “We had an indication two or three months earlier. They had stopped by and taken pictures. We had been selected, but we didn’t know what it was … That was a real neat thing — a real pleasant surprise. That was good stuff.”

A tornado on November 17, 2013 knocked down the original screen tower. The YouTube video of the day comes from WNWO, Toledo’s News Leader, which shot a short segment with the rebuilt screen in Spring 2014.

Rather than watch the latest movie, The Nut Job 2, I picked Dunkirk on Screen 2. It’s my second viewing, but Dunkirk’s actually a good movie while The Nut Job 2 has bad reviews and is likely to be my only choice a time or three over the next few weeks.

Miles Today / Total:  62 / 27036 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Dunkirk / 137

Nearby Restaurant: I’m always on the lookout for authentic German cuisine, which is why I landed at the Black Forest Cafe. It had been much too long since I had a Schweineshaxe, the amazing slow-roasted pig knuckle that tastes so much better than it sounds. Add a glass of Paulaner and I was all set.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I was back at another Hampton Inn, this one another TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence winner. Everything was top-of-the-line Hampton, from a comfy room with a full set of amenities, a pool and hot tub outside, and the solid breakfast in the morning. What more can I say?

Only in Oregon (OH): Just two miles away at the edge of Toledo is Tony Packo’s Cafe, which is known for its mentions on M*A*S*H and its Hot Dog Bun Museum. Over a thousand hot dog buns line the walls, and every bun was signed by somebody famous.

Next stop: Summer Drive-In, Plymouth MI.

It’s Day 222 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. There were some nice diagonal highways pointed in my direction so my drive from the Hi-Road Drive In north of Kenton OH to the Star View Drive In Theatre just outside of Norwalk OH only took an hour and a half.

Once again, Cinema Treasures has some drive-in history that I can’t find anywhere else. The Star View (often written as Starview over the years) opened on October 1, 1949. It was owned by Jerry Steele and Lou Ratener and managed by Ernest Plitz. Gordon Evans became manager in 1955 when Plitz left to manage a drive-in chain in Florida. In September of 1956, Steele bought out Ratener’s interest in the drive-in theatre.

The Star View has a capacity of 520 cars with in-car speakers and (these days) radio sound. In its early years, one promotion to attract patrons during the fall was to give them a coupon for one gallon of gas at the nearby gas station, but only if the temperature fell below 50 (later 40) degrees. On May 17, 1953, the top of the wooden screen tower burst into flames during a show. (There’s an amazing color photo at Cinema Treasures.) Patrons were given ‘fire checks’ for another show. The wooden screen tower was rebuilt.

In 1957, Jerry’s son Bill Steele took over the ownership and the operation of the Star View. Bill later commented about the unusual things that have happened there over the years. “One time we didn’t get the print of the movie that was supposed to be playing that night. We were lucky that it was playing at the Apollo Theatre, Oberlin also. The Highway Patrol helped us get the movie to the drive-in. After the first reel was over at the Apollo Theatre, they helped us by getting the prints to the drive-in.”

In December 1971, the wooden screen blew down. It was replaced by a steel screen tower which stands to this day. In August 2007, Bill sold the Star View property and equipment to long-time employees Steve Witter and Jan Doughty. The Drive-In has since upgraded to digital projection.

The YouTube video of the day comes from the Norwalk Reflector, which shot a short visit to the Sky View in 2008.

There’s only one screen, and in this case it meant no escape from my sixth viewing of The Emoji Movie. Timeout.com wrote, “Disregard that PG rating and keep your children far away from director Tony Leondis’ vile animated faux-comedy. … The Emoji Movie openly rolls its eyes at full-fledged thought, legitimizing poor communication skills by cheering on the decay of attention spans.” So it’s not just me.

