Harvest Moon Drive-In

I saw "Pirates of the Carribbean" in July 2003 at the Harvest Moon, and it was worth the trip up from Champaign. I got a tour of the booth from the projectionist (big projectors!)and I rode on a little merry-go-round they have. And they stop every movie at some point for an intermission. A nice blast from the past on a warm summer evening.

Here's another still-open twin drive-in, this one just south of Gibson City in beautiful East-Central Illinois. Check out their web site.

The address for the Harvest Moon Drive In is 1123 S. Sangamom Ave., Gibson City, Il.

This is a photo of the Harvest Moon marquee.

This drive-in was owned and operated by Clifford Orr in 1963.

Here is part of a June 1989 article from the Illinois Daily Herald:

GIBSON CITY, Ill. - With the reopening of a local drive-in theater, "a dinosaur is coining back," and people once again will be able to enjoy summer evenings and movies simultaneously, says operator Michael Harroun. "There's been a whole decade of people who haven't seen them," said the 33-year-old Onarga resident, who is re-opening the Harvest Moon Drive-In this month with state-of-the art equipment. Harroun and his next-door neighbor, 34-year-old John Talbert, are leasing and remodeling the Harvest Moon on Illinois Route 47 near this east-central Illinois community of 3,500.

Harroun and Talbert think the movie-going public isn't ready to give up on the drive-in. "I honestly believe these things go in cycles," said Harroun. "We've missed a whole generation. There's a whole generation that should be able to enjoy a drive-in." They plan to start showing movies under the stars on June 16, charging $2 a person. The theater will be open Friday through Monday nights through October.

The Harvest Moon Drive-In was closed in 1977 by owner Clifford Orr, who said he quit the business for health reasons. It reopened for a few years in the early 1980s under a lease. It is in relatively good shape, according to Harroun, because it was rebuilt after the screen and concession stand were destroyed by a tornado in 1965.

Harroun and his brother, Patrick, own and operate the Onarga Mode theater, which they opened in 1984, and the Watseka Bon Aire, which opened in 1987. Both are indoor theaters. Harroun and Talbert believe people will travel up to 30 minutes from as far away as Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal — two towns without drive-in movies.

Here is another photo.

This is a 2009 photo.

Harvest Moon goes Green with addition of a wind turbine generator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGIxh_jcwzc