July 22: Hummel Drive-In, Winchester IN

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It’s Day 203 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Since it was Saturday, that meant another trip across a state line in search of another weekend-only drive-in theater. This time, the drive took about an hour and a half from Middle Point OH to the Hummel Drive-In east of Winchester IN, just across the border.

In 1949, this drive-in opened as the Air Line Auto Theatre, a reasonable name considering that it’s just across Indiana Highway 32 from the Randolph County Airport. Arthur Kemp opened the place, but by 1952, Mike Make had taken over. Make owned and operated the Air Line (eventually the Airline Drive-In) into the 1990s. Alan Teicher bought the Airline and added a second screen in 2002. (There’s a YouTube video from near the end of the Teicher era, promoting its unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, embedded above.)

Then in August 2014, faced with the cost of converting to digital projection, Teicher closed the Airline and his other theaters. He told the Bradenton FL Herald, “I’ve been in business for 58 years, I’m 80 years old and think it’s time to retire.” It sat idle for over a year, then Shawn and Pauletta Hummel bought the drive-in in March 2016. They renamed it the Hummel Drive-In.

By early August, after $200,000 worth of renovations and projection equipment, the Hummels were ready to reopen with one screen. As Pauletta told the Richmond IN Palladium-Item, “We really started from scratch, for the most part, on a lot of these things. The foundation was there, but we did whatever we could to improve the facility.” The concession stand was rehabilitated “entirely,” including the bathrooms and projection area. They said at the time they’d start with one screen, then expand back to two screens “down the road”.

I guess conditions haven’t yet warranted lighting up that second screen, which had been badly damaged when they bought the place, so my only choice for the early movie was the latest Planet of the Apes installment. It was only the second time I’d seen it, so I was grateful for the novelty. I kicked back with a pizza burger and a “monster” popcorn and enjoyed the show.

Miles Today / Total:  73 / 25678 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: War for the Planet of the Apes / 119

Nearby Restaurant: The Referees Bar and Grille was adjacent to my hotel (see below), so that made it easy to reach. I had to leave for the drive-in before the live music started, but I was able to catch a little when I returned before it closed. Earlier for dinner, I enjoyed a rib eye steak with sauteed mushrooms and some salad and veggies to stay balanced. And beer and TV sports, of course, because I needed to fit in.

Where I Virtually Stayed: If you’re staying in Winchester, you’ll want to check the Randolph Inn & Suites. This place has a really nice new main building, plus the “budget building” that might have been an old motel. My main building room had the full set of modern amenities, and the breakfast in the morning was better than most mom and pop places.

Only in Winchester: The author of The Gaslight Addition grew up in Winchester. The 1995 movie version, Now and Then, was directed by a man who also grew up in Winchester. Although the town’s name was changed in the movie, a local museum has preserved a significant part, the Our Jonnie gravestone in the old Winchester Graveyard.

Next stop: Huntington Twin Drive-In, Huntington IN.

July 21: Van-Del Drive-In, Middle Point OH

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L8F1FlR77o

It’s Day 202 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It didn’t take too much extra time out of my way to have visited the Auto Vue Drive-In in Sidney OH Thursday night. It took less than an hour to drive back north from there to the Van-Del Drive-In just north of Middle Point OH on the old Lincoln Highway, halfway between Van Wert and Delphos.

I don’t know of another drive-in that went through so many changes early in its history as the Van-Del did. According to Cinema Treasures, it opened as the Star Lite in June 1948, built by the Christopher brothers from St. Mary’s OH. Just three months later in September 1948, they sold it to Paul Staup, who renamed it Staup’s Auto Movie. Staup also replaced the original screen tower, which had been blown down during its first winter, with a wider screen and installed a playground. Then in July 1951, Staup’s Auto Movie was renamed the Van-Del Auto Movie.

In April 1967 Thomas Epps started running the drive-in, (by August 1981 he was listed as the owner). widening the screen tower, installing a new sound system, and remodelling the concession stand. In September 1998, Epps sold the Van-Del to Jim and Joyce Boyd. Over the years the Boyd family has upgraded the Van-Del Drive-In with digital projection and has added two more screens.

It was complete serendipity that on the day of my virtual visit, legendary drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs declared the Van-Del to be his drive-in of the week. He wrote, “In the 1960s it pulled off a great publicity stunt as mesmerist “Dr. LeRoy” hypnotized and buried a man (Phil Davis, from Martinsville, IN) for three days. (History doesn’t say if he was entombed underneath the drive-in screen, but let’s choose to think so.) They haven’t buried anyone in a while, but the Van-Del still holds events like Dusk til Dawn nights on its three screens. And the Van-Del’s fans are so rabid that they spammed the Joe Bob page to feature their drive-in. Well played, Van-Del Drive-In.”

