Redland Drive-In Theater — Image by kenne
Located just north of Lufkin, Texas on HWY 59, this old drive-in theater has been closed since the early 1990’s. It’s been said that it ended its theater days showing XXX movies.
I took this photo November 13, 2001 with my first digital camera, Olympus E-10, which I still have in my camera collection.
kenne
Drive-In
The daylight turns to darkness,
as the light sets on the screen,
The cinematic fairy tale,
projects over the green,
The imitations evident,
as the crickets cry for love,
and a boy and girl sit nervously,
staring at the screen above,
The snack bar is filled with people,
popcorn, soda, and candy bars,
Three boys sit atop their parents car,
one stares up at the stars,
As their Mother smiles upon them,
She knows these days will come and go,
Their Father falls in love again,
as he watches her eyes glow,
And in this moment, Life is beautiful,
It’s virtuous and rare,
and the movie on the screen,
is not the reason people care,
It’s the time we spend together,
It’s the words we never say,
It’s the light we drive-in to the world
on the darkest time of day.
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Those were fun days with a trunkload of friends sneaking into the drive-in for free!
Now, why didn’t I think of sneaking in friends. Guess I was too focused on her!
Going to the Drive-In Movie was some of the most fun of my youthful summer nights. The old drive-in in my hometown ended its days showing x-rated movies. That didn’t last long because the theater was close to a 4-lane highway where the movie screen was visible to cars coming down a hill alongside the screen before curving off to the right. The x-rated movies were highly distracting to drivers and the Drive-In was soon closed. In its heyday, it was the only Drive-In w/in 35-40 miles, so was a fun way to meet kids we never would have met in ordinary circumstances. There’s something haunting about deserted Drive-Ins and this photo certainly has that haunted quality of faded grandeur. It also brings memories of sound and smell and nostalgia for sweet summer nights of faded youth.
. . . yes, “sweet summer nights of faded youth — if only we could bring it back.
Hey Kenne, You might be interested to know that my son Mark is co-owner of the Holiday Autotheatre in Hamilton, Oh, He and his buddy have owned it for six years. It was first opened in 1948 and is doing quite well.
Jim,
Thanks for sharing Mark’s business experience — “what goes around, comes around!”