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.”
The 1948-49 Theatre Catalog listed the Rogers Corner Dr. in Bark Hamsted (sic), owner Vincent Yarmatz, capacity 300. The 1949-50 edition has the People’s Dr. in Winsted (5 miles west), same owner and capacity. By 1952, People’s was in Pleasant Valley, owned by L. Cintrella and V. Yarmatz. The 1955-56 edition showed it owned by just L. Centrella, capacity increased to 343.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac showed the Rogers Corner Drive-In in Pleasant Valley, owned by Peoples Drive-In Theatre Corp., capacity 300. It stayed that way through 1966. It became Rogers Corners in the 1969-76 editions. The 1982-88 International MPAs had it back to the singular Rogers Corner, owned by D. Heilbron.
A 2013 Hartford Courant article said McGrane had owned the drive-in “for 17 years”. A 2008 New York Times article said that McGrane bought the Pleasant Valley “11 years ago”. Both suggest the purchase happened a year or two after 1995.
The Times also mentioned that “In the ’70s, like many theaters, it survived by showing what the multiplexes couldn’t: X-rated movies.”
There’s a superb story of the last weekend of the 2014 season with the current owner (Donna McGrane), the previous owners (Brady and Sally Miller), and the local guy who raised the money for the digital projector’s down payment (Travis Lipinski). The story’s at Entertainment Weekly of all places.
I had always read that the Northfield straddled the border, but Google Maps shows the entire view field, screen and driveway on the NH side. Maybe the total acreage stretches into MA? Or Google Maps' border is wrong.
In the Theatre Catalogs, the Northfield first appeared in the 1949-50 edition as the Auto Th (later Auto DI) in Northfield MA, owner C. (Carl) Nilman, capacity 300, and it stayed like that through 1956.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also listed “Drive-In” in Northfield MA, C. Nilman, 300. For the 1955 edition, it changed to the Auto Drive-In, keeping everything else, and stayed that way through 1966.
The 1969-76 MPAs listed the Northfield Community in Northfield MA, capacity 400.
The 1982-88 MPAs listed the Northfield Drive In in Winchester NH, owned by Shakour, capacity 220. (The drive-in is closer to Winchester than Hinsdale as the crow flies, though the drive is a little longer.)
The drive-in’s history page says the Shakour family bought it in 1967, and that Mitchell Shakour is the current owner. And I wrote in 2014 that the Northfield ended its season that year with a wedding.
If I interpret the photos at HistoricAerials.com correctly, the Leicester added its second screen in the southeast corner of the main viewing area between 1995 and 1997. Then the third screen, which required carving out a whole new viewing area to the south, came in between 2001 and 2003.
Hanna Joseph built the Robin Hood Drive-In restaurant in the 1960s. In 1967, he built the Leicester on adjoining property. The Worcester Telegram said in August 2017 that his daughter Maria Joseph, who still owns the theater, was reopening the restaurant as Joe’s Drive-In.
On the last week of its 2017 season, the Leicester used all three screens, although only Screen One is digital. Yet they were able to show Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Baywatch on the film-only screens. I didn’t think there were that many 2017 movies still on film.
The Wellfleet opened on July 3, 1957, with “Desk Set,” starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It was built by Spring Brook Center Inc., which has owned it ever since.
It wasn’t listed in the 1959 International Motion Picture Almanac. In 1961, its owner shows up as John M. Jentz, and its capacity is (under-?)stated as 200. That was John Macdonald “Don” Jentz, who went from being an instructor at MIT to leading the investment group that built and ran the drive-in. That low number stuck in subsequent IMPA editions, but by 1982 it was up to 600.
Eleanor Hazen managed the Wellfleet for quite a while, but by 2001 it was run by John Vincent, who is now at least part of the ownership group.
The Overlook must have been built in a hurry! From the Poughkeepsie Journal, Aug. 4, 1949:
Four Albany men have formed a corporation which has purchased property in the Overland Road, Town of LaGrange, as a site for a drive-in theater, it was learned today.
The Albany group has purchased approximately 12 acres of land of the George Beyer property in Overlook road. The deed of the transaction indicated a consideration of $9,000. Members of the corporation were identified as Harry Lamont, Gerald S. Schwartz, Sidney Urbach and Lewis A. Sumberg. The last named is attorney to the corporation.
… The theater will accommodate 700 cars, it was said. The 12-acre tract is bounded on the east by Overlook road and on the west by the Wappingers creek. It is close to DeGarmo bridge.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog listed the Overlook’s owner as Harry Lamont, and its capacity as 700 cars. Other references list the capacity at 500.
The 1952-54 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as “Dutchess Drive-In, Inc., H. Lamont”. Lamont was listed by himself from 1955 through 1966.
In the 1982 MPA, the Overlook is listed under Lagrange with the owner S. F. Cohen, and that’s the way it stayed through its last drive-in list in 1988.
Just noticed that the first Catalog list (1948-49) put Mendon’s drive-in on Mendon-Millville Road. That starts on the southwest side of Mendon. The Milford/Mendon is on Milford Street on the northeast side. So now I’d put my money on a different drive-in and another continuing Almanac error.
Did Mendon once have another drive-in, or is the Mendon’s opening date wrong?
The 1952-53 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac lists only the Auto Drive-In, owner F. Parker, capacity of only 100 cars. The next edition changed the name to Open-Air Drive-In, and that’s how it stayed through the 1955 edition, then things changed.
The 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1952 editions of the Theatre Catalog also list the Mendon Auto Drive-In, owner Fred Parker, capacity 100. There’s nothing in the 1953-54 edition, and in the next drive-in list (the 1955-56 edition) there’s the Milford Drive-in, with the owner of Twin D. I. Th., and Affiliated Ths., capacity 485 cars.
Maybe the Almanacs got it wrong, that the small Auto folded around 1953, soon to be replaced by the larger Mendon, and the Almanac kept assigning the old owner and capacity to the new drive-in. Or maybe Fred Parker kept owning the same drive-in from before 1949 till after the name change. I’ll bet an hour at the local library or a phone call to the right local historian could produce the answer.
2008: a staycation postcard from The Herald News
2013: 10-minute Executive Suite TV interview, with drive-in footage, of the folks who run the Rustic
2017: Very nice drone video including what the front looks like at ground level
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.”
The 1948-49 Theatre Catalog listed the Rogers Corner Dr. in Bark Hamsted (sic), owner Vincent Yarmatz, capacity 300. The 1949-50 edition has the People’s Dr. in Winsted (5 miles west), same owner and capacity. By 1952, People’s was in Pleasant Valley, owned by L. Cintrella and V. Yarmatz. The 1955-56 edition showed it owned by just L. Centrella, capacity increased to 343.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac showed the Rogers Corner Drive-In in Pleasant Valley, owned by Peoples Drive-In Theatre Corp., capacity 300. It stayed that way through 1966. It became Rogers Corners in the 1969-76 editions. The 1982-88 International MPAs had it back to the singular Rogers Corner, owned by D. Heilbron.
A 2013 Hartford Courant article said McGrane had owned the drive-in “for 17 years”. A 2008 New York Times article said that McGrane bought the Pleasant Valley “11 years ago”. Both suggest the purchase happened a year or two after 1995.
The Times also mentioned that “In the ’70s, like many theaters, it survived by showing what the multiplexes couldn’t: X-rated movies.”
There’s a superb story of the last weekend of the 2014 season with the current owner (Donna McGrane), the previous owners (Brady and Sally Miller), and the local guy who raised the money for the digital projector’s down payment (Travis Lipinski). The story’s at Entertainment Weekly of all places.
I had always read that the Northfield straddled the border, but Google Maps shows the entire view field, screen and driveway on the NH side. Maybe the total acreage stretches into MA? Or Google Maps' border is wrong.
