Despite what its web site says, the Portville opened on July 7, 1972, and the Olean Times Herald said it was owned by the Frontier Amusement Company. According my search at Newspapers.com, the first time the Portville advertised in the Wellsville Daily Reporter was the following Wednesday, July 12.
The Portville wasn’t listed in the 1972-76 editions of the International Motion Picture Almanac. It appeared in the 1978-82 editions with owner “Bordinaro”. That was corrected to Bordonaro by the 1984 edition. All evidence points to the Bordonaro family owning the Portville for a very long time, possibly since it opened.
According to the history of the Silver Lake Drive-In in Perry NY, Jake Stefanon opened the Altoona when he was with the Blatt Brothers, a Pittsburgh-based theater chain. The Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Blatt Brothers as the owners from at least its 1952-82 editions.
The 1984-88 editions of the MPA listed the owner as simply Manos.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote in 1991 that the Silver Lake opened Sept. 23, 1949, showing Body and Soul starring John Garfield. That article said the drive-in’s capacity was 420 cars.
Harry Martin and his wife Mary built the Silver Lake and operated it until selling it to Jake Stefanon before the 1966 season. Jake’s son Rick bought it from his dad in 1993 and runs it now.
The 1947-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Finger Lakes as owned by Don Wilson, sometimes with Anthony DeNiro, capacity 290 or 300.
The Motion Picture Almanacs for 1952-66 also listed Don Wilson as the owner, capacity 290. In 1978-82, the owner changed to Fields. In 1984-88, the Finger Lakes was not listed.
The Aug 2, 1992 Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester said Frank Feocco bought the business in 1986. His 1996 obituary said that he owned and operated the Finger Lakes Drive-in for 12 years.
On the other hand, the Ithaca Journal of Aug 25, 1971 mentions a charity fundraiser at the “Feocco Finger Lakes Drive-In”, so maybe the family was involved earlier than 1986.
Sylvan Leff died at the age of 72 in November 1986. Several mentions in the 1930s and 1940s put him with Universal; in 1936 he was with the Universal Home Exploitation Department. Leff was based in Albany and touched the lives of several drive-ins in New York.
I’ve read in a couple of places online that the present owners, which would be Thomas Wade and family, bought the Bay in 1982. Let’s see what it says in my Motion Picture Almanacs.
I’d also read that the Bay was supposed to replace the 1000 Islands, but both are listed in the 1969-76 editions of the Almanac (which didn’t list owners in those years). By the 1980 edition, the 1000 Island was gone.
The grand opening article in the Thousand Island Sun said that Willard Beach (who had been mayor of Alexandria Bay) was the top stockholder in the corporation that owned the Bay. The 1980-84 MPAs listed W. Beach as the owner. H. Wade took over by the 1986 edition.
According to AmericanTowns.com, the Bay rebuilt the concession stand in 1992, adding a 60-seat indoor viewing area.
Also, the Watertown Daily Times reported that a massive thunderstorm “demolished” the Bay in the wee hours of July 15, 1995. The Wades fixed that within two weeks.
The Alexandria town planning board approved a second screen in March 1997, but it wasn’t built until July 1999. The second field’s layout is unusual because of the lot being only diagonally adjacent to the original. They added a second concession stand in 2001 for the second screen; it sold Pepsi products while the main concessions sold Coke products. Restrooms for the second screen were added in 2006.
In 2013, the old projection booth was remodeled into a cafe, allowing customers to watch the movie from a “1950s cafe setting.”
DriveInTheater.com says the 1000 Islands was removed to make room for the cloverleaf, and the Historic Aerials 1994 photo shows more distinctly that it was adjacent to the ramp at the northeast corner of that interchange, across the driveway from the current State Police building.
The 1000 Islands was replaced by the Bay Drive-In, which opened in 1968.
The 56 was built by Peter Papyanakas and opened in 1955.
