Drive-in movie theatre rides nostalgia wave

The summer of 2009 will go down as one of the best in more than a decade for what has been a fading icon of the urban skyline: the drive-in movie theatre.

The owner of the Sundown Drive-in tried to sell the property on the outskirts of Saskatoon. But when a proposed deal fell through, Duffy Besenski, 83, decided to load up the projector reels for another season.

"Business has picked up quite a bit," Besenski told CBC News. "This is the best year we've had in 15 years. So looks like we'll keep it now."

Besenski said he has been around long enough to see teenagers bringing their own children to the drive-in.

"They were youngsters coming in the trunk 15 years ago. Now they're driving big SUVs and cars."

Sharing the experience with the family was the goal of Shari Doucette.

"We wanted to make sure the kids got to experience it," she said before a recent show. "Drive-ins are pretty few and far between now. So it's a nice chance to get out and do something different."

The screens are so rare that Bruce Mars travelled four hours from Cold Lake, Alta., to relive the experience with his date.

"What we were saying, 20 years? It's been 20 years since we've been to a drive-in," Mars said. "It's a bit of a novelty and we thought we'd come out. And the weather's beautiful."

Besenski said business will continue, so long as customers keep rolling in.