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Over the Back Fence By HANK HENRY Drive-in movies were fun for family There was a period of time from shortly before World War II until the 1980s when families with children flocked to an institution that made their lives a little easier -- drive-in theaters. This institution flourished for a long time and then slowly died in the '70s, probably killed by television and home videocassette recorders. In the 1960s, we owned a Volkswagen bus that proved ideal for occasional trips with our three children to the outdoor theaters. We continued to attend for about eight or 10 years. It was at those theaters that our kids created their own labeling for movies that didn't pass my muster. They called them "D-rated" or "Dad-rated," as I would mutter about producers trying to see how much they could get away with. Operators of the drive-ins opened their lots as early in the spring as possible, because standard time provided enough darkness for the shows to start by 6 p.m. As our kids grew a little older, we would usually arrive at about five, allowing the kids time to use the playground equipment available at most sites. After the shift to daylight-saving time, the operator had to wait until after 8 p.m. for enough darkness to allow them to start, and it was hard to have two showings when the second started at around 11 p.m. Our son Joe particularly remembers the poorly animated trailers that came on the screen before the show started. These promoted the pop, pizza, ice cream and popcorn available at the snack bar building. In the first few years of our drive-in experiences, Nora would dress the kids in their pajamas so they would be ready to hit the hay upon arriving at home. Intermission time always saw a flock of people rushing into the snack bar with lists of orders in their hands. Joe says he also remembers years later, when the movie had a very sentimental scene, such as someone dying or someone being jilted, there would be a parade of young men heading for the snack bar because they didn't want their dates to see tears in their eyes. In the 1960s and '70s, there were at least three drive-in theaters within easy driving distance of our home in Medford. One was on old Highway 99 between Medford and Phoenix. A second one was south of Talent on the same highway, and a third one was just north of Medford. There also was a drive-in in Grants Pass that actually broadcast the movie's soundtrack on a low power transmitter. If you didn't have a radio in your car, they would furnish you with a little transistor radio, if you would leave your driver's license with them. There were several pluses in occasionally taking our children to a drive-in theater. One was that it was a family experience -- about the only activity other than going to church that brought the five of us together for a couple of hours. The second plus came when all of the windows were up and our bus became our own private viewing room where we were free to hold conversations as long as we didn't drown out the movie's sound track. We talked about the quality of the movie and on the abilities of the actors and the director. All that is gone now. Only the graffiti-covered remains of the old Starlight drive-in still stands in a field across from Bear Creek Corp. I don't know exactly why drive-in theaters died. In our case, the kids seemed to outgrow the companionship of the family in a darkened car when they entered their teens. Another reason that we dropped out was that we traded the VW bus for a conventional station wagon which had a lot less space inside. It was only late last year that a drive-in theater near Winston on Interstate 5 finally folded. The fact that the owners made it a dual-purpose theater with seating both inside a building and parking places with speakers for the drive-in customers probably allowed the facility to hang on longer than most. But the institution is pretty well dead. One thing hasn't changed, though. Dad-rated movies are still around, and producers still "push the ratings envelope." (Hank Henry is a retired Jackson County commissioner and a former radio and television announcer. Call him at 772-9055.) Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA