Death of a Local Icon

In August 1998 we arrived in Unadilla. Wayne drove us along State Hwy 7 without telling us how close we were to our new home. (We had only seen the house via video. He had flown from England in May of 1998 to look at the house and signed a contract.) He was waiting to see if we'd recognize it as we drove closer. I got sidetracked by the fact that there was still a family drive-in theater in existence. He had to interrupt to show us that we were at our new home.

When we first moved here you could clearly see the movie screen from our back field, which made walking the dog at night very entertaining for Matthew. The trees in the hedge row have grown to block the view, but over the years the drive-in has been a place of memory making. Matthew had his first paying job as a cook at the snack-bar and gained the nick name "skunk whisperer" by providing skunk removal. (Thanks to Grampa Goss who told him the tricks of the trade.) It was a favorite activity for our kids to meet friends at the drive-in with lawn chairs and blankets, bug spray, and homemade popcorn to experience a movie as only a drive-in allows. The business has been on the market off and on and each time the sign came down, there was a sigh of relief from the kids.

The other night we had strong winds. None of us really thought anything about it since such storms come through every so often, but the next morning revealed a death in the neighborhood that shook the whole area...
Somehow summer won't be the same without hearing the occasional rumbles and cheers, the cars lining up along St Hwy 7 to get a favored spot in the field, or the surge of cars leaving at 10:30 (after the first feature) and 12:30. A sad farewell.