Miles Today / Total:  74 / 26974 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Emoji Movie / 136

Nearby Restaurant: I came to the Casa Fiesta because I hadn’t had any Mexican food for a few days. It’s got some Mexican dishes, but I was surprised at how often Cajun appeared on the menu. After my chips and salsa, I feasted on turkey and sausage jambalaya. It was a little offbeat, but it worked.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Best Western Norwalk won a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, and once I stayed there, I learned why. The staff was friendly. My room had the full set of amenities including solid wifi. Breakfast was great, with biscuits and gravy, eggs, plus all the continental regulars. I wish that every Best Western was as good as this one.

Only in Norwalk: The Firelands Museum in Norwalk is Ohio’s oldest museum, commemorating the Firelands tract at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve, intended as financial restitution for residents of Connecticut towns burned by British forces during the Revolutionary War. The Museum started on the second floor of a Carnegie library and grew and evolved ever since.

Next stop: Sundance Kid Drive-In, Oregon OH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q67KAci3qA

It’s Day 221 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Once again, it was a morning of two-lane highways and lots of farmland as I drove a little over an hour from Tiffin OH to the Hi-Road Drive In north of Kenton OH.

The Hi-Road held its grand opening in June 1949. It was managed, and probably owned, by Robert Hipp, who stayed in that role until at least the late 1950s. A heavy windstorm blew down the screen in January 1952, but of course they recovered. Merle Horst was managing the Hi Road in 1961, and it was open for Saturday flea markets in 1977.

After that, the history gets ever hazier for a while. A couple that was reported to own the Hi Road and nine other theaters in the area was in bankruptcy court in 1984. The drive-in’s previous listing in the Motion Picture Almanacs had vanished by the 1982 edition and for the rest of the decade. Did the place actually close? I can’t tell.

The Hi Road resurfaced in print in August 1998 when it began advertising in The Marion Star. By the next year, Rodney Miller had purchased the place and begun making overdue improvements. As he states in the above YouTube video, which was shot by Outdoor Moovies in 2004, the Hi Road had “really got run down” before he took over. One of his first steps was to spend over $5000 restoring the gorgeous marquee over the ticket booth. He added a second screen in 2011 and converted to digital projection by the end of the 2013 season.

In a Salt Magazine article from July 2017, Miller said he sees a lot of families these days. “Not only are there parents who came as kids now bringing their kids, we’ve got grandparents coming in with grandchildren,” he said. “I’ve seen cars where the parents are zonked out and the kids are still awake and watching the movie. It’s good for families with little kids. They can be a little noisy or fussy without really bothering anyone.”

In this corner of Ohio, there just aren’t enough drive-ins open all week this time of year for me to catch a movie absolutely every night. Even though the Hi Road was dark this night, I can imagine how nice the stars must look here in the middle of farmland on the way home from the show.

Miles Today / Total:  50 / 26900 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 135

Nearby Restaurant: One of the signs says Midway Restaurant, the next one over says Midway Diner. Its Facebook handle is “midwaydinerrestaurant”. And nobody explained what it’s midway between. At any event, this little place near downtown Kenton seems to be where the locals go for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I’m glad I stopped by for some serious comfort food in such a cozy setting.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are no Hampton Inns in Kenton, nor any other big chain motel, so it’s a good thing that there’s a nice mom and pop place such as the B & J Motel. My humble little old room actually had the full set of modern amenities, including really good wifi. They didn’t have a lobby full of breakfast stuff, but at less than half the price I paid for the Hampton the night before, I had plenty of great options in town.

Only in Kenton: According to Roadside America, the Kenton Hardware Company was having problems in 1936 before western star Gene Autry gave it a contract to produce repeating cap guns. The Gene Autry cap gun became the most wanted toy in America, and the company made over 6 million of them. In his autobiography Back in the Saddle Again, Autry suggested that it was this toy that reversed an economic decline and “Saved Kenton.” Now there’s a mural in his honor facing Gene Autry Park.

Next stop: Star View Drive In Theatre, Norwalk OH.