Category Archives: Video

Nov. 14: Warner’s Drive-In, Franklin WV

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It’s Day 318 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Driving up I-81 most of the way, it took me just a little over three hours to drive from the Starlite Drive-In in Christiansburg VA to Warner’s Drive-In in Franklin WV.

According to a lengthy story on the West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail web site, Charlie Warner and his son Harold opened Warner’s Drive-In in April 1952. It held about 250 cars and had in-car speakers for decades before they were replaced by FM sound.

WOWK checked in on Warner’s in late 2013. By then, the Franklin Oil Company had acquired the drive-in and its land. James and Nancy Hess were the managers, and they showed movies on Friday and Saturday nights. Hess said the former owners found that 90 percent of people attending left after the first movie. The projection equipment and the concrete screen, built to be someone’s house, were still the originals.

After the 2014 season, movies on film dried up, and Warner’s closed. Franklin Oil Company tried to sell the drive-in to the West Virginia Department of Highways, but the deal fell through. A group of locals formed the Warner Drive-In Cultural & Resource Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to raise money for equipment and operate the drive-in.

Warner’s reopened in September 2016, and 2017 was its first full season with the new equipment. The non-profit has plans to add a performance stage in front of the screen, repair and refurbish the screen’s interior, and eventually buy the land.

The embedded video of the day is from WHSV, Harrisonburg VA’s News Leader. It’s a fun celebration of the new community spirit that runs Warner’s as well as the fun of watching a show there. Too bad the night I was virtually there was in mid-November, when the drive-in was closed for the season.

Miles Today / Total: 174 / 36009 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 190

Nearby Restaurant: The Korner Shop Cafe is just three doors down from my hotel (see below) in downtown Franklin. It looks like the kind of small-town diner where I like to go for comfort food after visiting a closed drive-in, but the cafe had a nice selection of full dinners. I enjoyed a half-pound ribeye steak with a salad and green beans, followed by a slice of homemade cake. On a chilly November night, it was very comforting.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t very many places to stay in Franklin, and the one in the middle of downtown is the Star Hotel & Restaurant. It’s been around longer than Warner’s, but when I walked up to my room, it was clean and comfortable. It’s always nice to have a bar on the premises. With the restaurant part, I could order a full breakfast before I set out in the morning. Quaint!

Only in Franklin: Every September Franklin holds its Treasure Mountain Festival. This year’s event included the Gigantic Pumpkin Contest (winners typically over 1000 pounds), a parade, a muzzleload shooting contest, a beard and mustache contest, a watermelon seed spitting contest, and owl hooting.

Next stop: Sunset Drive-In Theater, Shinnston WV.

Nov. 13: Starlite Drive-In, Christiansburg VA

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It’s Day 317 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Time to get back to some of the drive-ins that are closed for the season. Starting from Henderson NC, it took me 3½ hours to drive to the Starlite Drive-In in Christiansburg VA.

There are drive-ins with vague pasts, multiple ownership transactions and name changes. This is none of these. As Collegiate Times wrote in 2012, the “Starlite was opened in 1953 by Richard and Dorothy Beasley. The two ‘built, owned, and operated the Starlite Theater together for all those years’ before Richard passed away in July of 2009.” A few Starlite signs now say “since 1952,” so maybe that opener is just a little vague.

A July 2011 story in The Washington Post included a look in at the Starlite. “The Starlite’s parking area slopes steeply downhill toward the screen, which makes it easier to see over the vehicles in front of you. There’s no playground here, but there is plenty of open space where the kids enjoy burning off energy before the movie.” It was being run by Dorothy Beasley then and still offered “tinny” in-car speakers as well as radio sound.

The next year, for that Collegiate Times article, the owner was Peggy Beasley, and she’s still the owner in 2017. Over the past couple of years, she’s been in the news probably more than she’d prefer.

Her nicest coverage came from Virginia Living in 2013. “Known for its colorful star-dotted signpost and the Beasley family’s famous chili, the Starlite is now owned by daughter Peggy,” it wrote, noting that Richard Beasley built the screen frame in 1953, and it survives to this day.

The problem started in 2016 when Peggy Beasley gave up on replacing lost or stolen in-car speakers and switched to large outdoor speakers. As I wrote at the time, that’s the way the original drive-ins handled sound, and there’s a reason they don’t do it any more – neighbors. The Starlite is surrounded by housing, and some of the neighbors complained to the town, as reported in The Roanoke Times.

The situation continued to June 2017, when Peggy Beasley was summoned to Montgomery County General District Court on July 11 to face a misdemeanor noise disturbance charge, as documented in another story in The Roanoke Times. Her lawyer countered by filing an injunction claiming that her rights of due process have been violated, and that the Starlite is exempt from the town’s noise ordinance.

