* Of the 4604 total Drive-In Theatres in America, only 384 survive today [33 of Ohio’s 270 are open today]
Open Ohio Drive-In Theatres Listings from Drive-Ins.com
http://www.drive-ins.com/theaters/oh/status_op=open
Closed Ohio Drive-In Theatre Listings from Drive-Ins.com
http://www.drive-ins.com/theaters/oh/status_op=closed
NORTHEAST OHIO DRIVE-IN THEATRES:
Aut-O-Rama Twin Drive-In
autoramadrivein.com/nowshowing.php
33395 Lorain Rd. North Ridgeville OH [Lorain]
Mayfield Road Drive-In
http://www.funflick.com/mayfield.html
12091 Mayfield Rd. Chardon, OH [Geauga]
Midway Twin Drive-In
http://www.funflick.com/midway.html
2736 SR 59 Ravenna, OH [Portage]
Blue Sky Drive-In
www.blueskydrive-in.com/
959 Broad St. Wadsworth OH [Medina]
Magic City Drive-In
www.magiccitydrive-in.com/
5602 S Cleve-Mass Rd Barberton OH [Summit]
Elm Road Triple Drive-In
http://www.elmroadtripledrivein.com/
1895 Elm Rd. NE Warren OH [Trumbull]
Skyway Drive-In
www.skywaydrivein.com/
1805 N Leavitt Rd. Warren OH [Trumbull]
Pymatuning Drive-In
440-293-7757
6352 Marvin Rd SR7 Andover OH [Ashtabula]
NORTHWEST OHIO DRIVE-IN THEATRES:
Star View Drive-In Theatre
www.starviewdriveintheatre.com/
2083 US Hwy 20 West Norwalk OH [Huron]
Tiffin Drive-In
419-447-2551 (S) 419-443-1889 (Main)
4041 Hwy. 53 North Tiffin OH [Seneca]
Field Of Dreams Drive-In
www.fieldofdreamsdrivein.com/
V602 County Road 6 Liberty Center OH [Henry]
Sundance Kid Drive-In
www.greateasterntheatres.com/sundancehome.asp
4500 Navarre Ave. Oregon OH [Lucas]
CENTRAL OHIO DRIVE-IN THEATRES
Lynn Drive-In Theatre
http://www.lynndrivein.com/
9735 SR 250 Strasburg OH [Tuscarwaras]
Springmill Drive-In
www.greateasterntheatres.com/springmillhome.asp
1040 Springmill Rd Mansfield OH [Richland]
Sunset Drive-In
www.sunsetdrivein.net/
4018 Park Ave West Mansfield OH [Richland]
South Drive-In
http://www.drive-inmovies.com/
3050 S High St Columbus OH [Franklin]
Skyview Drive-In
www.skyviewdrivein.com/
2420 E. Main St Lancaster OH [Fairfield]
WEST CENTRAL OHIO DRIVE-INS
Auto-Vue Drive-In
937-492-5905(S)
1409 4th Ave. Sidney OH [Shelby]
Melody Cruise-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/melodyci.shtml
4025 E National Road Springfield OH [Clark]
Hi Road Drive-In
www.metheatres.com/hiroad.shtml
8059 SR. 68 N Kenton OH [Hardin]
Lake Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/lakedi.shtml
8477 Hwy 703 Celina OH [Mercer]
Starlite Drive-In
419-925-4944 (S)
1889 Route 127 Maria Stein OH [Mercer]
Van Del Drive-In
http://www.van-del.com/
19986 Lincoln Hwy Middle Point OH [Van Wert]
SOUTHWEST OHIO DRIVE-INS
Holiday Auto Theatre [Open All Year]
www.holidayautotheatre.com/
1816 Old Oxford Hwy. Hamilton OH [Hamilton]
Skyborn Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/skyborndi.shtml
Rte 235 & Haddix Rd Fairborn OH [Greene]
Dixie Twin Drive-In
http://www.dixietwin.com/
6201 N Dixie Rd Dayton OH [Montgomery]
Starlight Drive-In
www.starlitedriveinohio.com/
2255 Ohio Pike Rt 125 Amelia OH [Clermont]
Melody 49 Twin Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/melody49di.shtml
7696 Pleasant-Plain Rd Clayton OH [Adams]
East Bend Drive-In
937-373-1307 (S)
Hwy 125 Decatur OH [Adams]
Wilmington Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/wilmingtondi.shtml
1129 N Route 134 Wilmington OH [Clinton]
SOUTHEAST OHIO DRIVE-IN THEATRES
Winter Drive-In Theatre [4 Screens]
www.winterdrivein.com/movies.htm
400 Luray Dr. Wintersville OH [Jefferson]
Scioto Breeze Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/sciotodi.shtml
9959 US Route 23 Lucasville OH [Scioto]
?? Kanauga Drive-In ?? [CALL FIRST]
http://www.kanaugadrive-in.com/
740-446-1088(S)
1483 SR 7 N Gallipolis OH [Gallia]
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Car Of Many Colors
“You’ll know it’s me when I drive through your town
I’m gonna ride around in style I’m gonna drive everybody wild
‘Cause I’ll have the only one there is a round.”
