WFFF, Burlington VT’s news leader, came up with a great bit of investigative reporting. It found that the St. Albans Drive-In, just across the border in St. Albans NH VT, is for sale. The implication is that St. Albans’ future is in doubt.

According to WFFF, the St. Albans had been owned by Paul Gamache, who died in January. Now his son, Anthony Gamache, owns the place, and he wasn’t talking to WFFF. Oh, and did we mention that there’s a new Walmart being built across the street?

A nice touch at the end of the report: “Regardless of the motive for selling it on the drive-in’s real estate listing the property is called superb for retail.”

Seven Days, Vermont’s independent voice, ran a good long article about the Handy family of that state. About halfway through, the article focuses on Peter Handy, owner of the Sunset Drive-In of Colchester, and we get to learn a lot about him.

Handy lives in a house adjacent to the drive-in he’s owned for over 30 years. His parents bought the Sunset in 1948 and ran it for over 30 years before handing it over. Handy started working there when he was 8 years old, tending the carbon arc lamps that lit the projector.

The most surprising paragraph of the article comes near the end of Peter Handy’s section. “Peter Handy’s nostalgia for the good old days of drive-in theaters is evident in his latest business enterprise: a 12-room motel under construction next to the drive-in. Intended to serve drive-in aficionados, he says the Starlight Inn is so named as ‘a tribute to all the drive-in theaters we lost since their heyday.’” That would put it in the company of the Monte Vista CO’s Movie Manor, which faces the Star Drive-In there.

There are more fun stories about Peter Handy, including the time he sort of foiled a hold-up attempt, and there’s a Sunset box office photo, so go read it!