“I just look forward to it being over with,” Peggy said. “Daddy told me to keep it running when he passed away, because there would be a lot of disappointed people.”

The Radford News Journal wrote that she is considering renting radios, which I mentioned last year and of which I’ve seen dozens of examples in my virtual travels this year. Let’s hope that solves the problem.

The embedded video of the day is from WDBJ, Roanoke’s News Leader, and it includes plenty of nice shots of the Starlite as it discusses the sound / noise controversy. And the drive-in has been closed for the season for weeks, so on this night it was quiet as well as dark.

Miles Today / Total: 177 / 35835 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 190

Nearby Restaurant: When a restaurant promises all you can eat, I pay attention. That was the Monday special at Fatback Soul Shack – all the popcorn shrimp I wanted, plus corn on the cob, hush puppies, baked barbecue beans and so much more. Add a nice selection of beers, and I had all I needed for the night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Not only is there a Hampton Inn in Christiansburg, but its rates for November suggest that this is the bargain time of year. It was so wonderfully predictable – coffee and cookies waiting for me at check-in, a comfortable room with all the modern amenities, and the solid Hampton-level free breakfast in the morning. But I’ve been to so many I’m starting to see that wide Hampton hexagon in my sleep.

Only in Christiansburg: This town has been around since the 18th century when it was “a concentration of taverns and rest stops along the Great Wilderness Road,” according to Wikipedia. Notable early residents included Daniel Boone, who once had an arrest warrant in Christiansburg for a debt, later repaid; Davy Crockett, who served as an apprentice to a local newspaper printer; and William Clark, of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, who lived downtown.

Next stop: Warner’s Drive-In, Franklin WV.

Nov. 12: Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, Henderson NC

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It’s Day 316 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Finishing my North Carolina weekend, I drove 2½ hours to the only place still showing movies on a November Sunday night, from Albemarle to the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre in Henderson NC.

Cinema Treasures says that the drive-in opened as the Moon-Glo on July 15, 1949. Its first listing in the 1949-50 Theatre Catalog showed it as owned by Ben Strozier, but within a couple of years that had changed to S.S. (Sonny) Stevenson.

In a 2008 drive-in roundup, Southern Spaces wrote “In 1977, original owner Sonny Stevenson sold the Moon-Glo to the Lyle family (apparently led by N.T. “Tinker” Lyles), who renamed the theater after its location.” Then came the amazing part.

Jim Kopp worked at the Library of Congress’s archive in Landover MD and collected drive-in movie memorabilia on eBay. In 2006, the drive-in itself was listed at auction on the site. According to The News & Observer of Raleigh-Durham, Kopp and his wife Megan “made the 200-mile trip from Virginia to check it out before placing their final bid. The place was overgrown with weeds, and Megan thought he was crazy for even considering the purchase.” Kopp bought the drive-in, not including the land, for $22,000.

The Washington Post wrote about the Raleigh Road and the Kopps, including a great anecdote. “Last year, a family arrived in two pickup trucks toting furniture from their house. The family unloaded and arranged a couch, rug, fridge, end tables, lamps and fake flowers so they could watch the outdoor movie in the comfort of their own living room.”

There’s a short documentary about the Raleigh Road from 2008, featuring Kopp, on YouTube and embedded above.

The Fay Observer wrote that Mark and Jennifer Frank “bought the place in December 2011. Previously, they owned and operated a drive-in movie theater in Keysville, Virginia, but they sold it to focus on the old facility on the outskirts of Henderson in Vance County.”

And that’s where I’ll pick this up on my next Raleigh Road installment. You see, on this night I was expecting to watch A Bad Moms Christmas, but the show was cancelled because of an issue with the digital projector. (This never used to happen with film!) They promise to have it running again in a few days, so I’m just going to have to return in a week or two.

Miles Today / Total: 156 / 35658 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 190

Nearby Restaurant: It was time for another neat little regional chain restaurant, this one with two of my favorites in the title – Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q. I grabbed a platter with two pieces of chicken and barbecue plus potato salad, coleslaw and hush puppies. Add some pecan pie for dessert and that makes a superb combination to take back to the hotel for a nice evening meal.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I was torn. There’s a Hampton Inn in Henderson, and usually that’s an automatic for me, but there’s also a well-regarded if redundantly named Red Roof PLUS+ at half the price. Since I plan to return later this month, I decided to save money this time. There was beer available in the evening, my room was clean and had all the modern amenities, and the free breakfast included eggs and sausage. The Hampton is going to have to work hard to beat this!

Only in Henderson: Strange Carolinas writes that Henderson backhoe operator Ricky Pearce created a sculpture titled Reminiscing in 2005. This tribute to Marilyn Monroe consists of two long, shapely yet flat, splayed reclining legs, plus a couple of enormous high-heeled shoes to the side.

Next stop: Starlite Drive-In, Christiansburg VA.