[Lyrics from Johnny Cash “One Piece at a Time”]
“So what color is it?” the Valley Forge High School security monitor asked when I pulled my 1999 Mercury Tracer aka The VF Alumni Patriots aka “Hillbilly Deluxe [minus the “Deluxe”] in to my alma mater for Senior Checkout Day last year; and my answer was simply “Yes”. Living up here in Brunswick Hills Twp. (aka Bruns-tucky where there are still rumored to be whisky stills still in full operation) the genesis of putting custom stickers on cars started back in 1996, when my grandmother from Ashland sold me her 1986 4 cyl. Ford Taurus [Midnight Blue color] with only 4550 miles on it (and still have it parked in the garage with 86,658 miles). I was going to drive it out to Iowa and trade it straight up with my aunt for her 1969 Mercury Marquis [Turquoise color, and also once owned by my grandparents], but soon after driving it – especially the way I drive – mechanical problems soon cropped up, and soon I got tired of telling the towing company where it should go, I made a sticker of my family’s mechanic of 35 years there at Yorktown Automotive in Parma Hts. and put their logo, address and phone number and whenever I called for a tow I just walked to a pay phone, told them to haul it to the address on the bumper and walked home. After adding a few more logos on the rear window for Donley Ford of Ashland [since they did a great job rust proofing it and the body still looks the same the day it rolled off the assembly line] it was finally time to get another car when the headers finally couldn’t be ground down anymore and decided to move on and in 2002 bought the used ’99 Mercury Tracer.
After transferring all of the stereo equipment, mechanical problems still persisted, so I again put Yorktown’s logo on the rear trunk deck, and continued on with creating stickers from logos of businesses that I have either worked for or patron locally to give them a little extra publicity. For my consultant work, I used to give local candidates their logo on the hood, sides and trunk area [to get around the 30 day sign laws – one couldn’t have signs in yards, but there was no prohibition on having signs parked in the driveway] to boost their visibility], always designing, changing and rearranging until deciding two years ago to decide on a final completed set design, since it takes about a month from the start of a design to completion [and since it is vinyl going on steel, the best temperature for application is above 50 degrees – I do use a hairdryer in the winter months for applications and removals, but one time three Decembers ago I was changing a logo on the rear plastic painted bumpers while applying the heat of the dryer to peal off the Citgo logo since Yorktown had changed suppliers and ended up removing a large chunk of white paint instead, which I covered up with white vinyl and a Valero logo].
All of the designs are logos downloaded [some of the lettering is done free hand using graph paper, and the other smaller block letters can be bought at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores] and enlarged on copiers. The Liberty Bell and VF Alumni lettering was taken from a mouse pad the association was selling. Byrne Sign Supply Co. up on the west bank of the Flats in Cleveland supplies 3’X 5’ vinyl colored sheets for around 5 bucks, and sometimes to get a different hue I sometimes combine colors one on top of one another and have counted 45 different companies in 7 different counties, including UFO’s Fall SuperSwap on the side windows recently affixed to the drivers and passengers windows [since room is “running out” on the rest of the car, and yes, Ohio Revised Code says that is a “no-no”, along with all of the lettering , especially the rule not allowing numbers to be shown on windows displaying 13.45, which I counter with “If you have $20, I have change.”]. In case some were wondering about who the heck is the L.T. Dalton [for Larry Todd Dalton] I put on the drivers and passenger side doors [since my name isn’t “southern” enough for this NASCAR rich area] for my first car I drove out of High School, the 1977 Ford LTD V-8 351 Windsor.
