Category Archives: Pennsylvania

Video: PA’s Point upgrading under new ownership

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After announcing that it might convert to a solar farm, then closing for all of 2024, the Point Drive-In near Northumberland PA is getting ready to reopen for the 2025 season, thanks to new ownership. That’s the good news from WNEP, Moosic? (yes, Moosic) PA’s News Leader.

Josh Brosious is the new owner of the Point, and the WNEP video documents the work he’s doing to get the drive-in’s facilities renovated for modern times. The kitchen and the toilets in the “Refreshment Pavilion” are getting replaced before he opens in a few weeks, and the easier touch-ups at the box office and fences are also underway.

(Side Note: You know I focus on odd details. Moosic’s population, per the 2020 census, is less than 6000. Are there any other TV broadcasters in the US that are based in smaller municipalities? Maybe there’s some postage-stamp-sized suburb out there that’s the official host for another station, but none come to mind at the moment. Let me know, okay? Now, back to the drive-ins.)

The Point was one of the last stops on my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey in 2017. I knew some of its history then, and I’ve learned more since. Harold Bell opened the single-screen Arrow Drive-In in June 1952. The Comerford Theatres chain took over before the 1957 season, changing the drive-in’s name to the Point. Somebody was showing X-rated movies there in the 1970s. Around 1980, new owner Joe Farruggio added two screens and switched to standard movies.

Dave Renn bought the Point around 1990. A couple of decades later, he held a Jackalope music festival to raise money to finance the successful conversion to digital projection. The main screen up front was damaged in 2019 and removed, leaving two working screens. Renn sold the Point late last year, which brings us up to the new Brosious era.

Brosius, who happens to be mayor of nearby Sunbury, had been talking with Renn as early as July 2022 about ways to keep the Point open. He said, “It’s safe to say everyone wants it to stay here so if we here in Sunbury can help, we will.” It’s great news that Brosius found a way to keep this drive-in alive for generations to come.

Video: PA’s Point to reopen for 2023

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Maybe it’s not perfect news, but it’s still good. David Renn, owner of the Point Drive-In in Northumberland PA, had said last year that 2022 would be the Point’s final season. Renn doesn’t own the drive-in’s land, and the landlord was planning to install a solar farm in place of the Point, which had just celebrated its 70th anniversary.

This week, several nearby news organization reported on Renn’s Facebook post in which he said that “the solar farm is no longer happening” and the Point will open again in 2023. I first noticed the story at NorthCentralPA.com, but I’m glad to include a video report from WNEP, Scranton’s News Leader.

What makes this news less than perfect is that the Point’s existence is still tenuous. Renn said he won’t be selling season passes, suggesting that the landowner could change his mind any time.

Any reprieve is worth something. Now the Point’s fans have at least one more opportunity to head over and experience a movie at this 70-year-old drive-in, carved from the woods overlooking the Susquehanna River. And if you can’t go, at least there’s a video to show you how it looks today.

PA’s Midway has new owners

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The Midway Drive-In marquee. Photo from the Midway web site

Five years ago today, one of my last stops on my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey was the Midway Drive-In in Mifflintown PA. There’s been a good bit of news since then, and an important event earlier this month.

At the time, my best guess on the Midway’s owner was Jeff Favuzza. Maybe that was true in 2017. Since then, an article in the Lewistown Sentinel revealed that Michael and Penny Clark bought the Midway in November 2020. “We wanted to make sure it stayed open,” Penny told the Sentinel. They also owned the River’s Edge RV Park next door and hadn’t really planned to get into the drive-in theater business.

The Clarks put the RV park and drive-in up for sale after the 2022 season, and this time the buyers were Timothy and Lacie Wert. They finalized the sale on Dec. 1, but the Sentinel ran its story about it yesterday. Just like the previous owners, the Werts were mainly interested in the River’s Edge. When the Midway’s fans began to get nervous after the sale, Lacie posted to the drive-in’s Facebook page, “You may have heard, the Midway Drive-In is under new ownership, but that doesn’t change a thing! So, mark your calendars now! We’ll be opening May 12th!”

That’s about all I’ve got, but it’s enough. It’s such good news when a drive-in passes from one responsible owner to another. Getting the chance to write about it on the anniversary of my virtual visit is just a bonus. Happy New Year, everybody!