With National Drive-In Movie Day being recognized on June 6, Owensboro residents don’t have to go far to celebrate. The Holiday Drive-In, located in Reo, Indiana, first began showing movies in 1955, but has been operating under the current ownership since 1978.
After experiencing years of popularity during the 50s and 60s, drive-in theaters took a downturn in the 70s. Darrell Moseley purchased the closed down Holiday Drive-In in 1978, and it is now one of the oldest drive-ins in the United States still in operation.
After Darrell died three years ago, his wife Mary Lou took over ownership of the drive-in. Darrell and Mary Lou’s son, Tim, their granddaughter, Brynne, and General Manager, Georgia Decker, now oversee the day-to-day operations.
“Dad used to be in the theater business…I just kind of grew up in it,” Tim said. “He sold theater equipment and was pretty sharp at it. I always enjoyed working with dad; there wasn’t a finer person. You didn’t even know he was teaching you. It’s my mother’s now — she really doesn’t have any operational part of it, but it’s hers. I retired from what I was doing, and I just wanted to keep it (the drive-in) going.”
In 1980, the drive-in added a second screen, a third and fourth in 1992, and a fifth in 1995. The drive-in just recently added its sixth screen to increase the number of movies that could be shown to 12 in a single evening.
“We’re just a mom and pop operation here. It’s just a small family business — we’re not affiliated with anybody,” Tim said. “It’s kind of a niche market. Every drive-in out there is unique to itself. We are unique because we can play so many movies at a time. After we get this other screen going, we can play 12 movies a night. We try to give a lot of variety.”
One of the big deciding factors in whether or not the theater was going to continue operating was the decision by the market to switch from 35mm film to digital projection, which, according to Tim, is very expensive.
“We really didn’t have an option, if we were going to keep operating, we had to do it,” Tim said. “A lot of smaller theaters were getting grants and things to keep them going. The community really supports us — they’ve always been there for us — so we’ve kind of invested back into it.”
Tim appreciates the team concept he, Georgia and Brynne have developed over the years, and, with the new technology, he anticipates his daughter being the third generation to keep the drive-in going.
“Everybody’s got their role — we don’t have any titles or anything — whoever is around just does what needs to be done,” Tim said. “Georgia is such a great person, and still loves it, and wants to keep it going. My daughter, I hope she takes it and runs with it. There is a whole different way to operate with the new equipment — my daughter is actually more in line with that. We have had some issues this year, and we’re still learning. She (Brynne) makes all the movies up for me and puts all the advertisements on.”
For the past four years, Tim and the drive-in staff have worked hard to complete a labor of love, which includes painting poles and screens, pressure washing, adding a new power source, updating the restrooms and concession stand, as well as putting in the additional screen and improving film quality.
“It’s a 65-year-old facility,” Tim said. “The ladies’ bathroom really needed an upgrade, and I’m sure the patrons will appreciate it. When we started (updating) four years ago, we started at the front. We’re hoping to help it flow a little bit better, increase access to get in and get people off the road. We just have a couple more projects, and then it’s lipstick after that.”
As for the patrons, Tim said being located in Reo, which is named for the intersection of Rockport, Evansville and Owensboro, helps the drive-in to draw traffic from various cities in Indiana and Kentucky, including Evansville, Madisonville, Beaver Dam and, of course, Owensboro.
“We are right at that intersection,” Tim said. “We are kind of centrally located between Evansville and Owensboro. We don’t have a big draw like Louisville, but you put a lot of populations together, and we fall in the center.”
Not only does the drive-in draw individuals and families from other cities, it also attracts several church groups during the summer. Tim said that down the road he would like to look into acquiring and showing more Christian films. Although he said the movies can be harder to get and are a little more expensive, he still has an interest in showing the films.
Tim anticipates the theater being open full time after Memorial Day this year.
“When I was a kid, they kept it open year round,” Tim said. “But there’s just too many forms of entertainment out there now and kids have ball games. Once school starts back, it just slows down. I like to open up in April and go through the end of September, but it’s cost me this year. The weather has not cooperated for us; it’s just rained so much, my field is torn apart. I’ve never seen the drive-in this wet for this long.”
This season, gates will open on Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m. on Sunday, and movies will start it as soon as it gets dark.
For more information on the Holiday Drive-In, please visit holidaydrivein.com/history.