And yes, I do get pulled over – often [but have had no tickets in over 7 years]. A couple of times a month, mostly when I travel out of North East Ohio area with my consulting work [which the car also doubles as my office] the local 5-0 waves me over not for speeding, but to talk about what the heck it is that I am driving. Back in 2004, with just about 1/4 of the stickers I have on now, I was up in Parma and came upon a DUI checkpoint where the officer took one look at it, shook his head and waived his flashlight for me to pull in. “Oh great!” I thought as I pulled into the coned area, and rolled the window down with the car’s papers in hand. With the officer coming forward, he took one look inside at all of the switches and also at all of the stickers on the outside, and said “Sir, will you please pull your vehicle over to the side street while I call my Sergeant over.” So I pull it on over and now I am REALLY getting worried when the Sgt. comes over with 3 other officers and tells me to “Please exit the vehicle” to which I do and get ready for the car to be impounded. He gets in the car, looks around and said “This is awesome, so how much do you want for it?” and proceeded to light up all the lights and cranked up the stereo.
Top 10 List of What Officers Have Said After I Have Been Pulled Over
10. “My niece just graduated from Valley Forge” – Hamilton P.D.
9. “Where did all the seats go?” O.H.P. Brunswick Hills DUI Checkpoint
8. “What the heck is that?” – Dalton P.D.
7. “Why do you have a tire up there in the front?” – Montville Twp. P.D.
6. “So how fast does it go?” – North Olmstead P.D.
5. “I thought you were a cop car” – Mentor P.D.
4. “Valley Forge, Class of 2001” – Medina P.D.
3. “I'll radio on up ahead since I know [another officer] will want to see inside of this thing” – Ohio H.P.
2. “So How Much Do You Want For It” - Parma P.D.
1. “Now that I have your number, here’s mine” Tiffen P.D. “Honey Bear”
I’m gonna ride around in style I’m gonna drive everybody wild
‘Cause I’ll have the only one there is a round.”
[Lyrics from Johnny Cash “One Piece at a Time”]
“So what color is it?” the Valley Forge High School security monitor asked when I pulled my 1999 Mercury Tracer aka The VF Alumni Patriots aka “Hillbilly Deluxe [minus the “Deluxe”] in to my alma mater for Senior Checkout Day last year; and my answer was simply “Yes”. Living up here in Brunswick Hills Twp. (aka Bruns-tucky where there are still rumored to be whisky stills still in full operation) the genesis of putting custom stickers on cars started back in 1996, when my grandmother from Ashland sold me her 1986 4 cyl. Ford Taurus [Midnight Blue color] with only 4550 miles on it (and still have it parked in the garage with 86,658 miles). I was going to drive it out to Iowa and trade it straight up with my aunt for her 1969 Mercury Marquis [Turquoise color, and also once owned by my grandparents], but soon after driving it – especially the way I drive – mechanical problems soon cropped up, and soon I got tired of telling the towing company where it should go, I made a sticker of my family’s mechanic of 35 years there at Yorktown Automotive in Parma Hts. and put their logo, address and phone number and whenever I called for a tow I just walked to a pay phone, told them to haul it to the address on the bumper and walked home. After adding a few more logos on the rear window for Donley Ford of Ashland [since they did a great job rust proofing it and the body still looks the same the day it rolled off the assembly line] it was finally time to get another car when the headers finally couldn’t be ground down anymore and decided to move on and in 2002 bought the used ’99 Mercury Tracer.
After transferring all of the stereo equipment, mechanical problems still persisted, so I again put Yorktown’s logo on the rear trunk deck, and continued on with creating stickers from logos of businesses that I have either worked for or patron locally to give them a little extra publicity. For my consultant work, I used to give local candidates their logo on the hood, sides and trunk area [to get around the 30 day sign laws – one couldn’t have signs in yards, but there was no prohibition on having signs parked in the driveway] to boost their visibility], always designing, changing and rearranging until deciding two years ago to decide on a final completed set design, since it takes about a month from the start of a design to completion [and since it is vinyl going on steel, the best temperature for application is above 50 degrees – I do use a hairdryer in the winter months for applications and removals, but one time three Decembers ago I was changing a logo on the rear plastic painted bumpers while applying the heat of the dryer to peal off the Citgo logo since Yorktown had changed suppliers and ended up removing a large chunk of white paint instead, which I covered up with white vinyl and a Valero logo].
