What the drive-in means to our community

Author Camille Smalley, former drive-in manager Ry Russell, & former Senator Justin Chenette at the Saco Drive-In after winning the Honda contest

By now everyone has probably heard the news…the Saco Drive-In is closing for good and being sold to an entirely different type of business.
 
We all knew at some point this day might come, but it’s a lot sooner than many of us thought after our community rallied to save this place back in 2013.
 
Back then, the issue the Saco Drive-In faced, along with most mom-and-pop drive-ins across the country, was the lack of digital technology needed to run modern films. The film industry basically forced drive-ins to adapt to a different kind of projector that cost a high premium. Around $80-100,000 depending on the unit. Most small business owners couldn’t justify the cost over simply calling it quits.
 
Luckily, Honda, yes that Honda, came to the rescue by offering an ingenious national contest that allowed drive-ins to compete for online votes. The top vote getters would be awarded a digital projector.

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