We’ve been talking about memorable drive-in theaters in the Detroit area on the Keener Facebook Page. Keenerfan Frank Hartge writes, “We used to go to the Oak in Royal Oak. If I remember correctly, my dad took us to see Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea there, among others.”

Pam Bakka was a senior at Birmingham Groves High in 1966 when she got in trouble with her father for staying out till 3:00 with her then boyfriend, Larry, “because we saw two shows in a row when we were 18!”

K. Thornton, writing at the WaterWinterWonderland.com website remembers,”numerous visits there with my parents as a child I can still feel the excitement as we drove there from Ferndale, and smell the popcorn and food from the concession stand, (along with the oil smell from the gravel). I played on the playground too many times to count, and would give anything to be able to have those kinds of places back Theaters are nice in Michigan winters, but nothing will ever take the place of the smell of of a warm summer night at the drive-in, just before you drift off to sleep in your pajamas in the backseat of a ’68 Fairlane or ’73 Gran Torino.”

Rochester native Steve Brown concludes, “No doubt the best one was The Oak. Big and majestic looking with those pillars on each side of the screen. I think you actually drove in and paid underneath the screen!…Next best was The Troy Drive-in.”

Ahh.. the good old days!