All of the designs are logos downloaded [some of the lettering is done free hand using graph paper, and the other smaller block letters can be bought at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores] and enlarged on copiers. The Liberty Bell and VF Alumni lettering was taken from a mouse pad the association was selling. Byrne Sign Supply Co. up on the west bank of the Flats in Cleveland supplies 3’X 5’ vinyl colored sheets for around 5 bucks, and sometimes to get a different hue I sometimes combine colors one on top of one another and have counted 45 different companies in 7 different counties, including UFO’s Fall SuperSwap on the side windows recently affixed to the drivers and passengers windows [since room is “running out” on the rest of the car, and yes, Ohio Revised Code says that is a “no-no”, along with all of the lettering , especially the rule not allowing numbers to be shown on windows displaying 13.45, which I counter with “If you have $20, I have change.”]. In case some were wondering about who the heck is the L.T. Dalton [for Larry Todd Dalton] I put on the drivers and passenger side doors [since my name isn’t “southern” enough for this NASCAR rich area] for my first car I drove out of High School, the 1977 Ford LTD V-8 351 Windsor.
And yes, I do get pulled over – often [but have had no tickets in over 7 years]. A couple of times a month, mostly when I travel out of North East Ohio area with my consulting work [which the car also doubles as my office] the local 5-0 waves me over not for speeding, but to talk about what the heck it is that I am driving. Back in 2004, with just about 1/4 of the stickers I have on now, I was up in Parma and came upon a DUI checkpoint where the officer took one look at it, shook his head and waived his flashlight for me to pull in. “Oh great!” I thought as I pulled into the coned area, and rolled the window down with the car’s papers in hand. With the officer coming forward, he took one look inside at all of the switches and also at all of the stickers on the outside, and said “Sir, will you please pull your vehicle over to the side street while I call my Sergeant over.” So I pull it on over and now I am REALLY getting worried when the Sgt. comes over with 3 other officers and tells me to “Please exit the vehicle” to which I do and get ready for the car to be impounded. He gets in the car, looks around and said “This is awesome, so how much do you want for it?” and proceeded to light up all the lights and cranked up the stereo.
Top 10 List of What Officers Have Said After I Have Been Pulled Over
10. “My niece just graduated from Valley Forge” – Hamilton P.D.
9. “Where did all the seats go?” O.H.P. Brunswick Hills DUI Checkpoint
8. “What the heck is that?” – Dalton P.D.
7. “Why do you have a tire up there in the front?” – Montville Twp. P.D.
6. “So how fast does it go?” – North Olmstead P.D.
5. “I thought you were a cop car” – Mentor P.D.
4. “Valley Forge, Class of 2001” – Medina P.D.
3. “I'll radio on up ahead since I know [another officer] will want to see inside of this thing” – Ohio H.P.
2. “So How Much Do You Want For It” - Parma P.D.
1. “Now that I have your number, here’s mine” Tiffen P.D. “Honey Bear”
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Totally Awesome Weekend!
WOW!
Totally cruised out after a totally awesome weekend --
First, Saturday was a blast after an early 5 am start here at home base [with the usual pre-cruise breakfast at the Lodi TA]. It was too foggy to take the normal backroads, so tested the new cab lights going down I-71 to Cbus for the United Ford Owners / Earth Angel Charity Cruise at Ricart Mega Automall. Got there early, and changed the rear red cab lenses to the four orange ones for the show and looked forward to helping out the car club in any way that I could to help out such a worthy charity!
[I normally don't enter the car since it is an "all weather beater" and love running it thru the mud after it rains, but Earth Angel is such a worth cause and have several UFO members who participate in the foundation, so it was definitely worth any support given!]
