Drive-In Memories

Going to Greater Pittsburgh Drive-in summers of 1978 thru 1982, with my older brother and all his friends was an event to be admired! His friend Chris S. had a van so he always drove. I was the “date” and behind the curtain in the back of the van were about ten or other buddies of his, sometimes fifteen sometimes packed one on top of another, along with our keg-o-beverage and whatever else those derelicts brought with them, usually smoke. They would all roam about all the theaters. One trip I had the brilliant idea of going to the Penn Hills hotel along the Parkway (name escapes me for now) to fill bags of ice. Who would know, the ice machines were not guarded, right?! Wrong..lol ..because we were all caught and questioned by Penn Hills Finest Boyz. They took our ice and beverages we were going to mix our ice with. No one was arrested or charged we were let go delayed by an hour. We went on to the drive-in dry, because no one had any money left to get anything else that night. Tuesdays were cheaper so we would go then but mostly a few weekends every month! I can’t say I remember any of the movie titles we went to, I can say it was very good times! ~Deborah Giannotti

I remember the special holiday nights at the Silver Lake Drive In on Washington Blvd when they played movies all night; my parents would wake me up and it was daylight..also going to the Blue Dell Drive In, the Ardmore Drive In, the Great Greater Pgh Drive In, and now our Family goes to the Hi-way Drive In on Rt. 30 in Latrobe 10 miles before Idlewild Park. We also go to the Evergreen Drive In which has 3 screens showing double features. Drive Ins are still alive and well. Eric Jiggetts '68

Wow, I miss drive-ins! Wish they were still around. I remember going as a kid with one of my older sisters, 16 years older, and her kids. (I was an Aunt by age 2, but that's another story). Anyway, she was pregnant and during the movie her water broke so we had to leave and didn't get to see the end of the movie. Does anyone out there know Who Shot Liberty Valance by the way!!!! I wondered about that for years! Cindy Kaucic

I remember going to the drive in as a kid. We went to the Greater Pgh Drive In or the Ardmore. We had our little snack bag filled with goodies and orange drink or lemonade. It was a real treat when we went. We had our p.j.'s on in most cases, but I also remember when I was little riding the couple of rides they had up front just below the big screen. I remember seeing some parts of "Spartacus" in that little inside theater part of the Ardmore D.I. but it was nothing like watching it from your car. My parents swear to this day I was always the first one to fall asleep during the second movie, while my sister stayed up for both movies. Those were the days! Guy Ingagliato '70

In college three of us went to The Greater Pittsburgh Drive-In in a '67 Beetle. Once we were close, Tom pulled over and I managed to squeeze into the trunk around the spare tire, Wendy managed to fit in the back behind the rear seat. Talk about a tight fit for either one of us. Once in the drive-in, he pulled to less observable spot to let us out. I forget what movie we saw. I don't think they even noticed that the beetle had three people in it when leaving. Denis Altenburger '70

I remember when Linda Russo and I went to the Ardmore Drive-in by ourselves for something to do. We looked around and it seemed like there were nothing but couples in the cars around us and of course their windows were all fogged up. We left in a hurry and in the process Linda hit the drive-in fee sign outside the both. We kept going. When we got back to Penn Hills we saw that we were over the limit of miles that she was allowed to put on the car. I remember trying to jack up the back of the car with the thought if we did that and ran in reverse the miles would go backwards (duh), thank goodness we couldn't get the jack to work. About a month later.........Linda's father received a bill in the mail for the Drive in Fee sign for $150.00. There went my ride for a while for Linda was grounded it seemed forever! Colleen Long Holmes '70

When we were kids, it was a huge treat to go to the drive-in on a Saturday night. Our parents had a station wagon and so we would pack the back of the wagon with our pillows and blankets, and jump in the car in anticipation of the drive from Penn Hills, thru Turtle Creek and up to the Greater Pitt Drive-In. We had too many brothers and sisters to go to the snack bar so Mom popped popcorn at home and we would each get a bag when we arrived there in front of the big screen. Although we saw many movies there, the only one I distinctly remember was Cinderfella with Jerry Lewis. We laughed all night and ate popcorn to our hearts' delight. On those Saturday nights it was just our family, and nothing else in the world mattered. Sonny Derdock '70