In April 1968, The Massena Observer (pdf) wrote “Deb Theatre Corp., a division of Panther Theatre Corp., … has leased the Sunset Drive-In Theatre and the 56-Auto Thearte(sic) from the North Drive-In Theatre Corp., Peter C. Papayanakos, Potsdam, owner announced. Joseph A. Zalocha, native of Utica, was named manager”
Jeff Szot of JS Cinemas owns the 56 now. When did he buy it? According to North County Now, “Szot said he bought the drive-in sometime in the early or mid-1980s.” I’ll bet it was from some guy named Leger.
The 56 switched to radio sound “the early or mid-1990s” and to digital projection in 2014.
I wish I knew Mike’s source, because I couldn’t find much useful info about the 56 in my reference books.
Its first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1957 edition. Most of its listings didn’t include a capacity; only in 1961-63 was it mentioned as 400 cars. The 56 dropped out of the MPAs from at least 1966-76.
56 Auto Theater owners, by MPA edition:
1957-59: Upstate Theatre Inc.
1961-63: North D-I. Theas. Corp.
1966-76: not listed
1980-88: W. Leger.
The Journal of Ogdensburg wrote that Don Mulligan of the Marcy taught Michael Dekin how to run the projectors over the course of a few weeks in 1983. Dekin now owns and operates the Valley Brook Drive-In near Lyons Falls.
The Watertown Daily Times of July 15, 2014 said that the Valley Brook had converted to digital earlier that year and that its capacity is 400 cars, although it more commonly draws 80-150 vehicles per night.
On Page A7 of that newspaper was a sidebar that began: The Valley Brook Drive-In theater has been a family business since it opened 62 years ago.
In 1952, 24-year-old Robert M. Matuszczak and his father – West Martinsburg farmer Michael Matuszczak – designed the theater, which is currently operated by Robert’s nephew, Michael D. Dekin. (Robert Matuszczak died in 1989.)
Mr. Dekin once ran the business with his mother, Dorothy Dekin, and his sister, Bernice Noody. But Ms. Noody passed away in 2006, and Mrs. Dekin has ongoing medical … and that’s all I could read without paying extra. :)
Okay, I think I might have it figured out. According to the 1996 Watertown Daily Times obituary for Robert’s mom, Bessie Matuszczak, her husband Michael was the one who designed and built the drive-in along with his son Robert. The couple owned the Valley Brook “for 35 years”.
After Michael passed away in March 1987, Bessie “continued to operate the drive-in until 1990, when her daughter and family took over the business.”
So if Michael Matuszczak is the true founder, that explains how Michael D. Dekin is the founder’s grandson.
Huh! The Journal of Ogdensburg and NNY Living indicate that it is Michael D. Dekin, but he’s the grandson of the founder, not his nephew.
From The Journal: “Mr. Dekin said he came to run the family business after his graduation from Carthage High School in 1983.” His “grandparents” called and asked him to run the place, so “he took a crash course in operating the equipment from Don Mulligan of Marcy Drive-in”.
All of my old references list the Valley Brook under Lowville, which is about 10 miles northwest. Its Facebook page claims Grieg, two miles east (maybe a mailing address?), and Google uses Lyons Falls, four miles south.
The 1952 Theatre Catalog listed the Valley Brook as owned by Robert Matuszezaka, capacity 300 cars. The 1955-56 edition added Sid Swore as another owner.
The 1953-54 Motion Picture Almanac also lists it as owner R. Matuszozack, capacity 350. It stayed that way through 1966, except capacity dropped to 300. By the 1980 edition, the owner had evolved to Matuszcak, and that’s how it stayed through the MPA’s final list in 1988.
Wikipedia has an entry for Lowville-born, first-team All-American (1939) quarterback Walter Matuszczak, “who later changed the spelling of his last name to Matuszak”. So that might be what was going on with the MPAs.
The Matuszczak family tree copied a 1990 obituary from the Watertown Daily Times for Robert Michael Matuszczak (1928-1989). “He helped his parents operated their … farm until he was afflicted with polio (in 1950). In 1952, he designed and built with his father (Michael Matuszczak) the Valley Brook Drive-In Theater. The drive-in is still operated by his family.” They also owned a Lowville liquor store but sold it in 1974 and retired to Florida. I’d guess that someone else in the family took over the Valley Brook by that point.
As of a 2013 Daily Times article, the owner was Michael Dekin. From the photo in the article, he’s old enough to be Michael D. Dekin, son of Robert’s younger sister Dorothy Matuszczak, who married Donald Dekin in 1961.
In 2012, the Glens Falls Post-Star wrote that John Gardner opened the Glen in 1958, son John Jr. “took over” in 1990, and grandson Brett Gardner “has taken over operations”.
Darci Wemple converted the Ozoner 29 in early 2015. That’s when she told The Leader-Herald, “What we did was we searched out the best priced new equipment and basically …. we managed to pull together between family, banks and remortgages enough to do the projection. It was either that or close down completely and our children really, really love the drive-in and they were heartbroken that we might actually close-down, so we did what we could and we’re keeping it.”
The state police arrested the operator of a drive‐in movie theater in Palatine Bridge, N. Y., after nearby residents complained that they could see X‐rated films from outside the theater. Troopers said Elmer Rossi Jr. Fort Plain, operator of the El Rancho Drive‐In, had been charged with public display of offensive sexual material, a misdemeanor, and released in $100 bail. They said motorists driving along Route 5 and nearby residents had complained that they could see the movie screen. The movies were “Coming of Age” and “Night After Night.”
The 1952 Theatre Catalog had the El Rancho owned by Clifton Hall, Jr., Colchester Th., Downsville. The 1955-56 edition listed Hall as the only owner and added a capacity of 430. (That was Clifton R. Hall, Jr., who operated the indoor Colchester in Downsville, according to a 1952 Oneonta Star article. He still lived in Palatine Bridge on Nov. 14, 1957, when his mother-in-law, Caroline LeDorna Kent, died. That’s all I could find on him.)
The Motion Picture Almanacs first listed the El Rancho in its 1953-54 edition. Through at least 1966, it listed the owner as Clinton R. Hall and the capacity as 350. By 1982, the owner was Hallmark and the capacity was 300.
According to the Glens Falls Post-Star, the Queensbury Zoning Board of Appeals approved plans for a second screen in March 1977. Estimated cost was $46,000 for the 80x40-foot screen. The Glen was owned by John Gardner and managed by John Gardner Jr.
The Malta has its own historical marker out front, erected by the city of Malta in 2007. It reads: Malta Drive-In Signs / Open-air theater started in 1949 by Sarto and Leona Smaldone, drive-In purchased in 1988 by brothers Ed and Tom Caro, in operation for over 50 years.
The Malta added a second screen in 2008. It converted to digital projection during the 2012-2013 offseason. The Ballston Journal interviewed co-owner Edward Caro about the switch in March 2013.
In the 50’s it was the Peoples Drive In. It was changed to Rogers Corner when Don Heilbron bought it in the 70’s.
Brady Miller and his wife bought it in the late 80’s and changed the name to Pleasant Valley Drive In because Don had resorted to running X rated movies because people stopped going to the drive in and thats what brought the customers in. It took Brady 3 years before people started realizing it was a family venue again and only ran family movies.
I bought the drive in in 1996. This is my 22nd summer. Don Heilbron bought from original owners and Brady bought from Don I believe it was 1987 because he had owned for 9 years when I bought it.
That name of the Rogers Corner’s founder, co-owner and former president should have been Vincent J. Youmatz, who sued the corporation according to an article in the Dec. 3, 1949 Billboard magazine. “John Youmatz, Winsted, is the present president, with Louis Centrella, New York, as secretary.”
Despite what its web site says, the Portville opened on July 7, 1972, and the Olean Times Herald said it was owned by the Frontier Amusement Company. According my search at Newspapers.com, the first time the Portville advertised in the Wellsville Daily Reporter was the following Wednesday, July 12.