After parking all of the fabulous show cars, it was time to wind things down and pack things up, changing the rear orange roofers back to red for the evening trip back up north, and getting near 6pm and after a brief spritz of rain on an otherwise perfect afternoon, and headed back up I-71 to Mansfield to the Springmill Drive In Theatre just off of US 30 on Springmill Road to see "UP" and "Star Trek" [for the third time]. I got there a half hour early before the gates were to open, so cruised Route 39 up north past Shelby, and doubled back thru town and back to Springmill Drive-In, where cars were gathering in the drive and was able to get a great spot back along the concession stand [since it was origionally a single screen theatre and made the far back rows into a second screening area].
UP was an ok movie [nothing real special about the animation, and the story line kinda got stretched a bit at the end], and STAR TREK was just as awesome as the first time [will be seeing it again tomorrow over at Field of Dreams Drive-In in Liberty Center, Ohio]. Got out late as usual, and took US 30 back to US 42 North and cruised up to Ashland to get some go-go juice on US 250 [kinda running out and did a gas-and-go] then back up I-71 to home base until tomorrow's "Cannonball Run" .
Sunday is another beautiful day for a Cruise and a Movie! Filled up the tank the rest of the way in Medina and headed out Route 18 to Field of Dreams Drive-In Theatre in Liberty Center Ohio in NW Ohio. Passed Norwalk / Summit Dragway and got on US 20 and continued heading East, and although I have been to Bowling Green before and looked on the map several times [always preplanning each trip way in advance so that time isn't wasted on the side of the road looking at maps] I did get lost momentarily when I mistook a Route 6 heading 'East' exit -- knowing full well I needed to take Route 6 'West' all the way over to Henry County to Liberty Center -- and I knew it wasn't right so got off and found an empty parking lot and got back on heading in the right direction. After passing I-75 for a few miles, I saw 6 of the ugliest wind propellers alongside the road, placed appropriately in the Wood County Landfill two hundred or so feet up in the air and are what I consider a complete eyesore -- thank goodness it would be dark when I passed them again!
Finally got to Field of Dreams Theatre just north of Liberty Center after a 140 mile cruise -- its intereting that Henry County is one of the only counties here in Ohio that uses letters of the alphabet for it's north-south county roads, and numbers its east-west back roads, but it is nice that they have nice big green square placards marking each road for us "foriegners" -- and like in the movie "Field of Dreams" it literally is "Build it and they will come" as someone actually build a small drive in theatre in thier backyard as a screen was built on several telephone poles and the projection house was made of cinderblocks!
Several cornhole boards were available, as well as a volleyball sand lot and net were also available and a game was well underway, with folks welcomed to join in as more cars [including a white Ford Torino Convertable] made their way to Field of Dreams. Concessions consisted of a utitlity truck converted for food service, and before the movie started, the owner invited anyone who wanted to see how the projection booth operated to come on over see inside the inner workings of the theatre. The movies, btw, were NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM and STAR TREK, and both were well worth the drive all the way over in far NW corner of Ohio [in fact, I rank Field of Dreams Drive-In #2 overall of drive-in theatres I have so far visited!]
Before heading back, had the inevitable dead battery of a group of folks parked just in front of me, so had the drive-in staff with their portable charger [but the guy was driving a Saturn, and for some reason their battery is in the trunk] and offered up my flashlight as well, but their charger wasn't working so went into AAA mode and got the jumper cables out of the trunk and opened up the hood and after a couple of good revs of the engine, got them started and on their way! Headed back out out Route 6, but headed south when I got to Route 53 towards Tiffen [to find the Tiffin Drive-In [when the UFO Ford Club heads up to Fords at Summit in July so I can go their after a days worth of All Ford entertainment] but can't really find anything in the dark so did a brief cruise thru Tiffin and picked up Route 18 and took that back to homebase until the next Great American Cruise!
Movies: A -
Cruise: A +
Overall: A
Totally cruised out after a totally awesome weekend --
First, Saturday was a blast after an early 5 am start here at home base [with the usual pre-cruise breakfast at the Lodi TA]. It was too foggy to take the normal backroads, so tested the new cab lights going down I-71 to Cbus for the United Ford Owners / Earth Angel Charity Cruise at Ricart Mega Automall. Got there early, and changed the rear red cab lenses to the four orange ones for the show and looked forward to helping out the car club in any way that I could to help out such a worthy charity!
