Category Archives: Video

Sept. 21: Weirs Drive-In Theatre, Laconia NH

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It’s Day 264 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. With lots of twisty highways, it took almost two hours to drive from The Saco Drive In in Saco ME to Weirs Drive-In Theatre at Weirs Beach in Laconia NH.

The Saco and Weirs are two very old drive-ins, but that’s where the comparison ends. The Saco is a single-screen that is poised for decades to come. The Weirs has four screens, and will probably be sold before the 2018 season begins. On the day I arrived, there was news about that, but first let’s go over its history.

The Weirs was opened as a single screen in 1948 by Harry and Yvonne Gaudet, according to a fine post on the Cinema Obscura blog. Then as now, it was located a stone’s throw from Lake Winnipesaukee, popular with tourists. The blog said that “other than a brief period,” the Weirs stayed in the Gaudet family until 1974, when they sold it to Lawrence and Patricia Baldi. The blog said the Baldis added a second screen “in the 80s” though it still appears as a single screen in the 1988 International Motion Picture Almanac. Two more screens came later, and that’s where we are now.

Lawrence passed away in 2011, and the big news came in 2015 when Patricia, now in her mid 70s, announced that she was putting the Weirs for sale with an asking price of $2.5 million. She told the New Hampshire Union Leader that she couldn’t keep up with the drive-in any longer. “It’s too much for me. I have mixed feelings, it’s time to move on,” she said. Despite the planned sale, the Weirs upgraded to digital projection later that year.

In August 2017, Ms. Baldi got that asking price from Al Mitchell, a developer who also owns a 1-acre parcel adjacent to the Weirs. He told The Laconia Daily Sun that he plans to build condominium units, an event center, a hotel and other businesses. The apparent final night for the drive-in was Labor Day, Sept. 4, commemorated in the Concord Monitor and elsewhere.

But on Sept. 21, just before I rolled in, the Daily Sun announced that the sale had fallen through “after an initial study showed it to be in an archeologically important area where the potential for Native American artifacts could increase the costs of development.” Mitchell said he was “beyond disappointed,” and the property went back on the market for $2.6 million. “If no buyer emerges, Baldi said there is even a chance she could re-open the drive-in next summer.” We’ll see.

The video of the day comes straight from NECN, New England’s News Leader, from May 2015 when the Weirs was put up for sale.

It’s weird to visit a drive-in when I’m not sure that it’ll be active next year. I’m sorry to have missed out on its last days, if that’s what they were. Here’s hoping it’ll return next spring.

Miles Today / Total: 74 / 31033 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 166

Nearby Restaurant: The Kellerhaus offers an ice cream smorgasbord. I didn’t even know that was a thing. That sounds a lot better than “make your own sundae,” and it’s closer to the feel of adding several flavors of homemade ice cream to a dish and carrying it through an amazing variety of toppings. I didn’t have time for the breakfast waffles, but I’ll bet they are just as good.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are plenty of summer motels around here, looking a little quieter as the days cool off, and the one I chose was the Grand View Motel. The views really are nice, my room was clean and comfortable with the full set of modern amenities, and the price was very reasonable. Plus, the Kellerhaus is right next door.

Only in Laconia: Native Americans used Weirs Beach as a summer camp for hunting and fishing as long ago as 8000 BC, according to the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum. The native Abenaquis built a special type of basket, called a weir, to capture the abundant fish (shad) that migrated through the Weirs Channel on their way from Lake Winnipesaukee to the Merrimac River to the sea.

Next stop: Milford Drive-In Theater, Milford NH.

Sept. 20: The Saco Drive In, Saco ME

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It’s Day 263 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was another day in the suburbs of Portland ME, requiring less than half an hour to drive from the Prides Corner Drive-In in Westbrook to The Saco Drive In in Saco ME.

The Saco is the second-oldest drive-in still operating; only Shankweilers Drive-In Theatre in Orefield PA predates it. Based on the list in Kerry Segrave’s Drive-In Theaters, the Saco is probably one of the first couple dozen drive-ins ever built. It opened on July 15, 1939, a decade before in-car speakers came to town, so those first patrons must have been listening to the single loudspeaker with their windows open. Back then it was called the Saco Open Air Theatre.

According to Camille Smalley’s book The Saco Drive-In: Cinema Under the Maine Sky, Eugene Boragine and two partners were the Saco’s first owners. The drive-in closed for the duration of World War II, then reopened in July 1946. About 1950, Boragine bought out the partners and ran the place with his wife Helen Toth. In 1952, he changed its name to the Saco Motor-In Theatre, then again in 1954 to just the Saco Drive-In.

Smalley wrote that the Saco was resold “only a few times,” and Segrave’s book says it was put up for sale in 1987. An article in The Free Press of the University of Southern Maine said that Pat Roberge’s husband bought it in 1986, saying they had leased it to others during the next 25 years. As of 2014, it was still owned by Roberge Construction.

