Stars and Stripes Drive-In Owner Ready for Premiere Showing in Lubbock on Thursday

Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal ^ | 08-17-03 | Davis, John

[Theodore R.]

Stars and Stripes Drive-In owner ready for premiere showing Thursday By JOHN DAVIS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

He's keeping his fingers crossed and he's feeling opening night jitters, but local drive-in theater operator Ryan Smith said Thursday's the day his dream comes to life.

As workmen finished digging the fenceposts and awaited the arrival of cabinets on Friday, Smith said he's ready for Thursday night when the projectors start rolling at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In.

"I don't know if we're going to have a packed house," Smith said. "I want people to come early. I'll be ready to get people in here and get the first show going."

Smith said he's worked hard to give the diner a 1950s feel. It's adorned with chrome stools, stainless steel splash guards and a checkerboard floor.

He consulted his grandparents, who built and operated the Sky-Vue Drive-In in Lamesa, his parents and his sisters for advice while planning and building.

But, when he looks around, there's not just one thing he's proud of most.

"The whole thing," he said makes him most proud. "Just how nice it is. Just how all of our efforts have come together to make a first-class drive-in for Lubbock."

Many people have come down the driveway over the past few weeks to inquire about opening night, said Ryan's mother, Linda.

"One guy said 'I can't wait,"' Linda said while taking a break from cleaning countertops.

Her son dropped out of law school, but she said she's not concerned because he's doing something he loves.

"He's always been a people person, and he's always been an entrepreneur," she said. "I think it's really going to fit him well. I think he's learned a lot about starting a business, that's for sure."

Ryan said the cash-only box office opens at 7 p.m. and the show starts around 8:30 or 9 p.m. Entrees and snacks will be under $10. Tickets cost $5 per person.

The Stars and Stripes Drive-In, with room for 1,000 cars, is located at 5101 Clovis Highway, between Quaker Avenue and Frankford Avenue on the south side of the street.

jdavis@lubbockonline.com 766-8713

[Erasmus]

[toomuchcoffee]

Oh dear. I have a picture of me with a shocking pink beehive hairdo. I was soooo cool! Now, of course, it's blue :-)

[jwalsh07]

I wish him the best of luck and if we are in Lubbock some night, we'll be sure to drop by.

Lot of memories and nostalgia stirred up here.

[Torie]

I really admire the work of Winston Link. Five of his photographs line my upstairs hallway, including the one you posted. My favorite though is probably this one:

[Rebelbase]

Too cool! That was the exact set up except the train used to come from the opposite direction.

Great photo.

[Torie]

[Torie]

[Torie]

You are probably too young to remember a scene like this one. I really really want this photo, but alas none are to be found.

[Theodore R.]

Lot of memories and nostalgia stirred up here.

I thought that this might stir up old memories, but I am still unsure exactly how many drive-in theaters are in operation nationally. Most probably operate part-time only.

[Howlin]

You're being kind today, aren't you? :-)

Not only am I old enough to remember scenes like that, my grandfather had a store that looked JUST like that in North Carolina!

(Not THOSE people though.....LOL)

[Eagle9]

Lot of memories and nostalgia stirred up here.

Ahhhhh yes, stirrin' up memories of my high school days ... err uhhh ... nights.

[deadhead]

Westbury Drive-in Theatre

[Rebelbase]

I just did a search and found the website for the drive-in in my area, its in a little country town.

http://www.dailynetworks.com/movies/ The Eden Drive-in

[Rebelbase]

One-in-a-million movie marquee

[deadhead]

Checked out your link Rebelbase. You are lucky to still have a drive-in. All drive-ins on Long Island are now closed, history. Many happy memories as a child and growing up going to the drive-in.

[deadhead]

LOL

[Rebelbase]

Damn, the photo previewed just fine.

[SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch]

Ahhhhh, made me think of my fovorite drive in...

BEST WESTERN MOVIE MANOR
in Monte Vista, Colorado.

A drive in movie screen you can watch from your car or your room, complete with outside snack bar. No more fumbling in the back seat...king size bed!!!

[SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch]

fovorite=favorite

(pardon me, I was thinking of movie popcorn in bed)

[atomic conspiracy]

The name "Stars and Stripes" is a stroke of genius. Drive-ins are quintessentially American. There was nothing remotely like them in my native England and I developed a real fondness for them.

Lubbock still had a number of drive-ins when I came here to attend Texas Tech in the mid-70s, but they were all closed by about 1980 iirc. Natives have a hard time understanding this impression, but Lubbock itself seemed as exotic to me as an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel and the drive-ins were part of this. I was a total stranger, a recent immigrant with a heavy North Country accent and no real knowledge of local customs other than what I had picked up in the Army. I must have seemed as strange as a Martian to my fellow students, yet they took me in without batting an eyelash.

Several drive-ins featured dollar-a-carload nights. One time, nine of my friends and I piled into a decrepit International Travelall and paid a dime each to get in. The dollar-a-carload movies were often sixth-run Italian gladiator features or Japanese sci-fi with ludicrously bad dubbing. It was a lot of laughs. There was also a drive-in (on west 19th) that ran the soft-core porn of the time. I hear that this was even funnier; yeah, that's it, all second-hand, you understand.

I will definitely be at the Stars and Stripes on opening night.