The Man Behind the Screen from psucommedia on Vimeo.

It’s Day 352 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. After all the tiny trips I’d been taking last week in northeast Ohio, the hour and a half I drove this day seemed longer than it should have. But that’s what it took to get from the Elm Road Triple Drive-In Theatre on the northeast side of Warren OH to the Moonlite Drive-In Theatre just west of Brookville PA.

The early history of the Moonlite comes in glimpses, like walking past a picket fence. The drive-in opened on July 2, 1952, owned and operated by J. E. Hollobaugh, as it was spelled by the Brookville Jeffersonian Democrat at the time. The Theatre Catalog listed the owner as O. A. Holobough.

In April 1955, the newspaper said that strong winds or lightning (?) knocked over the screen for “the second time in less than a month”. The concrete screen supports had just been repaired from the first collapse. “The Moon-Lite (sic) Drive-In will begin showings tomorrow night with a temporary screen, but plans are to erect an entire new structure of three walls to provide additional supports.”

Some time in the 1970s, ownership changed to R. Neff, according to the Motion Picture Almanacs of the day. The kinds of movies the Moonlite was showing in the 1970s (Swedish Fly Girls was one of the tamer examples) led the local Brookville American weekly newspaper to stop carrying its ads in 1977.

At some point, probably in the 1980s, the Moonlite died. It fell off the MPA list by the 1986 edition.

The happier, later history of the Moonlite began in 1996 with Jim Lipuma, who we met earlier this month because of his efforts in reopening Vandergrift PA’s Riverside, then called the Galaxy. After that worked well, Lipuma bought the old Moonlite, according to ExploreClarion.com, “after the flood in 1996″. It’s unclear whether that devastating flash flood of July 19 just marked the date or made the old drive-in a better purchase. At any rate, Lipuma reopened on May 2, 1997.

Lipuma had been sweating out the conversion to digital projection, but that arrived in November 2015. In addition to the actual equipment, the work included improving the projection room to prevent dust, and that included new doors. “The old door was here when I bought the theater,” he told the Jeffersonian Democrat. “I got 20 years out of it so I guess it paid for itself.”

This year, he told the Jeffersonian Democrat how the conversion almost didn’t happen. After avoiding donations, Lipuma “had tried to set money aside to prepare for the switch, he didn’t anticipate it happening so soon. As the deadline approached, they were coming up short.” At the last minute, he got a loan from an anonymous “little angel” so he could order the equipment.

The Moonlite closed for the season in November. I’m glad it found everything it needs to open again in the spring.

The embedded video of the day is The Man Behind the Screen, a wonderful short shot in 2015 by Jack Tumen all about the Moonlite and especially Lipuma. Enjoy!

Miles Today / Total: 99 / 39265 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 200

Nearby Restaurant: It had been much too long since I’d eaten at a buffet, which is why the sign for Plyler’s Buffet & Family Restaurant brought me right in. Plenty of salad to stay healthy, then meatloaf, chicken, and other indulgences to keep me full on a chilly day. And the pies for dessert were homemade; I could really taste the difference.

Where I Virtually Stayed: When the best place to stay in town is a Super 8, that’s usually either a reflection on the other choices (if any) or how great this location is. In this case, it was some of both. The price was great, the typically spartan room actually had all the modern amenities, and the location, adjacent to a McDonald’s, meant that the continental breakfast served as a gateway to more substantial fare next door.

Only in Brookville: Scripture Rocks Heritage Park is a tranquil setting showcasing and commemorating the works of Douglas Stahlman, who was declared insane a couple of times. In between, he carved biblical and other messages into over 100 rocks while living in a nearby cabin. After a century of wear, those carvings have faded, but the Jefferson County History Center has all their information available.

Next stop: Super 322 Drive-In Theatre, Woodland PA.

It’s Day 342 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. The twisty, busy roads around here in western Pennsylvania aren’t made for speed; it took me almost an hour to drive the 35 miles from the Riverside Drive In Theatre in Vandergrift to the Starlight Drive-In northwest of Butler.

The Starlight spent most of its life as the Pioneer. Chester Demarsh opened the place in 1958, although his obituary said “After the war in 1947, he helped his dad convert part of the (family) farm into a drive-in movie theater.” I’m not sure whether that meant he did it a decade after he returned, or that he took a long time to build the Pioneer, or something else.

The Pioneer added two more screens between before 1993 (based on old aerial photos) and two more by 2006. Demarsh still owned the land when he passed away on Christmas 2012. Long before then, he’d given control of the Pioneer over to his business, Epic Theaters, eventually run by his sons.

The founder’s passing, and the need for digital projection equipment, caused some changes. In August 2014, one of Chester’s sons, Epic vice president Clint DeMarsh, told the Butler Eagle, “We’re not sure what will happen, but most likely the drive-in will open next year.” But it was an open question who would be running the place, since Epic had put the Pioneer up for sale.

