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economist suntribune wheels thursday sept 12 2002 21 driveins i miss the dancing hot dogs most of all by rhonda wheeler wheelbase communications hey where did all the drivein movie theatres go they once dotted the landscape lighting up night skies well before anyone had ever heard of tv video games and cocooning in recent years however the skies have darkened and what was once a common site on the canadian landscape is now all but gone me ive actually gone only twice the first time i was about 5 bundled up under a pile of blankets in the back seat of my parents mercury it didnt matter that i couldnt keep my eyes open long enough to see olivia newtonjohn work her magic in xanadu that night it was the experience i remember not the movie bugs dancing hot dogs pesky broth er cheap speakers and all and its the experience that keeps at least a handful off drivein diehards marching on everyone has a great memory of a drivein says jerry sprackman who has been credited as the master mind behind the docks drivein in toronto ont i get a kick when i see kids com ing here in their pajamas i take my lit tle son and he loves it a driving range and miniputt golf course by day and a theatre by night sprackman says the docks sees an equal mix of families and couples comicfe to take in the double features justrlike it the old days the drivein was a magical place recalls al wineland who spent the better part of his teens pumping soda at his uncles auto the atre jn memphis tenn people met at the drivein they fell in love there some got engaged there i can relate almost 20 years after falling asleep during xanadu my wouldbe fiance wanted to pop the question at the drivein the same drivein where his father proposed to his mother all together now a ww wwww w ww ww w it would have been a great story to tell our children if we had actually found the place and if we would have stayed together instead we drove up and down the strip looking for the big screen which we had no idea had gone dark in drivein lingo that means shut down little did we know or realize that it was a trend that particular theatre and every other in our area save for one went dark why its the same reason why my relationship with jimmy came to an end the love affair fizzled and we found other things to do by the 1980s everything had changed says wineland multiplexes started popping up everywhere they offered more selec tion and they were easier to get to and thats what people want these days ah yes the multiplex greek for the food costs as much or more than the movie it also means more movies more often then came home theatre which meant cocooners a trendy name for closet introverts and couch potatoes hey you are what you eat would never have to leave the comforts of home and risk human con tact to watch a flick then the internet became accessible which just added insult to injury how is beyond me drivein screen 60- feet computer monitor 1 5 inches diagonal you do the math i dont think people really under stand what theyre giving up says wineland going to the drivein it wasnt just a place to watch movies it was a place where you could build memories its sad that we would for sake that for what the choice of a dozen movies under the same roof sprackman who runs the only downtown drivein in north america has another take on their demise he blames plain old economics driveins have traditionally been located on the outskirts of town but as cities expanded the land became more valuable and it was simply more profitable for drivein owners to sell out how do entrepreneurs like sprackman make a go of it especially considering the fate of most other driveins like i said its not about the movies its about the experience bugs dancing hot dogs pesky brother cheap speakers and all for that id trade cocooning the internet tv and economics any day or night of the week rhonda wheeler is a journalist with wheelbase communications a worldwide supplier of automotive news features and reviews you can email her at rhondawheelbasec- omcom jslmaj3q mothers against drunk driving 1800665madd this message brought to you as a community service of the economist suntribune lives here twice as many women as men develop multiple sclerosis msk ulfiple sclerosis ociefy of canada 1 8002687582 wwwmssocietyca this message brought to you as a community service of the economisttribune 2002 model yiearend sale nows the time to get i nto a bmvv bmw 3 s i es only 21 available j towncountry bmw hwy 407 kennedy 9054772212 c 8111 kennedy road toll free 18778863100 see dealer lor complete details visit our web site at wwwtcbmwcom i tovmfcounliybmw 81 11 kennedy road mawiam 9054772212 v i wvwfcbmwcom the ultimate driving experience 1