Halloween at the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater

There’s a small town in mid-Northern North Carolina called Henderson. It may not seem like much. Just a fly-speck of a town you wouldn’t think twice about passing by on the interstate. There’s a million more like it out there in Sticksville, USA. Nothing special, right?

Wrong. I had the privilege of meeting some of the townspeople of Henderson on Halloween Night, 2009. But it wasn’t just any meeting place. It was at one of the sadly few drive-in theaters in operation today.

Hold it. Allow me to go back in time about eight years. I had heard that there was a drive-in in Henderson called The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater and one morning I was passing through and I decided to get off of Interstate 1 and see if I could find it. I got lucky. The theater was only abut a mile off the highway and I happened to go the right way. The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater was standing and in operation, but it looked to be in pretty sore condition. The screen and the fence surrounding it looked to be in disrepair and it looked like the kind of place you wouldn’t want to test the food at. Or use the restrooms. I’m sure the people that ran it meant well and did their best, but things looked grim.

Drive-in enthusiast Jim Kopp purchased the theater sometime after that and he and his crew have made enormous restorations. The place is clean and it gives off a welcoming aura. There’s a wholesome, nostalgic appearance to the theater. Like something out of our nation’s past.

I had been intending to make a trip to the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater for some time. I was regularly checking the website and reading about the movies and events that the drive-in had to offer. Not content to simply run movies, The Raleigh Road constantly has fun, family-friendly activities and promotions to keep the excitement at a high level. I read that there was going to be a Halloween Costume Contest and a triple feature at the Raleigh Road and I decided it would be the perfect time to take my family. An excellent opportunity to combine my love of both the drive-in and the holiday that celebrates my favorite genre, horror.

We arrived early, but were not the first in line. Enthusiastic families were already ahead of us, with children in costume anxious to enter the theater.

We drove in as the theater opened and after I met the very friendly owner, Jim Kopp. He promised to spend some time with me after the initial chaos died down.

We parked and got a good spot and opened our trunk, for in addition to the costume contest, the theater was having Trunk or Treat before the film. Kids would go from car-to-car and collect treats from the attendees. It was a lot of fun and we saw some cool costumes.

Our own kids, Europa and India dressed up and enjoyed Trunk or Treating, even though both are too really old to indulge in such activities. The drive-in tends to bring out the kid in all of us.

Of course we were all anxious for a deliciously non-nutritious meal, which has always been one of the major draws of the drive-in theater. Our appetites had already been whetted by the smell of the large grill that was cooking burgers and hot dogs outside the concessions stand. And get this: We wisely took advantage of the Family of Four Deal. You get admission for four for three movies, four meals with drinks, and a large tub of popcorn! Now you tell me where you are going to find a deal like that? Only at the drive-in.

The costume contest was fun and our India was a winner with her inspired Evil Circus Ringleader getup. She won a book about the making of Twilight: New Moon. She worked hard on it and we were all proud.

Oh yeah, the movies. You know, although the movies are the principle reason for the existence of the drive-in theater and all drive-in enthusiasts are movie fans, sometimes it seems as if they are secondary to the experience.

People go to drive-ins for various reasons. In my youth we went to party or to get it on with our dates. Now the scene is different. Some don’t like the way most drive-ins now play mainstream, family productions, but they might not be aware that drive-in theaters started out as family entertainment. They were an inexpensive way for families to get away and have some fun. There were almost always playgrounds for the kids and The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater is no exception.

The main reason people come to drive-ins, I think, is to be a part of the community. The good people o
f the area come out and be together. They socialize, laugh, and have a good time. And many of the people of Henderson are fighting to maintain the close-knit community they share. They fight for it by helping out at the drive-in theater.

Anyway, the movies were Astro Boy, The Addams Family and Couples Retreat. None are exactly my favorite type of fare, with the possible exception of The Addams Family. But I always preferred the actual comics that Chas. Addams had in The New Yorker and other publications.

But the movies aren’t the important thing. I can sit through anything at a drive-in. More than sit through it. I’ll enjoy just about anything while I’m out there under the stars. And what a perfect night it was on October 31st, 2009. It was neither cold nor warm, but a lovely combination of the two. Being the hot-natured person that I am, I never even put on a longsleeve shirt. And the moon was nearly full.

I liked Astro Boy for what it was. Animation isn’t my thing, but I found it to be engaging enough. The kids wanted to see The Addams Family and probably the third feature too, but my wife Tanya was coughing a lot and though she agreed to stay, I felt that it was best to get her home to bed. Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the forty-five minute drive back home. My night vision isn’t what is used to be.

I never did get to talk much to the owner, Jim Kopp, but I enjoyed our brief time together. Just as I enjoyed talking to the rest of the people that took the time to chat with a stranger. It’s the truth, you’ll find the best members of the community at the drive-in theater. As far as I’m concerned, the cream of the crop was there. I was disappointed though. While the theater was about a third full, it should have had a full house. I literally think that a lot of locals do not know what they are missing as they sit in their hermetically sealed, self-imposed isolation. I don’t care how big their plasma screens are, or how clear their Blu-Ray Player picture is. There is no substitute to watching a movie on that ginormous screen, under the stars, in the company of their neighbors. It was particularly good to see the young people out there enjoying themselves.

So we left after the first feature. Our maiden trip to The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater was a wonderful Halloween and we know that it won’t be our last time there.

All photographs taken at The Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater by India Collier.