The Portville wasn’t listed in the 1972-76 editions of the International Motion Picture Almanac. It appeared in the 1978-82 editions with owner “Bordinaro”. That was corrected to Bordonaro by the 1984 edition. All evidence points to the Bordonaro family owning the Portville for a very long time, possibly since it opened.
According to the history of the Silver Lake Drive-In in Perry NY, Jake Stefanon opened the Altoona when he was with the Blatt Brothers, a Pittsburgh-based theater chain. The Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Blatt Brothers as the owners from at least its 1952-82 editions.
The 1984-88 editions of the MPA listed the owner as simply Manos.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote in 1991 that the Silver Lake opened Sept. 23, 1949, showing Body and Soul starring John Garfield. That article said the drive-in’s capacity was 420 cars.
Harry Martin and his wife Mary built the Silver Lake and operated it until selling it to Jake Stefanon before the 1966 season. Jake’s son Rick bought it from his dad in 1993 and runs it now.
The 1947-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Finger Lakes as owned by Don Wilson, sometimes with Anthony DeNiro, capacity 290 or 300.
The Motion Picture Almanacs for 1952-66 also listed Don Wilson as the owner, capacity 290. In 1978-82, the owner changed to Fields. In 1984-88, the Finger Lakes was not listed.
The Aug 2, 1992 Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester said Frank Feocco bought the business in 1986. His 1996 obituary said that he owned and operated the Finger Lakes Drive-in for 12 years.
On the other hand, the Ithaca Journal of Aug 25, 1971 mentions a charity fundraiser at the “Feocco Finger Lakes Drive-In”, so maybe the family was involved earlier than 1986.
Sylvan Leff died at the age of 72 in November 1986. Several mentions in the 1930s and 1940s put him with Universal; in 1936 he was with the Universal Home Exploitation Department. Leff was based in Albany and touched the lives of several drive-ins in New York.
I’ve read in a couple of places online that the present owners, which would be Thomas Wade and family, bought the Bay in 1982. Let’s see what it says in my Motion Picture Almanacs.
I’d also read that the Bay was supposed to replace the 1000 Islands, but both are listed in the 1969-76 editions of the Almanac (which didn’t list owners in those years). By the 1980 edition, the 1000 Island was gone.
The grand opening article in the Thousand Island Sun said that Willard Beach (who had been mayor of Alexandria Bay) was the top stockholder in the corporation that owned the Bay. The 1980-84 MPAs listed W. Beach as the owner. H. Wade took over by the 1986 edition.
According to AmericanTowns.com, the Bay rebuilt the concession stand in 1992, adding a 60-seat indoor viewing area.
Also, the Watertown Daily Times reported that a massive thunderstorm “demolished” the Bay in the wee hours of July 15, 1995. The Wades fixed that within two weeks.
The Alexandria town planning board approved a second screen in March 1997, but it wasn’t built until July 1999. The second field’s layout is unusual because of the lot being only diagonally adjacent to the original. They added a second concession stand in 2001 for the second screen; it sold Pepsi products while the main concessions sold Coke products. Restrooms for the second screen were added in 2006.
In 2013, the old projection booth was remodeled into a cafe, allowing customers to watch the movie from a “1950s cafe setting.”
DriveInTheater.com says the 1000 Islands was removed to make room for the cloverleaf, and the Historic Aerials 1994 photo shows more distinctly that it was adjacent to the ramp at the northeast corner of that interchange, across the driveway from the current State Police building.
The 1000 Islands was replaced by the Bay Drive-In, which opened in 1968.
The 56 was built by Peter Papyanakas and opened in 1955.
