Drive-ins
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series of gradual changes over the years, such as repainting the shocking pink concession stand a more relaxing baby blue, adding more space to both the snack bar and restrooms, and rebuild- ing the projection booth so it could be properly aligned with the movie screen. When the screen was expanded to 35-by-
70-feet to accommodate widescreen product in the 1950s, the original projectors’ placement
inadvertently created a visual keystone effect for many years. The on-screen image is pretty crisp and it provides the only light source when the intermission is over. In fact, since you’re in the middle of cow country, it gets downright pitch black out there, although mini-flashlights are available at the concession stand so you don’t have to stumble back to your car. Joe Borasky, the Finger Lakes’ new projec-
tionist, didn’t know much about the film thread- ing process, so he’s received on-the-job training this year, along with plenty of knowledge he has
gleaned from Internet trolling. Since the drive-in specializes in triple bills, the three-platter system has the first feature on a single platter, and the remaining two flicks spliced together on another disc, and only Joe knows when to switch the CinemaScope lenses and aperture plates for the correct ratios. Most folks aren’t around when the last feature starts, especially when it’s 1:30 a.m. on a weeknight, but if a hardy few manage to linger, Borasky has to stick around, too. Busy times at the Finger Lakes depend on
the popularity of the current bookings, although Mullin, who on most weekends can be seen staffing one of his three ticket booths, is still amazed by the attendance for the 2003 block- buster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, when he had to turn away hun- dreds of people lined up on Clark Street Road to get in. Playing in front of the drive-in screen doesn’t happen much here, perhaps because of the mushy texture of the ground, but kids do manage to scamper about in an open space on the theater’s left side. That space is actually the extended back yard of Mullin’s summer home, a property that he purchased to help expand the drive-in’s car count to more than 300. Families cart in pillows and blankets for the
long night ahead, while some customers wrestle with yards of mosquito netting, although insect repellants are for sale at the concession stand. For that perfect old-school touch, in-car speak- ers are at most posts, with the 90.7 FM radio frequency available as an aural alternative. The refreshment stand offers candies ($2 to
$3), popcorn in three sizes ($2.50, $3.50, $4.50), grilled goodies such as hot dogs ($2.50), ham- burgers ($3) and cheeseburgers ($3.25), tasty crinkle-cut french fries ($2.50), pizzas ($8.50), nachos ($3.50) and soft pretzels ($3). Admission to the drive-in is $7.50 for ages 12 and up, $3 for ages 5 to 11, and free for kids under 4. Aside from serving the Auburn area’s
demand for nocturnal entertainment, Mullin also serves as a state senator for Vermont’s three-seat 22nd District representing Rutland County, and he has been shuttling back and forth between both jobs since 2003. The Republican politician is up for re-election this year and he’s running against six other candidates, with a primary slat- ed for Sept. 14. Empire State politics, especially when it comes to annual budgets, amuses the Vermont senator. “We agree, we disagree, and we always pass a budget on time,” Mullin says, with a twinkle in his eye.
The Great Outdoors So named because it’s midway between
Fulton and Oswego, the Midway Drive-In (342-9585;
www.midwaydrivein.com), also about 30-plus miles away from Syracuse, is pretty much off the beaten path, unless you’re a resident of the former factory town of Minetto and use Route 48 as your main thoroughfare. Yet the Midway has been lighting up its chunk of countryside since 1948, and it has handily outlived Minetto’s other thriving industry, the Columbia Mills textile factory, which cre- ated shade cloths for use in camouflage and parachutes during World War II and became a leading manufacturer of Venetian blinds until 1977. The Midway can now qualify for AARP status, mostly because it has steadily held court, as owner John Nagelschmidt attests, “where the pressures to sell the land are less intense.” Oswego County resident Nagelschmidt
pretty much grew up right alongside the Midway; after all, he’ll mark his 50th year associated with the place in 2011. He
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August 18 - 25, 2010 Syracuse New Times August 18 - 25, 2010 Syracuse New Times
NEWS & OPINION FEATURE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS CLASSIFIED NEWS & OPINION FEATURE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS CLASSIFIED
Movies in Minetto: Midway Drive-In owner Joh tion, as customers line up at the ticket booth (to and mattresses (center left), while Denise Knapp
can remember going to the outdoor theater as a youngster clad in pajamas, and during his teen years he began working part time at the conces- sion stand (presumably without his PJs) in 1961. Following high school Nagelschmidt con-
templated military service but received a merit scholarship instead and enrolled at SUNY Oswego to earn a teaching degree. Nagel- schmidt student-taught Fulton eighth-graders in early 1966, a time that coincided with two seismic events: the infamous late January bliz- zard that blanketed the region with more than 100 inches and his first meeting with Loren Knapp, then an eighth-grade student who 40 years later would partner with Nagelschmidt for a new endeavor. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves… Diploma in hand, Nagelschmidt would go
on to drill the mysteries of earth science into the noggins of ninth-graders at Fulton’s G. Ray Bodley High School from 1966 to 1996, and with his summers off he toiled long nights as a manager at the Midway, which he eventu- ally purchased in 1987 from owners Charles Girard and Anthony Kolinski. Since the drive-in
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