![]() ![]() Gina Beckley explained that Dan’s media production company, Advanced Production Group, saw a downturn in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The drive-in is living history, and ironically, it took a historical event to spur its revival. “It’s always neat to listen to all that stuff,” she said. She recently talked to an elderly man whose father used to touch up the paint on the original screen. “The most rewarding part is when someone will tell us some cool story of when they used to come here, and it makes it all worthwhile.” “That’s always cool when we hear stories like that,” Dan said. He mentioned that a grandpa, part of a three-generation outing to see a movie, told him he went there many times as a boy in a similar set-up, back when he was the grandson. “A lot of folks say they came in here as a kid,” Dan said. One thing that’s clear so far, the Beckleys say, is that the drive-in, which originally opened about 1950, resonates with people. Dan suggested “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Batman.” The Beckleys will also have “theme nights” where fans of popular movies can dress up as their favorite characters. In summer 2022, they will have a Sunday afternoon jazz series that they had to cancel this year because the site wasn’t ready. Grass ramps for cars to sit on will also get installed as the lot continues to get smoothed out. They will install two more screens next year and intend to be open seven days a week. ![]() “Every week we get a little more done,” Gina added. “We told the public we would get it open this year and we got it open,” her husband said. However, “everyone’s been very good about it, very supportive. “It’s smoke and mirrors,” Gina Beckley said. Renovations at the drive in are mostly a family affair, with the Beckleys’ four children and four grandchildren doing much of the work. The Beckleys and an associate worked inside the stand this week, and it is ready enough now that, with cold weather setting in, it will be used so people can escape the chilly winds. The concession stand is not ready so the Beckleys have been selling pre-packaged items underneath a tent. However, the site is still far from finished. They are also doing weekend matinees and sports viewing parties. ![]() 1, and the drive in will be showing first-run movies on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until sometime next month, when it gets too cold. The effort led to an opening screening on Oct. Selby used local contractors and equipment to help him, including a crane from Kravitz Tree Service. “That screen went up in two days,” Dan said. Selby’s the only person in the entire country who specializes in drive-in movie screen construction, he said. Jerry Selby, an 86-year-old from Ohio whom Dan called a “drive in theater legend,” oversaw its construction. Their new projection screen, with an LED big screen at its base, went up in the third week of July. “We found screen carnage spread all across the 30 acres,” Dan said. At least they are at the point where they can find them: they found the site covered in a tangle of wild grapes, and decades of other overgrowth, but have cleared it all away.Īnother thing the Beckleys had to clean up: Bits of the old movie screen, destroyed in a 2001 tornado. They also find old pull tabs from beverage cans - dozens a day, he said. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |