Tucked off of side roads in towns across Western Pennsylvania, dots of bygone Americana are alive, operating in the form of drive-in theaters filled with people hoping to reclaim a piece of normalcy stripped away by the coronavirus pandemic.

The theaters are some of the first entertainment facilities permitted to open as the state starts lifting regulations that kept people largely in their homes and businesses closed. The area’s six drive-ins reopened Friday, welcoming back guests almost a month after what would have been their original opening date.

At Evergreen Drive-In in Mt. Pleasant, cars lined up Friday night, people itching to leave their homes and enjoy the company of others they have not seen since March. Sydenee Hershberger, 17, of Youngwood sat in the back of a vehicle with her friend, Ashlee Farlow, 16, of West Newton, waiting for the movie to start.

“It feels great,” Hershberger said about seeing Farlow. “I haven’t gotten to see her since March, so it’s great.”

Pennsylvania has 28 drive-in theaters — tied with New York for the most in the country, according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association. There are 305 drive-ins across the country.

Several people attending Evergreen’s showing of “The Vast of Night,” a new science-fiction film from Amazon Studios, cited previous experiences at the drive-in as a reason for returning.

Carrie Kowalyk, 20, of Greensburg sat with friends Kierstin Schade, 19, of Irwin and Gabby Kuhns, 20, of Greensburg. The trio used to visit the theater twice a summer in high school.

Kowalyk said she expects to see a surge of people returning to drive-ins because “this is a community-type thing, so I think a lot people are starting to rely on that. (People are) like, ‘Oh, we don’t want these small businesses to die.’ A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, gosh, we have to support people.’ ”

For others, like Garrett Stanley, 20, of Elizabeth, going to the drive-in is a way to spend time with his friends and girlfriend.

“Just doing stuff like this with your girlfriend or something, it’s nice,” he said.

Evergreen owner Joe Warren said he expects to see a surge initially in the weeks after restrictions are lifted, but, “as time goes on, it’s not going to last forever.”

Rick Glaus, owner of Dependable Drive-In in Moon, agreed, adding it will be business as usual for drive-ins in the coming months.

Sense of nostalgia

Still, Glaus and Beth Chiesa-Manson are planning on how to handle that initial surge of people.

Chiesa-Manson already is considering when she can be open seven days a week — a move that is normally made after Memorial Day, when kids are out of school.

“Kids are not in school, and people are not working,” she said. “Based on what we’re seeing and the response, the overwhelming response to our posts, we believe we are going to open more than just the weekend.”

At Dependable, gates will remain open every night for the rest of the summer, Glaus said, noting the theater would normally have started seven days a week about five weeks ago.

Chiesa-Manson attributes the renewed interest to the pandemic, which she says has allowed people to return to their roots by spending time with family, something she hopes will last once things return to normal.

“Covid has taken away all of the outside distractions, and people are back to spending time together,” she said. “Covid-19 has really forced the back-to-family values being creative. … Now, it’s game night or it’s these creative dances you see on television where families are getting together. If covid hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t be seeing these things.”

Drive-ins traditionally maintain a retro feel, starting with the national anthem followed by vintage advertisements featuring cars out of the 1950s and 1960s.

“Relax, come as you are and spend an enjoyable night out with the entire family,” an advertisement that played before the movie at Evergreen said. “No parking problems, no babysitting problems, and there are always tasty snacks at our modern refreshment stand.”

While maintaining the uniqueness of drive-ins, other measures like an arcade and mini-golf course were added at Starlight to keep all age groups interested.

“We’ve been very creative in keeping ‘old school’ yet putting enough modern in, too, so that we attract the 15-, the 16-, the 20-, the 25-year-old as well as bringing the 65-year-old back because they remember growing up in the drive-in,” Chiesa-Manson said. “So, as a drive-in owner, you have to be creative.”

Dean Baker, a volunteer at Evergreen who also is referred to as “d-no,” hopes the months following the peak of the pandemic will allow people to experience films that were on the big screens decades ago like “American Graffiti” and others like “Jurassic Park” that premiered in the 1990s.

Riverside Drive-In in Parks Township is starting the season with a retro feel by showing “The Wizard of Oz” and “Twister.”

“We know another drive-in that we’re friends with, they’re opening tonight with the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ ” Baker said of Riverside. “I just think about that opening in black and white and then all of a sudden everything’s going to come into bright Technicolor — and it’s like, yes, that’s the world we’re looking for.”

What’s playing

Todd Ament, owner of Riverside, alluded to the possibility of drive-ins featuring retro films in the coming months after movie premieres scheduled for this spring were pushed back to the fall because of indoor movie theaters shuttering to help curb the spread of the virus.

“We’ve never shown ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and it looks like this summer’s going to be a year for stuff that hasn’t been on the big screen for awhile,” Ament said.

Movies such as Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Part II” and the new James Bond film “No Time to Die” were pushed back once the virus started sweeping across the country. “A Quiet Place: Part II” will now premiere Sept. 4, and “No Time to Die” will premiere Nov. 25.

While there are fairly new movies to show now, the problem, according to Warren, comes in June when few movies are set to be released.

Starting in July, movies like “The Tenant,” “Mulan,” “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” and “Wonder Woman 1984” could premiere, although it depends on when indoor theaters reopen, Glaus said.

“No studio’s going to release a movie for 300 drive-ins,” he said.

Warren added, “Some of the studios are putting specific packages together of retro titles for drive-ins for us to get through the month. It all depends if people want to see them or not. It’s not all about watching an older movie or a retro title. It’s about an experience — plus to get out of the house for awhile.”

Some local owners are worried retro titles won’t draw the crowds of a new film. Baker disagreed, saying it is the perfect time to spark interest in younger generations.

“There may be an opportunity to expose a newer generation,” he said. “You’re not going to see a lot of new movie releases, so there might be a lot of retro. So let’s say you’re able to get ‘Jurassic Park.’ Who’s seen that on the big screen? So you bring the kids out, they see it on the big screen, now they’re like, ‘The drive-in is great.’ ”

A shifting era

The scene at Evergreen on Friday night was almost a clip of life before the pandemic, with people sitting in lawn chairs or laying out blankets in the back of pickup trucks.

Lines spray-painted in the grass to promote social distancing and face masks brought reality back.

Most area drive-ins are operating at half capacity and promoting phone applications where people can order food from the snack bar. Still, most are expecting to see a surge of people in the weeks following some of the strictest coronavirus-related restrictions.

Like most businesses forced to close throughout the pandemic, drive-ins are not immune to economic downturns. The already-struggling industry has taken a hit in recent years. In 2018 and last year, a dozen theaters shuttered, according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association.

That number jumps to 142 closures since 1999, data shows.

“It’ll be business as usual for the drive-ins that survive, and I don’t think all of them will,” Warren said. “At the end of the year, we’ll know where we stand. There’s no guarantee for next summer for a lot of drive-ins.”

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