In April 1968, The Massena Observer (pdf) wrote “Deb Theatre Corp., a division of Panther Theatre Corp., … has leased the Sunset Drive-In Theatre and the 56-Auto Thearte(sic) from the North Drive-In Theatre Corp., Peter C. Papayanakos, Potsdam, owner announced. Joseph A. Zalocha, native of Utica, was named manager”
Jeff Szot of JS Cinemas owns the 56 now. When did he buy it? According to North County Now, “Szot said he bought the drive-in sometime in the early or mid-1980s.” I’ll bet it was from some guy named Leger.
The 56 switched to radio sound “the early or mid-1990s” and to digital projection in 2014.
I wish I knew Mike’s source, because I couldn’t find much useful info about the 56 in my reference books.
Its first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1957 edition. Most of its listings didn’t include a capacity; only in 1961-63 was it mentioned as 400 cars. The 56 dropped out of the MPAs from at least 1966-76.
56 Auto Theater owners, by MPA edition: 1957-59: Upstate Theatre Inc. 1961-63: North D-I. Theas. Corp. 1966-76: not listed 1980-88: W. Leger.
The Journal of Ogdensburg wrote that Don Mulligan of the Marcy taught Michael Dekin how to run the projectors over the course of a few weeks in 1983. Dekin now owns and operates the Valley Brook Drive-In near Lyons Falls.
The Watertown Daily Times of July 15, 2014 said that the Valley Brook had converted to digital earlier that year and that its capacity is 400 cars, although it more commonly draws 80-150 vehicles per night.
On Page A7 of that newspaper was a sidebar that began: The Valley Brook Drive-In theater has been a family business since it opened 62 years ago.
In 1952, 24-year-old Robert M. Matuszczak and his father – West Martinsburg farmer Michael Matuszczak – designed the theater, which is currently operated by Robert’s nephew, Michael D. Dekin. (Robert Matuszczak died in 1989.)
Mr. Dekin once ran the business with his mother, Dorothy Dekin, and his sister, Bernice Noody. But Ms. Noody passed away in 2006, and Mrs. Dekin has ongoing medical … and that’s all I could read without paying extra. :)
Okay, I think I might have it figured out. According to the 1996 Watertown Daily Times obituary for Robert’s mom, Bessie Matuszczak, her husband Michael was the one who designed and built the drive-in along with his son Robert. The couple owned the Valley Brook “for 35 years”.
After Michael passed away in March 1987, Bessie “continued to operate the drive-in until 1990, when her daughter and family took over the business.”
So if Michael Matuszczak is the true founder, that explains how Michael D. Dekin is the founder’s grandson.
Huh! The Journal of Ogdensburg and NNY Living indicate that it is Michael D. Dekin, but he’s the grandson of the founder, not his nephew.
From The Journal: “Mr. Dekin said he came to run the family business after his graduation from Carthage High School in 1983.” His “grandparents” called and asked him to run the place, so “he took a crash course in operating the equipment from Don Mulligan of Marcy Drive-in”.
All of my old references list the Valley Brook under Lowville, which is about 10 miles northwest. Its Facebook page claims Grieg, two miles east (maybe a mailing address?), and Google uses Lyons Falls, four miles south.
The 1952 Theatre Catalog listed the Valley Brook as owned by Robert Matuszezaka, capacity 300 cars. The 1955-56 edition added Sid Swore as another owner.
The 1953-54 Motion Picture Almanac also lists it as owner R. Matuszozack, capacity 350. It stayed that way through 1966, except capacity dropped to 300. By the 1980 edition, the owner had evolved to Matuszcak, and that’s how it stayed through the MPA’s final list in 1988.
Wikipedia has an entry for Lowville-born, first-team All-American (1939) quarterback Walter Matuszczak, “who later changed the spelling of his last name to Matuszak”. So that might be what was going on with the MPAs.
The Matuszczak family tree copied a 1990 obituary from the Watertown Daily Times for Robert Michael Matuszczak (1928-1989). “He helped his parents operated their … farm until he was afflicted with polio (in 1950). In 1952, he designed and built with his father (Michael Matuszczak) the Valley Brook Drive-In Theater. The drive-in is still operated by his family.” They also owned a Lowville liquor store but sold it in 1974 and retired to Florida. I’d guess that someone else in the family took over the Valley Brook by that point.
