On The Sly

Hey Foxy,
Again the Watertown area does us in. The old Black River Drive-In was rebuilt and reopened about 2 years ago. Here is their website www.blackriverdrivein.com It is on Route 3 between Carthage and Watertown.
Mark Schwartz

Hey Foxy,
Who could ever forget those nights at the drive in? I remember one night in particular. The Pattens (some will remember Timmy, Terry, Estelle and the "Colonel") had lent me the '63 Impala coupe to take Tim and his buddies to the Plattsburgh Drive In up on route 3. Unbeknownsed to me, this actually meant loading him and 3 of his buddies in the trunk with a case of Topper Beer while I drove through the gate paying only for myself and my date that night, Pam McClain. None of us of course was old enough to have bought the beer.
After settling in at a great spot behind the consession stand, I opened the trunk and Tim got out. We thought we had been caught and Tim slammed the trunk down before the others got out. Once we figured the coast was clear, Tim went back to the trunk, inserted the key and proceeded to turn it the wrong way, breaking the key off in the lock.
Needless to say, the next 2 hours were spent trying to get the beer....um, guys out of the trunk which was finally accomplished by taking out the back seat. No one noticed security standing there watching as a stream of guys exited the back seat of the Chevy each carrying a beer.
We were promptly thrown out!
Incedentally, there was song written in about 1969 about the Plattsburgh Drive In, aptly titled 'Plattsburgh Drive-In Blues" by Chantal Renaud. I actually found a clip of her performing the song on YouTube which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxUGQOSuVhY

Hey Alan, thanks for clearing up the true facts on that drive in trip. Some things get cloudy because of age and that silver barrel stuff...........

At one time there were five drive-in theatres in your area, three in Plattsburgh, one in Champlain and another in Rouses Point. These would cater to Quebecers because up until the 70's drive-ins were outlawed in Quebec. This was a part of my youth and many other Montrealers. When drive-ins started to appear in Quebec (or cine-parcs as they were known as) there was no reason to drive 40 miles on a Saturday night. Eventually the VCR appearing in the eighties killed the Quebec drive-ins. All are gone here in Ottawa too, where there were many at one time.

Hey Fred, I was one of those guys. The vehicle, an L.H. Buck delivery truck. The decor, early orange crate. The beverage, It flowed from a large silverish barrel. The driver, an old buddy of yours and mine. And the master of ceremonies, of course, you.
I can't remember if they were playing a movie that night.

Fred,
Are you sure it was a rented trailer or the infamous and notorious Blue Goose piloted by Baby Ray. That bus was a hoot as it plied the roads, streets and other places throughout the north country.

I remember going to the Stardust, one night, with Buggys Duquette, that's the son of the welfare comish, along with 10 other guys in a rented moving van. I'm talking a 20 ft box on the back of this rig. We parked in the back row with the back of the truck facing the screen. We had 2 couchs and a couple of soft chairs. Of course we had plenty of stuff in the brown bottles too. What was playing? Who cares, it was about laughing and having fun.

Foxy
The Plattsburgh Drive In was located on rt 3 where Taylor Rental is now. It was torn down to build the old Grossmans building.
Tom

Drive in in VT is in Colchester. An expensive trip these days with the price of gas. With both parents working and the kids into all sorts of extra curricular activity these days i can see why the drive ins have disappeared, no time for "family" activities. I have been to all the driveins mentioned and saw some real Disney classics too. Foxy, have you ever given thought to reinvest in the North Country and see about re-opening the Border View in Champlain?

I was still going to the drive-in movies as late as 1981. I lived in Southern California and they had one called the Anaheim Super Drive-In Theater. I saw many movies there but the only one I can remember by name was The Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood, not as a 1st run movie since it was filmed in 1976. I was in Houston in 1989 on a recruiting trip trying to snag engineers for the Department of Air Force - they had a drive-in with 8 big screens. Only in Texas I guess. The one on Route 3 was the Plattsburgh Drive-In. I used to go to the Stardust a lot. The last movie I went to there was on a double date with Kenny Phillips. He and Sue Wannamacher left the next day for California & got married out there shorty after arriving in Santa Barbara.

Foxy,
There is a Drive-in even closer than that in Massena. It is called 56 Drive-in on what else Route # 56.It plays first run movies too.
As far as the ones in Plattsburgh I always drove the car. The trunks were a bit too tight.

I too remember the Stardust which was across of the North Country Shopping center. In its later days it was an "adult" drive in. I had totally forgot the Super 87 one, I actually saw a movie there when I was very very young. In my late teens and early 20's I was fortunate enough to get my honey to the Champlain drive in. Nuns on the Run and Die Hard, thanks for the trip down memory lane Foxy, English in the 8th grade was the best because it was with you.

(Foxy's note: Thanks for the comments, Bad News!)

I remember going to the Super 87 drive-in with my parents all the time. This is where I saw most of my first Disney movies; Lady and the Tramp, Dumbo, Fantasia, and many others. It was awesome.

I think the Stardust was the drive-in out by the old North Country Plaza. The one on Route 3 was simply “The Drive-In”. We used to go the Stardust until they changed their format to adult films. What was funny is they also went to a radio broadcast format and when you drove by you could tune the radio to the AM station and hear the “interesting” sounds associated with the movie.

There are still a number of drive-ins around. To find a theater in your area go to www.drive-ins.com and click on the database to locate your closest drive-in.

As many of you know, I live near Saratoga and within a few miles north of town, in Queensbury, is the Glen Drive-in, a two screen drive-in. And just south of Saratoga Springs, on Route 9 in Malta, is the Malta Drive-in. The Malta Drive-in has become so popular that there is often times a 20 minute wait in line to get in! They also just expanded to two screens this year. They have FM broadcast stereo surround sound. So if you have a vehicle with a decent sound system, you can get indoor theater quality sound! I have an awesome home theater, but it can’t possibly keep me away from a fun night at the drive-in with my wife and son (and a few packages of our favorite snacks!).

If anyone ever wants to come down and get group of us North Country-ers together for a drive-in outing, please let me know!

(Foxy's note: I, for one, would be interested in a North Country trip to the drive-in, Kern. Maybe I can get Goose to go along with me. What a date he would be! Any other Blogoteers want to join in?)

Ohhh, the drive-in movie theatres--they certainly were fun. I remember once that I should not have been there. My friends arrived in a different car and had me paged to the concession stand. Monday morning at work my mother was asked by a co-worker how I liked the movie because she was there and heard the page!!! Most memories were great...

I was also surprised to hear that Bob Venne was your uncle. I worked with him at the U.S. Customs Office in Champlain for about a year. I am not surprised that he connected a speaker from the movie. He was certainly a "connected" kind of guy. I enjoyed his personality and love of life. He was the candy man at Customs.

(Foxy's note: Hi, Elaine. Bob Venne was actually my Dad's second cousin. My grandmother Gagnon was a Venne. But we grew up calling him "Uncle Bob." He was quite a guy!)

Hey Fox,
There is still a drive-in in Glens Falls, not too far from The Great Escape. The Stardust was across from The North Country Shopping Center, it closed when I was pretty young. Last I knew, they showed XXX movies there (whoo-hoo!!) I am just old enough to have gone to the Super 87 a few times before it closed. I remember the old speakers that you pulled into the car window, but I also think eventually you could listen to the movie on your car radio by changing it to a certain station. What I wouldn't give to be able to open my own drive in, and show old movies!

(Foxy's note: Thanks, Auntyellow! If I can find a date maybe I'll visit that Glens Falls drive-in this summer. Hope there are mosquitoes like the old days.)

Foxy,

theres one in vermont

Lacey