Huntington Drive In

Last night I went to the Huntington Drive In with my roommate. Our bowling coach is good friends with the owners and they agreed to show us around. 

John and Nelly have owned the Drive In since 2001. The Huntington Drive In is only one of less than 400 drive ins still operating in America. John showed us how he loads the film, how the projector worked, and let us sit in while he started the first movie. 

I have always thought that drive ins were something special. A different experience that you couldn't find anywhere else. It's sad that many of these American icons are disappearing because some can't afford the conversion to digital projection.  While John was showing us how things were done, I could see how much love he put into it that it was heartbreaking to hear that he might have to sell the place. 

With advancing technology, sometimes it's hard to forget about how far we've come. Or have we? Digital cameras make it so easy to shoot, playback and edit film, but have we lost some of the art form that goes into making it? All you have to do with digital projectors is hit a button and the movie starts playing. John  told me that the film comes in reels of 20 minutes and that he has to splice all of them together himself. Most movies are miles and miles long and it takes lots of time and care to put them together. If John really didn't love what he was doing, he would have quit a long time ago.