One of my favorite memories when I first moved to Maine was the Skowhegan Drive In, with my 3 boys in tow; I was able to introduce then to something I had as a child, the drive-in. Drive-Ins peaked in the late 1950's with almost 5,000 theaters, but by the time I moved to Maine they were few and far between and there were no family drive-ins left were we used to live.
Of them is the Skowhegan Drive-In, it’s the drive-in’s 60th anniversary and it could be their last one. The drive-in needs to raise about $80,000 to convert projection equipment at the drive-in from 35 mm film reels to digital. The Skowhegan Drive-In is independently owned and operated. Owner Donald Brown Jr. said earlier this year that the drive-in could close at the end of this summer unless it raised the money.
After this season without an upgraded digital projector system, there will be no way to secure new films on 35mm reels. The Red Barn Cares Foundation is producing a series of fundraisers to help convert the current system so this local icon can continue to serve our communities. This August, the Drive-In with The Red Barn Cares Foundation will be having a Stephen King movie marathon on August 1st and 2nd.
Skowhegan Drive-in Theater is hoping movies by a native son of Maine will help it raise money to make the critical conversion from film to digital. With Mr. King's blessing and his assistance in securing archival copies of some of his films, we have confirmed three films for this event, Christine, The Shining, and Pet Cemetery.
There are limited amounts of tickets to the show and will cost $50 per carload for general admission and $150 per carload for VIP spots in the first two rows. Tickets will not be available at the gates. To buy tickets, go to The Red Barn and the Skowhegan Drive-In’s Face book pages.
Darling’s Ice Cream; For a Cause truck will be on site on August 1st, and The Red Barn’s beverage vendor will donate all of the Coca-Cola products.