As of a 2013 Daily Times article, the owner was Michael Dekin. From the photo in the article, he’s old enough to be Michael D. Dekin, son of Robert’s younger sister Dorothy Matuszczak, who married Donald Dekin in 1961.
In 2012, the Glens Falls Post-Star wrote that John Gardner opened the Glen in 1958, son John Jr. “took over” in 1990, and grandson Brett Gardner “has taken over operations”.
Darci Wemple converted the Ozoner 29 in early 2015. That’s when she told The Leader-Herald, “What we did was we searched out the best priced new equipment and basically …. we managed to pull together between family, banks and remortgages enough to do the projection. It was either that or close down completely and our children really, really love the drive-in and they were heartbroken that we might actually close-down, so we did what we could and we’re keeping it.”
From The New York Times, Oct. 26, 1975:
The state police arrested the operator of a drive‐in movie theater in Palatine Bridge, N. Y., after nearby residents complained that they could see X‐rated films from outside the theater. Troopers said Elmer Rossi Jr. Fort Plain, operator of the El Rancho Drive‐In, had been charged with public display of offensive sexual material, a misdemeanor, and released in $100 bail. They said motorists driving along Route 5 and nearby residents had complained that they could see the movie screen. The movies were “Coming of Age” and “Night After Night.”
The 1952 Theatre Catalog had the El Rancho owned by Clifton Hall, Jr., Colchester Th., Downsville. The 1955-56 edition listed Hall as the only owner and added a capacity of 430. (That was Clifton R. Hall, Jr., who operated the indoor Colchester in Downsville, according to a 1952 Oneonta Star article. He still lived in Palatine Bridge on Nov. 14, 1957, when his mother-in-law, Caroline LeDorna Kent, died. That’s all I could find on him.)
The Motion Picture Almanacs first listed the El Rancho in its 1953-54 edition. Through at least 1966, it listed the owner as Clinton R. Hall and the capacity as 350. By 1982, the owner was Hallmark and the capacity was 300.
One of the owners of the Malta Drive-In, Ed Caro, managed the Greenville before buying the Malta in 1988.
According to the Glens Falls Post-Star, the Queensbury Zoning Board of Appeals approved plans for a second screen in March 1977. Estimated cost was $46,000 for the 80x40-foot screen. The Glen was owned by John Gardner and managed by John Gardner Jr.
The Latham opened on April 15, 1970. I just uploaded the Grand Opening ad from the Troy Times Herald.
The Malta has its own historical marker out front, erected by the city of Malta in 2007. It reads: Malta Drive-In Signs / Open-air theater started in 1949 by Sarto and Leona Smaldone, drive-In purchased in 1988 by brothers Ed and Tom Caro, in operation for over 50 years.
The Malta added a second screen in 2008. It converted to digital projection during the 2012-2013 offseason. The Ballston Journal interviewed co-owner Edward Caro about the switch in March 2013.
From the owner via private message:
In the 50’s it was the Peoples Drive In. It was changed to Rogers Corner when Don Heilbron bought it in the 70’s.
Brady Miller and his wife bought it in the late 80’s and changed the name to Pleasant Valley Drive In because Don had resorted to running X rated movies because people stopped going to the drive in and thats what brought the customers in. It took Brady 3 years before people started realizing it was a family venue again and only ran family movies.
I bought the drive in in 1996. This is my 22nd summer. Don Heilbron bought from original owners and Brady bought from Don I believe it was 1987 because he had owned for 9 years when I bought it.
That name of the Rogers Corner’s founder, co-owner and former president should have been Vincent J. Youmatz, who sued the corporation according to an article in the Dec. 3, 1949 Billboard magazine. “John Youmatz, Winsted, is the present president, with Louis Centrella, New York, as secretary.”