Enter John and Beth Manson, who bought the drive-in, installed three digital projectors, performed other serious renovations, then reopened it as the Starlight. “We’d come here on a Friday or Saturday night,” John told KDKA, Pittsburgh’s News Leader. “…And we often would talk about what would we do differently if we owned it. Well, we own it now, and we implemented those changes.”

The renovated snack bar has a wider menu than in its Pioneer days, which is important since concessions account for most of a drive-in’s profits. They improved the rest rooms, and added some arcade games and a mini-golf course.

The most important part of the Starlight, for me on this night, is that they had a special Christmas drive-in weekend featuring The Polar Express and Elf. “Bundle up and Merry Christmas,” they wrote on their Facebook page. The special holiday menu included BBQ pork roll with homemade mac and cheese, rotini and homemade meat sauce, and lots of other hot comfort food. Which was a good thing, because the temperature during the movie was in the 20s.

The embedded video of the day is an episode of Faces and Places, thankfully available on YouTube.

When I started this odyssey over 11 months ago, my goal was 200 nights of watching a movie at a drive-in. This was the night I met that goal.

Miles Today / Total: 35 / 38849 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Polar Express / 200

Nearby Restaurant: I love getting more breakfast served to me for lunch, which is why I stopped in at Mac’s Route 8 Cafe. There’s nothing like huge pancakes on a cold day, especially with hot sausage and plenty of coffee to go with them. I barely had room left for dinner that night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: After a cold night at the drive-in, I was happy for the fire pit they had at the Hampton Inn in Butler. Meanwhile, everything else about the place was typically nice, including the coffee and cookies waiting for me at check-in. My room had the full set of modern amenities, and breakfast was the fine Hampton standard.

Only in Butler: Classic film fans might want to visit the Evans City Cemetery a few miles southwest of Butler. There aren’t any commemorative markers, but Roadside America assures us that this is where George Romero filmed the opening sequence of Night of The Living Dead.

Next stop: Hilltop Drive-In Theatre, Chester WV.

It’s Day 341 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. My drive got just a little longer but was only about 45 minutes from the Palace Gardens Drive In Theater in Indiana PA. Riverside Drive In Theatre in Vandergrift PA.

The Riverside, as promised, sits just across the highway from the Kiskiminetas River. It opened as the Woodland and was advertising by 1949. The 1952 Theatre Catalog listed it as Lee’s Woodland, owned by Harold Lee. In 1978, the drive-in closed.

In 1995, Jim Lipuma bought and refurbished the drive-in, renaming it the Galaxy. ”The drive-in has always been a love of mine,” he told The New York Times in 1997, adding that business had been better than expected. “Not a night goes by when someone doesn’t thank me for reopening the drive-in.”

Lipuma moved the Brookville, purchased the Moonlite and reopened it in May 1997. That may have been why he chose not to renew his lease with the Galaxy after the 2004 season. Todd Ament took over and reopened the drive-in in July 2005 as the Riverside to avoid entanglements with the Galaxy’s previous business dealings.

When the Pittsburgh City Paper talked with Ament in 2006, he said the name change was more important than he’d thought. “People think the Galaxy is gone,” he said, “and don’t know that the drive-in has re-opened. … It’s hard to advertise when you’re on a budget. You rely on word of mouth, and the Internet.”

The public radio program Marketplace talked with Ament in 2013 about the switch to digital projection. You can hear that report, and when he sounds like on the phone, below:

The Riverside’s main claim to fame these days is its twice-yearly dusk-to-dawn Monsterama celebrations of horror movies. The embedded YouTube video of the day shows the first few minutes of one of those shows. There’s another report of what it’s like here.

The drive-in had closed for the season in mid-October this year. I’m glad it will be back in the spring.

Miles Today / Total: 31 / 38814 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 199

Nearby Restaurant: I love the little comfort-food diner-style restaurants to refresh my soul after coming to another drive-in that’s closed for the season. The G & G Restaurant had all that. In this case, the cranberry walnut chicken salad for lunch gave me a nice mix of flavors and nutrition so I could feel smug while adding a slice of autumn cake with pumpkin, banana, and carrot. Great stuff!

Where I Virtually Stayed: I couldn’t find any hotels really close to the Riverside, so I had to head west to Tarentum where there’s a SpringHill Suites. This is one of those places where I could stay a week, with a kitchenette in my room. Wifi was solid. Breakfast had eggs and fruit and the continental regulars. It’s all good.

Only in Vandergrift: Just a few miles west in Tarentum, there’s the Tour-Ed Coal Mine and Museum, where visitors can experience what it was like to be a coal miner in the 1850s. There’s also an above-ground strip mine, a mine rescue vehicle, and a 1785 log house.

Next stop: Starlight Drive-In, Butler PA .