[I normally don't enter the car since it is an "all weather beater" and love running it thru the mud after it rains, but Earth Angel is such a worth cause and have several UFO members who participate in the foundation, so it was definitely worth any support given!]
After parking all of the fabulous show cars, it was time to wind things down and pack things up, changing the rear orange roofers back to red for the evening trip back up north, and getting near 6pm and after a brief spritz of rain on an otherwise perfect afternoon, and headed back up I-71 to Mansfield to the Springmill Drive In Theatre just off of US 30 on Springmill Road to see "UP" and "Star Trek" [for the third time]. I got there a half hour early before the gates were to open, so cruised Route 39 up north past Shelby, and doubled back thru town and back to Springmill Drive-In, where cars were gathering in the drive and was able to get a great spot back along the concession stand [since it was origionally a single screen theatre and made the far back rows into a second screening area].
UP was an ok movie [nothing real special about the animation, and the story line kinda got stretched a bit at the end], and STAR TREK was just as awesome as the first time [will be seeing it again tomorrow over at Field of Dreams Drive-In in Liberty Center, Ohio]. Got out late as usual, and took US 30 back to US 42 North and cruised up to Ashland to get some go-go juice on US 250 [kinda running out and did a gas-and-go] then back up I-71 to home base until tomorrow's "Cannonball Run" .
Sunday is another beautiful day for a Cruise and a Movie! Filled up the tank the rest of the way in Medina and headed out Route 18 to Field of Dreams Drive-In Theatre in Liberty Center Ohio in NW Ohio. Passed Norwalk / Summit Dragway and got on US 20 and continued heading East, and although I have been to Bowling Green before and looked on the map several times [always preplanning each trip way in advance so that time isn't wasted on the side of the road looking at maps] I did get lost momentarily when I mistook a Route 6 heading 'East' exit -- knowing full well I needed to take Route 6 'West' all the way over to Henry County to Liberty Center -- and I knew it wasn't right so got off and found an empty parking lot and got back on heading in the right direction. After passing I-75 for a few miles, I saw 6 of the ugliest wind propellers alongside the road, placed appropriately in the Wood County Landfill two hundred or so feet up in the air and are what I consider a complete eyesore -- thank goodness it would be dark when I passed them again!
Finally got to Field of Dreams Theatre just north of Liberty Center after a 140 mile cruise -- its intereting that Henry County is one of the only counties here in Ohio that uses letters of the alphabet for it's north-south county roads, and numbers its east-west back roads, but it is nice that they have nice big green square placards marking each road for us "foriegners" -- and like in the movie "Field of Dreams" it literally is "Build it and they will come" as someone actually build a small drive in theatre in thier backyard as a screen was built on several telephone poles and the projection house was made of cinderblocks!
Several cornhole boards were available, as well as a volleyball sand lot and net were also available and a game was well underway, with folks welcomed to join in as more cars [including a white Ford Torino Convertable] made their way to Field of Dreams. Concessions consisted of a utitlity truck converted for food service, and before the movie started, the owner invited anyone who wanted to see how the projection booth operated to come on over see inside the inner workings of the theatre. The movies, btw, were NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM and STAR TREK, and both were well worth the drive all the way over in far NW corner of Ohio [in fact, I rank Field of Dreams Drive-In #2 overall of drive-in theatres I have so far visited!]
Before heading back, had the inevitable dead battery of a group of folks parked just in front of me, so had the drive-in staff with their portable charger [but the guy was driving a Saturn, and for some reason their battery is in the trunk] and offered up my flashlight as well, but their charger wasn't working so went into AAA mode and got the jumper cables out of the trunk and opened up the hood and after a couple of good revs of the engine, got them started and on their way! Headed back out out Route 6, but headed south when I got to Route 53 towards Tiffen [to find the Tiffin Drive-In [when the UFO Ford Club heads up to Fords at Summit in July so I can go their after a days worth of All Ford entertainment] but can't really find anything in the dark so did a brief cruise thru Tiffin and picked up Route 18 and took that back to homebase until the next Great American Cruise!
Movies: A -
Cruise: A +
Overall: A
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