Bethel Drive-In
36 Bethel Drive,
Bethel,
VT
05032
36 Bethel Drive,
Bethel,
VT
05032
2 people
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I can’t find the opening bill but the opening date was July 7, 1954. It was built by Alan Randall who was the original owner, Harry Hudson was the manager.
A few newspaper articles say the Randall opened in 1954. In some, the drive-in bills itself as “the world’s smallest,” which is an exaggeration though true in spirit.
Here are the notes from the International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf.
1955: not listed.
1956-66: owner H. B. Hudson, capacity 150 vehicles.
1969-76: 150.
1982: Osterberg, 200.
1984-88: Osterberg, 1 screen.
A May 2006 article in The Herald of Randolph VT said Scott Corse bought the Randall “11 years ago”. He rented it to Larry and Laurie Girard in 2006, and to Lorena Miller and family in 2012.
Adam Gerhard and Regina Franz leased the Randall from Corse in 2013. They raised enough money from the community for a down payment on a digital projector. The Herald wrote that Corse later told them he’d told them in February 2014 that the lease would not be renewed, and after the 2014 season, they kept the projector with them as they left. That led to the civil suit filed by the state of Vermont, as TomMc11 mentioned, though the defendants maintain their innocence and say the suit includes erroneous, unsubstantiated by any evidence, and in many cases outright false statements.
In May 2015, David and Tammy Tomaszewski, operators of the local indoor theater, took over the drive-in, renaming it the Bethel. The Herald wrote, “Tomaszewski confirmed this week that he and Scott Corse, who owns the drive-in, have signed a ‘yearly renewable lease’ for 20 years.”
The Bethel managed to get by with 35mm in 2015, then the Tomaszewskis started making serious improvements such as a new screen (replacing the original from 1954) and a digital projector. That email interview is in the Aug. 12, 2017 Valley News.
Ok, all kinds of new info on this Drive-In, starting with the fact that is now called the Bethel Drive-In, not Randall. Apparently the previous managers of the property ran in to some legal troubles with their Kickstarter campaign:
http://www.vnews.com/Vermont-AG-Sues-Drive-Ins-Former-Managers-5064281
Now it is being run with new managers and digital projection. If you type in Randall Drive-In on a google search you will see TWO different Facebook pages, the original Randall one and the newer Bethel one as well is a the regular Bethel drive-in website. The original is an interesting read.
After looking at the pictures of the drive-in, I would think not. I think they are on a tight budget. The Field of Dreams in Liberty Center,Ohio has a old box van has a snack bar.
Interesting to see a converted bus used as a snack bar. Do they plan on building a permanent snack bar building?
More pictures here
Hoping to raise money for new digital projector with Kickstarter