Heidi Hodges
BEST OF 2011: Skyway Drive-in
Wintertime in Door County seems like an endless night. It’s dark when you wake up and dark when you come home from work. It’s seems like nighttime around the clock.
So, it stands to reason winter would be a perfect time to enjoy Door County’s favorite thing to do during the night.
Alas, you’ll have to muster up some patience and wait until spring. Voted the Best Nighttime Activity in Door County by “Door County Magazine” readers, the Skyway Drive-In in Fish Creek is a fair-weather highlight.
Oh, it’s worth the wait. Opportunities to experience such a nostalgic piece of Americana are rare. Drive-in theaters were once all the rage, but in recent years, they’ve disappeared from the landscape, with few survivors.
The Skyway is one such survivor.
It is owned by brothers Dale and Jeffrey Jacobson, who maintain the drive-in owes its longevity to mostly staying the same as it always has been.
The Skyway has been operating since July of 1950 and little has changed since the days when Orville and Elton Voeks opened the business.
Yes, the screen is better braced, the projector’s light now comes from a high-powered bulb, and newer sound technology has made it easier to hear the movies. And it’s changed hands a couple of times over the years.
But the atmosphere is just as it was, way back when.
It’s not hard to understand why the Skyway received the Magazine’s honor: The theater’s draw is one part nostalgia and one part emotional security. In a world of fast-paced changes, it’s nice to go somewhere that feels ... the same. It’s something you can count on. Come summertime, it’ll be there, as it has been for over 60 years.
If you’ve never been to the Skyway — or any drive-in theater — here’s a run down of how the night goes: The evening begins with cars getting parked facing the screen while vintage music plays on robust sound speakers you can still hang inside your car’s window. (Nowadays, it’s possible to listen to the music and movie on the car’s radio — allowing for stereo sound and the windows to be closed to mosquitoes.)
On warm summery nights, kids run around and climb on the little playground at the base of the large outdoor theater screen. When dusk finally settles, families often clad in jammies clamor for the reclined wooden benches in front of the screen as if the seats were gold-rush claims to stake.
“It’s a great memory,” said Windy Bohn, who has been coming to the Skyway since she was a child on family vacations. “We would run up to save the benches before the movie.”
Windy and husband Joseph Bohn stopped in for a double feature this past autumn before the curtains fell on the 2011 season. Windy reminisced about the years of experience attending the Skyway.
“The sound isn’t as good when you sit on the benches,” Windy admitted. “But the visuals? Being outside under the stars? It’s fun.”
The movie starts when darkness sets in. First come a handful of local business advertisements and public service announcements. Then, suddenly, you are jolted back in time when a decades-old cartoon commercial plays, advertising Pic mosquito repellant. It’s a grainy film of stuffy-sounding cartoon mosquitoes thwarted by the repellant coils.
It certainly sets the mood, and, if you are inclined, the concession stand still sells the throw-back product.
Then, another old-fashioned cartoon advertises snacks and drinks.
Is this 2012 or 1960? It doesn’t matter. For the duration, you are ensconced in a simpler time.
Joseph Bohn said his grandfather ran a drive-in in the Grafton area during the late 50s, and agreed this is a one-of-a-kind experience. “It’s special to come and see this,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to beat.”
That’s a concept the Jacobson brothers want to continue. Owners since 1999, after purchasing the business from their parents Darrell and Eileen, they are well aware of the history behind the operation — and the history of the by-gone era of drive-ins.
“We’ve tried not to change the atmosphere,” said Dale.
Of course, some change is inevitable, the brothers agreed. “For instance, digital is coming,” said Dale. “But the experience — the look and feel of the theater — will stay the same,” he said.
Besides serving up nostalgia, the theater strives to provide top-notch, first-run movies in its nightly double-header line up. “We work with a booking agent who deals with the movie companies,” Dale explained. “We give input about what we’d like and they try to make it work.”
It’s a crowd-pleasing recipe — and one that has ’em coming back for more.
“We get people who come every year,” said Dale. And, he’s seen a few famous faces, like Green Bay native and Emmy Award-winning television star Tony Shaloub as well as local television news anchors.
OK. We know it’s winter. But it won’t last forever. Consider this your advance notice. If you are in Door County or planning on visiting this summer, make sure to catch this Door County gem.
