Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

One warm summer evening when I was about 20, I wheeled my 1971 Mustang through the neon-washed gates of the Belmont Auto Drive-In Theater just outside Beavercreek, Ohio. I found the ideal spot and parked. The massive screen filled my windshield.

A few minutes later, an announcement over the speakers says, “Fifteen minutes! Fifteen minutes to show time!” Perfect! I had just enough time to grab a hot dog – I counted what cash remained in my wallet. It didn’t matter, though. They had me at “fresh, hot, buttery popcorn!”

That night, the marquee read, “Double Feature” (Then again, it was always a double feature.) “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Crocodile Dundee.” If memory serves, the price was $5 per car, and I was ready. Drive-ins had been converted to broadcast the movie sound over the radio. So, I outfitted my old Mustang with a stereo amplifier and mounted speakers so you could best hear them outside the car. I tuned in the frequency, adjusted the volume, hopped on the hood with my snacks, and settled in for a great evening’s entertainment under the stars.

I loved drive-ins and still do. There’s something about the atmosphere that is pure Americana. As I’m thinking about it now, I can almost hear the overdriven buzz of those heavy, window-hanging speakers, the dancing refreshments up on the screen at intermission. The drive-in was one of my first solo outings at 16 when I got my driver’s license.

My first memory of going to a drive-in was with my parents in 1974. I was about seven years old, and we went to the Skyborn Drive-In in Fairborn, Ohio, where the original “Benji” movie was showing. I was so enamored with them that, for a short time, I considered owning a drive-in theater, but not your usual run-of-the-mill version.

I had this wacky idea about a massive drive-in theatre and even made concept drawings of it. It featured an unusually large, high-resolution curved screen, Dolby stereo, wireless speakers, and a two-story concessions building with a restaurant on the second floor. It featured a video game arcade, a merchandise shop, supervised playrooms for the kids, a bar for the adults, and more. Plus, it was much larger and could hold more than 400 cars.

Of course, I never made it happen, but it was a cool dream. I’m afraid that in the summer of the late 80s, my concept was way ahead of the required technology. Besides that, even in those days, drive-ins started to disappear.

Most of the Dayton-area drive-in theaters I visited back then are long since gone. If you’re local, you might remember some of them. There was the North Xenia Drive-In, Southland 75, Valley Street Drive-In, Dayton West Drive-In, and many others.

In north Dayton, the Dixie Twin first lit its screens in the early 1950s, and its projectors are still running today. The Melody 49, just off I-70 near Trotwood, is alive and well and shows first-run flicks on two screens. You can find others with a quick Google search. Depending on the travel, you might need to make a night of it if you plan to go.

As many surviving drive-ins faced closer, a strange twist of fate intervened. The very disaster that shuttered businesses worldwide may have been the savior of the drive-ins, at least temporarily. The COVID-19 pandemic gave many drive-ins a surge in business. Families could watch a drive-in movie, maintain social distancing, and enjoy an evening out.

Sadly, box office numbers have slumped since the pandemic, and drive-ins are still trying to bring people back in the gates. People need to be reminded that nearly all drive-in theaters are privately owned small businesses. They’re not million-dollar multiplexes. Most are run as a labor of love with volunteer staff, and most take in barely enough revenue to keep the projector bulbs burning. 

For some, drive-ins are a long-held tradition. To others, they represent an era long past. But whatever the attraction, grab your lawn chairs, blankets, and portable radios (to keep from running down your car battery), and head to the closest drive-in. For now, I have to go. Tonight’s feature is about to start.

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