Skyline Drive-In Celebrates 50 Years

skyline drive in
A packed house is a common sight at Skyline Drive-In during the summer.
0 Shares

 

By Eric Wilson-Edge

duncan sponsorSummer is rapidly coming to a close. The days are getting shorter. It won’t be long before the leaves turn and the air crisps. We’ll replace short sleeves and shorts with rain coats and sweaters. Hot chocolate weather is on its way.

For now, on this particular evening, summer is still very much alive. Hundreds of people have turned out for Skyline Drive-In’s annual family night. Kids wearing pajamas and painted faces pile into the back of their parent’s cars. A father and son toss a football in an open area. I watch as the ball arcs through the orange twilight.

skyline drive in
A packed house is a common sight at Skyline Drive-In during the summer.

Dorothea Mayes looks on with approval. Mayes is the owner of the Skyline. She took over about 10 years ago from founder Fred Thibodeau.  Mayes is a film buyer for independently run movie theaters and Thibodeau was one of her clients.  “This was his baby,” says Mayes.  “He got too sick to run it and asked if I could.”

This year mark’s Skyline’s 50th Anniversary. The drive-in sits on six acres just off Highway 101 near Shelton. Janette Sigo is the manager at Skyline. She’s worked at the theater for 12 years, her daughter has been an employee for 14 years. “I was a customer and got sucked in,” says Sigo. “I was here with my kids one night enjoying a movie when my daughter told me they didn’t have enough people and asked if I could help.”

Drive-Ins hold a special place in American lore. There used to be dozens of theaters like the Skyline scattered across the state. Now only a few remain. “It’s very difficult to run a business six months out of the year and make it pay for itself 12 months out of the year,” explains Mayes.

Operating an outdoor theater poses unique challenges. Skyline can hold roughly 300 vehicles which means land which equals maintenance. Mayes told me she recently had to battle an ant infestation at one end of the parking lot. Work has begun on replacing a section of the wooden fence along the entryway. At the start of the season Mayes hired someone to clean and paint the massive screen.

skyline drive in
This year mark’s the iconic theater’s 50th anniversary.

Cars trickle in through the entrance. Tonight’s double bill is “Planes: Fire & Rescue” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”  The smell of buttered popcorn and hamburgers hangs in the air. Serena Hernandez makes a beeline for the staff entrance. She’s wet and shivering. Hernandez volunteered for the dunk tank. “The first dunk was super cold but after that you want to be in the water.”

This is Hernandez’s first season at Skyline. She loves her job and didn’t mind the soaking. She brought along a towel and an extra set of clothes. Hernandez disappears up the stairs to change. I mention to Mayes how remarkable it is that her employees volunteered to get dunked. “The people who work here end up bonding, it becomes a family,” says Mayes.

A line has formed at the bouncy house. The more impatient abandon the cause in favor of the firefighters stationed nearby. Sigo knows a lot of these kids, most have been coming to the drive-in since they were infants.

You never know who will come to the Skyline. The drive-in attracts both regulars and the curious newcomers. “There’s a Portuguese couple who were staying at the casino for a conference,” says Sigo.  “They came to see what it was and now they’re here to watch the movie.”

skyline drive in
A young boy tries to dunk a Skyline employee.

Gary Walker grew up in Great Britain. He’s lived in the United States for over 10 years. He and his wife take their kids to the Skyline a few times each summer. “It’s something as a kind growing up in Britain you’d see in the movies or on TV,” says Walker. “Much like Cadillac’s with big fins and Route 66 it’s something I came to associate with America.”

Walker likes the experience of watching a movie outside but he’s also drawn to the affordability. A family of five, like Walker’s, can see two movies for $35 without concessions. Plus, if the kids get bored they can talk or play games without the fear of being shushed.

The season for Skyline Drive-In will soon start winding down. The drive-in will move from being open every day to being open on the weekends until closing in late September/early October. Before that happens, the Skyline will host a Rocky Horror Picture Show event complete with live acting and drag queen races. On Labor Day there will be a triple billing and 50 cent hot dogs to commemorate the anniversary.

A few kids giggle past. Some pull at their parent’s arms in the hopes of one more bounce before the first movie starts. The sun is setting but no one seems to mind.

Skyline Drive-In

182 SE Brewer Road in Shelton

Movie information can be found here.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares