Popular theater
offers bit of
nostalgia
JAN BILES
The Topeka
Capital-Journal
 GAS, Kan.
- Heather
and Tony Bauer were
perplexed. The
teenagers had come
to U.S. 54 Drive-In
to see two movies
but couldn't figure
out how to dial in
the audio on their
car radio.
So, they sat in
silence and watched
two movies. Well,
sort of.
"We were back in the
grass because it was
packed that night,"
Heather Bauer
remembers. "It was
the summer of 1995,
and it was here that
he first said he
loved me."
Eleven years later,
the Bauers, of
Buffalo, are back at
the drive-in, but
they didn't join the
teenagers parked in
the grassy back rows
of the outdoor
theater. This time,
instead of cuddling
and exchanging
starry-eyed glances,
they were watching
their kids - Courtny,
7, Jesse, 6,
Anthony, 3, and
Wesley, 1 - dip
chips into melted
cheese and try their
best to gobble it up
before it ran down
their chins.
It was still light
out. Cars, SUVs,
vans and pickup
trucks began lining
up at the box office
about 7:30 p.m.,
even though the box
office wasn't open
and the movies
wouldn't start
playing until at
least two hours
later.
 While folks waited
patiently for the
ticket taker to
arrive at the box
office, the crew in
the concession stand
were popping corn,
heating nachos,
stacking soft drink
cups and checking
the supply of candy,
hot dogs and pizza.
Bobbie Trammell, the
shift manager, said
she oversees a
three-person crew in
the concession
stand, but one
worker will duck in
and out to run the
projector and
another will
hightail it to the
box office to take
tickets before the
pre-show rush
begins.
The night before, 80
vehicles paid $12 to
enter the drive-in.
This night, there
would be 110 - a
third of the
theater's capacity
and the busiest
night so far this
year.
U.S. 54 Drive-in was
built in the late
1950s by Jack
Hastings, who was
tapping into the
drive-in craze
crisscrossing the
nation. The
big-screen, outdoor
theaters allowed
families to dress as
casually as they
wanted. Kids could
play on swing sets
or run free before
the movie and talk
all they wanted once
the movie began.
The first drive-in
theater was opened
in June 1933 in
Camden, N.J., by
Richard Hollingshead,
a sales manager at
an auto products
store. But the
theaters really
didn't get a toehold
until after World
War II , when
families were
reunited and ready
to spend time
together.
The drive-in theater
craze didn't hit
Kansas until the
summer of 1946, when
81 Drive-In Theater
opened in Wichita.
 Darrel Drake, of
Iola, manager of
U.S. 54 Drive-In,
said the Gas theater
was "sold two or
three times" before
B&B Theatres
purchased it in the
1970s.
Drake said drive-in
theaters saw
deceased attendance
in the 1960s and
1970s, because more
people were watching
television. Plus, as
cities grew,
businesses and
housing developments
swallowed up the
theaters as they
laid claim to land
near or outside the
city limits.
"Many drive-ins were
ousted as cities
began to expand and
develop outlying
areas," Drake said.
"Gas hasn't grown so
rapidly, so it's
still a popular
favorite in the
summertime."
More vehicles edge
into U.S. 54
Drive-in and park in
its stalls. SUVs,
vans and pickups
back into the spaces
so passengers can
sit on truck beds or
in cargo areas to
view the movies.
Lawn chairs and
coolers come out of
the vehicles.
Blankets are laid
down on the grassy
areas between
stalls. Bags of
chips and other
treats are passed
around.
"We typically come
early, eat, watch
the movie and then
get some popcorn,"
said Edna Garner, of
Iola, who was
sitting in a lawn
chair alongside her
three sons,
daughter-in-law and
3-year-old
granddaughter.
 Garner moved to the
area in 1978 from
Bakersville, Calif.,
because she didn't
want to raise her
twin sons in a big
city. They found the
drive-in to be cheap
entertainment.
"And it was
something to do with
my two boys,
something to do
together," she said.
"We've been here
when it was freezing
cold and had to turn
the windshield
wipers on to see the
movie," said Donita
Garner, her
daughter-in-law.
Edna Garner, who
runs a day care in
her home, said she
has watched her
young charges grow
up at the drive-in.
"I used to come out
and see the little
kids here," she
said. "Now, I'm
seeing them out here
with their own
kids."
A small group of
kids and adults
gather nearby. At
the center of the
attention was Duke,
a Great Dane that
Rose Holland, of
Chanute, had brought
to the drive-in -
along with seven
Dorito-and-Cheetos-eating
youngsters. It was
Duke's first visit
there.
"If he can settle
down, he'll stay out
with the kids,"
Holland said. "If
not, then he goes
back into the van."
Drake said he
discourages
movie-goers from
consuming alcoholic
beverages at the
drive-in, which
opens in late April
or early May and
shuts down sometime
in September. If
someone is found
with alcohol, the
Allen County
Sheriff's Department
is called and the
offender is removed
from the premises.
If someone gets
rowdy, they also are
asked to leave - but
Drake said he gives
them a pass as they
are leaving and
invites them to come
back when they're in
a better mood.
"For the most part,
we've never really
had an incident out
here," he said.
As the sun sinks
below the horizon,
at about 8:50 p.m.,
people line up
outside the purple
and hot pink
concession stand to
get their popcorn
and drinks before
the first movie
starts. The cool
night air had
arrived, and
blankets and jackets
are pulled on to
ward off the
70-degree
temperatures.
Boom boxes and
stereo speakers are
put on top of roofs
and hoods of
vehicles. Radios are
dialed to 88.7 FM to
pick up the audio.
 Employee Tyler
Ringwald, a
17-year-old Iola
resident, stops
scooping popcorn in
the concession stand
and goes to the
projection room to
make sure the 35mm
film is properly
threaded. He grabs a
flashlight and goes
outside to see if
it's dark enough to
switch on the
projector.
"We do a flashlight
test," he said. "We
flash it on the
screen to see if it
shows up yet."
His verdict: Not
dark enough. Maybe
20 more minutes.
Ringwald gives the
projection system
one more look-over.
A couple of weeks
ago, the arm on the
platter, which
controls the speed
of the film as it
threads through the
projector, broke
after the previews.
Because the film
can't be rewound and
restarted, he had to
keep advancing the
film by hand.
"So, I spun it by
hand for two hours
and 45 minutes," he
said.
Ringwald flips the
switch to start the
movie at about 9:30
p.m. and adjusts the
lens to focus the
fuzzy images on the
screen. The movies
will run until about
1 a.m.
 On the back row, in
an SUV that is
parked backward into
its space, are Jason
Chandler, 19, Stacie
Smail, 18, Kaleb
Chambers, 19, and
Amie Blakesley, 18,
all of Iola. It's
date night for them.
They like the
drive-in because
it's cheaper than
the indoor drive-in
in Iola and they
don't have to be so
quiet here. Plus,
it's nostalgic for
them, too.
Smail said she came
to the drive-in with
her family when she
was a child.
"We used to play
Frisbee and football
(before the movie),"
she said. "We tried
to stay up through
both movies, but
were asleep by the
time the second
movie started."
Chambers remembers
seeing "Jurassic
Park" at the
drive-in, after
seeing it at the
indoor theater.
"My dad knew all the
scary parts and
would scare me," he
said. "So, I'd get a
double dose of the
scary stuff."
But what about being
on that back row?
Remember the Bauers;
they didn't care
about hearing or
watching the movie
when they could kiss
and cuddle.
"It hasn't changed
much," Chambers said
with a smile.
Jan Biles
can be reached at
(785) 295-1292 or
jan.biles@cjonline.com. |
