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speakup

“Down at the drive-in/A big buttered popcorn and an extra large coke/ A few chili dogs and man I’m goin’ broke.”

So sang the Beach Boys in 1964 on their song "Drive-in." It's fitting that a band that embodies the mythical American summer wrote about drive-in theatres. After all, drive-ins were once a big part of summertime culture.

Thanks to changing times, drive-ins are going the way of pre-recorded cassettes. I recently read in the Globe and Mail that Winnipeg's last remaining drive-in is not reopening this spring.

Local drive-in fans can relate: the Bayview Drive-in in Beresford went dark for the last time in 2006.

According to the website driveinmovie.com, there are only three drive-ins still operating in New Brunswick: the Neptune in Shediac, the Sussex Drive-in and the Bellevue in Neguac.

How times have changed, thanks to extravagant home theatre set-ups, on-demand movies via cable and satellite TV and VHS/DVD rentals. (Drive-in movie fare has traditionally been the movies that were earlier in the local movieplex, those same movies you can now watch at home.) Shediac used to have a second drive-in. There were two in the Fredericton area and one in Woodstock. I think Saint John had at least one as well.

The drive-in experience was like no other. Many of us have memories of being bundled up in our pajamas as children, and watching movies from the backseat of the family sedan. (For some unknown reason, the movies I remember most are the Richard Burton/Liz Taylor epic, Cleopatra, and some '65 sci-fi flick called Crack In The Earth.)

Drive-in night was exciting for a youngster. It's when you got to stay up late with the grown-ups and enjoy unfamiliar sights and sounds, sitting among all those cars with the tinny speakers hooked onto the window.

In the days of one's misspent youth, drive-ins were both makeout places and party places.

The junk food at the canteen was always tasty, too - back then, there were no multiplexes serving gourmet nachos and the like, only popcorn, soda and candy. At the drive-in, you could get those movie staples, but also burgers, fries, hotdogs, onion rings and even pizza.

Maybe someday the Bayview will reopen, and a whole new generation can enjoy the drive-in experience.

I can taste those soft pink links of sodium nitrate even now, washed back with a cold cola and waiting for the coming attractions.