April 11, 2012
Drive-in graces valley nightlife for yet another season
Movies at the Spud Drive-In are always a great treat for the family, but everything that comes out of the Snack Shack is a true treat for the taste buds. If you can’t make the show, the Spud’s concessions are available well before sunset. Citizen file photo
Taylor Swift is coming to Teton Valley, along with Betty White, Zac Efron and Danny DeVito, but it’s not what you think. These stars, or at least their voices, will be featured in the first drive-in movie of the season at the Spud, which will open next Friday, April 20.
Dawnelle Wood and Tyler Hammond have worked with owners of the Spud Drive-In to offer a summer’s worth of movies again this season. Beginning with a showing of the Lorax, based on Dr. Seuss’s 1971 book, the old 33mm projector will be cranked up once more to offer a doubled feature next week with Reece Witherspoon in
“This Means War.”
“Last year was a great success,” said Wood. “It’s scary to do this with the economy the way it is, but we’re hoping for the same support we’ve had in the past.”
Though owners of the Spud Drive-In have the property listed at $795K, Wood said they were in full support of opening the theater with the concessions that have always been part of the unique experience under the starry skies of Teton Valley.
“You always have to try and judge the weather, but opening in the middle of April has been pretty standard in the past,” Wood said. “We’re looking at offering deals again with family night on Monday where you get a set price per car and cheap date night on Thursdays with two for one.”
Regular ticket prices will remain as they were last year with $7 per person regular admission. Wood said first run movies will fill the Spud all summer, but the theater will only be open Friday and Saturday until the middle of May, when movies will play every night except Sunday.
Though Hammond keeps the Spud’s old platter system projector in working order, Wood said it is harder each passing year to operate with the older technology.
“Not having digital technology is a big concern,” Wood said. “We’ve had that old 33mm projector forever, but the movie industry wants to get away from them. Digital is expensive, but as time goes by, it’ll get cheaper.”
In the meantime, the Spud Drive-In will stick to the old standards of film cameras, tasty burgers, tots and shakes, keeping with a tradition that is a favorite of the summer season for valley residents and visitors.