I found another nice drone aerial video to embed for you. This one’s from Les Bowen, who also uploaded a great drone shot of last year’s Fourth of July fireworks, but I digress.

With three screens, I had some choices for this evening’s movie, and I chose the new release. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is just too long a name for a movie. The special effects looked great under the stars, but I hope I don’t have to see it again too often this year.

Miles Today / Total:  53 / 25605 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets / 118

Nearby Restaurant: I drove just a little farther up the Lincoln Highway to the Rambler’s Roost Restaurant and Truck Stop. It’s quiet, across the street from a cemetary, and it’s on a bypassed road that used to be US 30. It’s been here for 60 years, almost as long as the drive-in. Most truck stops these days are owned by one chain or another, so it was great to get some home cooking from a mom and pop original.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Since there aren’t any hotels in Middle Point, my choices were in Van Wert and Delphos. The best combination of a safe national chain and a low price was the Microtel in Delphos. My room was clean and had the full set of amenities, and the light continental breakfast was enough to get me back on my way.

Only in Middle Point: You know how the Van-Del was named for its neighbors, Van Wert and Delphos? Well, Middle Point also got its name because it was about halfway between Van Wert and Delphos. The village was laid out in 1851, added a post office in 1854, and incorporated in 1874.

Next stop: Hummel Drive-In, Winchester IN.

July 20: Auto Vue Drive-In, Sidney OH

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm3k7AAPZ98

It’s Day 201 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. My route still zigzags back and forth more than a perfect mileage-saving trip, but I’m doing it to catch drive-ins when they’re open. In this case, it was barely a half-hour drive from the Starlight Drive-In, between St. Henry and Maria Stein OH, and the Auto Vue Drive-In in Sidney OH.

According to its (unsuccessful) 2014 Kickstarter page, the Auto Vue was built in 1956 by the Nagelspach brothers. The Rees family bought it in 1987, and now daughter Teresa Covington runs the place. “The first season ended in 1987 with a thunderstorm ripping the concession roof off, requiring the building to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up – but we did it. In 1994, during a storm, a third of our steel screen was ‘curled down’, just like a sardine can, but again we rebuilt,” she wrote.

The Auto Vue has an unusual story behind its conversion to digital projection. In February 2015, at a drive-in conference in Florida, Covington asked Transit Drive-In (Lockport NY) owner Rick Cohen for fundraising suggestions. Cohen’s response was to start walking north from Kissimmee to raise awareness and money for the Auto Vue. He made it over 250 miles before a sprained ankle ended the walk, but not before he raised $8000. The Auto-vue took out a loan for the rest.

I was writing about the Auto Vue just last October, when it hosted the premiere of the regional promo Moving A Nation: Made in Shelby County. Then this year it opened earlier than usual so it could show the live-action Beauty and the Beast.

Thank goodness for drone photography! I’ve seen more aerial drive-in footage shot in the past year than in the 30 years before it. I embedded a decent view of the Auto Vue made by Jack Feazel and posted to YouTube.

This was just a picture-perfect drive-in night. The temperature was 80 and dropping at showtime, and the rain held off long enough for me to enjoy a Throwback Thursday showing of Smokey and the Bandit. That movie is such a fun 70s romp! And the concession stand had chocolate-covered frozen bananas, my new favorite pseudo-healthy dessert. It sort of balanced out the hot funnel cake I also got there.

Miles Today / Total:  26 / 25552 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Smokey and the Bandit / 117

Nearby Restaurant: For another great slice of retro, the place to go in Sidney is The Spot To Eat. It has a neon sign on the outside and red vinyl diner furnishings within. It serves up the classic burgers, fries, rings, and shakes at very reasonable prices, put the pies make it feel even more like a diner. My favorite, of course, remains pecan pie.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I guess it’s been a while since I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, so I took advantage of the one on Sidney. It’s a nice modern place, like most HIEs, with the full set of room amenities. Breakfast reminded me that I’d been missing out on those warm cinnamon rolls.

Only in Sidney: Several towns in the region were heavily influenced by the Miami and Erie Canal in the early 19th century. It took $8 million and 20 years for the state of Ohio to complete the project, just before the advent of railroads make it quickly obsolete. Just down the road from Sidney, you can see the canal’s restored Lock 1 plus four unrestored locks all in one place, called Lockington.

Next stop: Van-Del Drive-In, Middle Point OH.