A piece of Americana still needs our help to save it.
Bethlehem’s Jericho Drive-in has made a down payment on a digital projector, which will allow one of the last outdoor movie theaters to continue to operate. But in order to get it installed, owners Mike and Lisa Chenette are asking the community to purchase a limited number of $200 season passes.
The Chenettes have shown considerable determination to keep their drive-in from fading away, as so many others have across the country. In 2013, they participated in a national competition to win a digital projector, only to fall short. They tried crowd sourcing last year to get the funds for a digital projector, but they didn’t meet that goal, either. They kept the drive-in going in 2014, despite having fewer movies to choose from as Hollywood continued to move away from using 35mm film.
Now they have found a refurbished digital projector they can afford, but they still need our help to complete the deal. That’s where the season pass comes in. They want us to invest in their dream to keep the drive-in alive, after all the efforts they’ve made to invest in the community.
Even though the $200 price may seem steep on the surface, it’s small potatoes when you consider the value you’ll get in return.
Keeping a drive-in open means summer nights sitting in a car as a couple or a family watching two movies, enjoying some popcorn and a soda, and feeling a gentle summer breeze blow through the open windows. It connects us to our country’s 20th-century, driving-based past when people cruised the streets of small town America on a beautiful evening. It reminds us of what we used to have before subdivisions and big box stores.
The immediate value these $200 season passes give us is just as important. Two people can go to any double feature at the drive-in and get a free large soda to go along with a large popcorn. And it means the drive-in can keep showing today’s Hollywood blockbusters with older movies, which provides a value for everyone.
We know that people’s budgets are still tight, and $200 is a considerable investment — especially when we still have high energy bills to contend with following a miserably cold winter. However, we can’t think of a better way to shake off our winter blues than by preserving a summertime institution such as the Jericho Drive-in.
It’s an investment worth making to save one of the last pieces of Americana we have in Albany County.