In 2011, Ry Russell and a couple of USM marketing classmates began leasing the Saco. They raised $20,000 to cover the start-up costs and were off to take a 21st-century approach to management. They built up a social media following which happened to pay off in 2013 when Project Honda offered a digital projectors to drive-ins that could garner the most votes. “You could say we were running for this contest before it even started,” Russell later told Portland Monthly (pdf).

For the YouTube video of the day, I picked the clip from WMTW, Portland’s News Leader, about the Saco’s victory in Project Honda.

This time of year, the Saco is still showing movies on Fridays and Saturdays. But not Wednesdays, giving me another night off.

Miles Today / Total: 14 / 30959 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 166

Nearby Restaurant: For the old-fashioned diner I wanted to substitute for missing out on the drive-in, I saw that the Auto Mile Diner even had a car in the name. The “diner” part was more authentic than retro-styled, and the superb biscuits and gravy made me glad I visited.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It had been so long since I stayed at a Hampton Inn that I jumped at the chance here in Saco. Modern, comfy room with a work desk, though no fridge. Hampton standard (good) breakfast with hot and cold options. Just a solid, reliable place.

Only in Saco: Just up US 1 from the drive-in is Scarborough’s Len Libby Candies, home of a life-sized chocolate moose. His name, of course, is Lenny, and he weighs 1700 pounds. They say he’s “the world’s largest chocolate animal sculpture,” which makes me wonder what larger animals there might be that would lend themselves to chocolate artistry.

Next stop: Weirs Drive-In Theatre, Laconia NH.

Sept. 19: Prides Corner Drive-In, Westbrook ME

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It’s Day 262 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. From a far suburb of Portland to a near suburb of Portland, it was just 45 minutes’ drive from the Bridgton Twin Drive-In, in Bridgton ME of course, to Prides Corner Drive-In in Westbrook.

John Tevanian, who bought the Bridgton in 1971, built the Pride’s Corner in 1952, opening it in May 1953. (The grand opening newspaper ad had an apostrophe, but the marquee doesn’t and most subsequent references don’t have it either.) Tevanian was a teacher for 35 years with the Portland school system and according to his obituary, operated the drive-in as a great summer job. He passed away just this past July at the age of 91.

There must have been ups and downs during John’s half-century-plus at the Prides Corner, but I can’t find anything about them. Instead, the story picks up after the 2015 season, when the drive-in still didn’t have a digital projector. In 2016, it just didn’t open.

In the “Summerguide” 2016 issue of Portland Monthly, the author begins his article, “When I meet up with the owner of Pride’s Corner Drive-in, 47-year-old Andrew Tevanian, he’s dressed as a World War II medic.” Andrew is one of John’s sons, and he told the Monthly about his failed GoFundMe campaign and plans to start an IndieGoGo to raise the money for the equipment. The author wrote, “I ask Andrew if he knows when, if at all, he will open the drive-in this year. He shrugs his shoulders.”

That was presumably followed by a June 12, 2016 article in the Portland Press Herald in which John’s wife Thelma Tevanian said the business was going through a “family restructuring” and would reopen eventually. She also said that she and her husband were telling Prides Corner fans to ignore any fundraisers.

The Press Herald wrote that John and Thelma were behind the May 28, 2016 post on the drive-in’s Facebook page. It said in part, “We are in the process of setting a path for the future. None of our decisions are dependent on fundraising or solicitations of any kind. This is in direct opposition to our fundamental beliefs and no one has the ability to act on our behalf.”

Then there was big news just a few months ago. The Forecaster of Falmouth ME wrote in July 2017, “Jeff Tevanian, the drive-in manager and son of owners John and Thelma Tevanian, said the theater should be open by Aug. 4, possibly as early as July 28. … (Jeff) grew up in the business, but said this will be the first time he operates a drive-in by himself. He helped manage it for a few years in the early 2000s, but his brother Andrew had been the manager until 2015.” The soft opening was Aug. 18, and the drive-in hopes for a full grand opening next spring.

For the YouTube video of the day, I couldn’t help choosing one from prolific poster Andrew Tevanian. This one appears to be a promo from 2015.

Perhaps making up for lost time, the Prides Corner is still showing movies on Fridays through Sundays. But not Tuesdays, leaving me with another weeknight away from the drive-in.

Miles Today / Total: 30 / 30945 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 166

Nearby Restaurant: For a bit of adventure, I had dinner at Phoever Maine, a Vietnamese restaurant. Spring roll appetizers set up the Pho Chin beef noodle bowl, and it all went well with beer from Portland’s Allagash Brewing Company.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Westbrook borders Portland, so the Super 8 in Westbrook is across Riverside Street from the Ramada Plaza in Portland, and the Ramada is closer to the drive-in, so that’s where I went. My room had neither a fridge nor a microwave, but at least there was wifi. There was an on-site restaurant for breakfast, which was really nice, just not included.

Only in Westbrook Portland: Roadside America reports that according to its founder and curator, the International Cryptozoology Museum is the only one of its kind in the world. Cryptozoology is the study of unknown or mysterious animals, including monsters. The capper is an eight-foot-tall Bigfoot, built by a Wisconsin taxidermist.

Next stop: The Saco Drive In, Saco ME.