In the Theatre Catalogs, the Northfield first appeared in the 1949-50 edition as the Auto Th (later Auto DI) in Northfield MA, owner C. (Carl) Nilman, capacity 300, and it stayed like that through 1956.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also listed “Drive-In” in Northfield MA, C. Nilman, 300. For the 1955 edition, it changed to the Auto Drive-In, keeping everything else, and stayed that way through 1966.
The 1969-76 MPAs listed the Northfield Community in Northfield MA, capacity 400.
The 1982-88 MPAs listed the Northfield Drive In in Winchester NH, owned by Shakour, capacity 220. (The drive-in is closer to Winchester than Hinsdale as the crow flies, though the drive is a little longer.)
The drive-in’s history page says the Shakour family bought it in 1967, and that Mitchell Shakour is the current owner. And I wrote in 2014 that the Northfield ended its season that year with a wedding.
If I interpret the photos at HistoricAerials.com correctly, the Leicester added its second screen in the southeast corner of the main viewing area between 1995 and 1997. Then the third screen, which required carving out a whole new viewing area to the south, came in between 2001 and 2003.
Hanna Joseph built the Robin Hood Drive-In restaurant in the 1960s. In 1967, he built the Leicester on adjoining property. The Worcester Telegram said in August 2017 that his daughter Maria Joseph, who still owns the theater, was reopening the restaurant as Joe’s Drive-In.
On the last week of its 2017 season, the Leicester used all three screens, although only Screen One is digital. Yet they were able to show Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Baywatch on the film-only screens. I didn’t think there were that many 2017 movies still on film.
And its web site and Facebook page are both active as I type.
The Wellfleet opened on July 3, 1957, with “Desk Set,” starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It was built by Spring Brook Center Inc., which has owned it ever since.
It wasn’t listed in the 1959 International Motion Picture Almanac. In 1961, its owner shows up as John M. Jentz, and its capacity is (under-?)stated as 200. That was John Macdonald “Don” Jentz, who went from being an instructor at MIT to leading the investment group that built and ran the drive-in. That low number stuck in subsequent IMPA editions, but by 1982 it was up to 600.
Eleanor Hazen managed the Wellfleet for quite a while, but by 2001 it was run by John Vincent, who is now at least part of the ownership group.
The Overlook must have been built in a hurry! From the Poughkeepsie Journal, Aug. 4, 1949:
Four Albany men have formed a corporation which has purchased property in the Overland Road, Town of LaGrange, as a site for a drive-in theater, it was learned today.
The Albany group has purchased approximately 12 acres of land of the George Beyer property in Overlook road. The deed of the transaction indicated a consideration of $9,000. Members of the corporation were identified as Harry Lamont, Gerald S. Schwartz, Sidney Urbach and Lewis A. Sumberg. The last named is attorney to the corporation.
… The theater will accommodate 700 cars, it was said. The 12-acre tract is bounded on the east by Overlook road and on the west by the Wappingers creek. It is close to DeGarmo bridge.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog listed the Overlook’s owner as Harry Lamont, and its capacity as 700 cars. Other references list the capacity at 500.
The 1952-54 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as “Dutchess Drive-In, Inc., H. Lamont”. Lamont was listed by himself from 1955 through 1966.
In the 1982 MPA, the Overlook is listed under Lagrange with the owner S. F. Cohen, and that’s the way it stayed through its last drive-in list in 1988.
Just noticed that the first Catalog list (1948-49) put Mendon’s drive-in on Mendon-Millville Road. That starts on the southwest side of Mendon. The Milford/Mendon is on Milford Street on the northeast side. So now I’d put my money on a different drive-in and another continuing Almanac error.
Did Mendon once have another drive-in, or is the Mendon’s opening date wrong?
The 1952-53 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac lists only the Auto Drive-In, owner F. Parker, capacity of only 100 cars. The next edition changed the name to Open-Air Drive-In, and that’s how it stayed through the 1955 edition, then things changed.
1956-57: Milford, F. Parker, 100. 1959: Milford, Interstate, 300. 1961-66: Milford, Interstate, 100. 1969-76: Milford, 100. 1982: Milford, Interst Ths., 500. 1984-88: Milford, Interst. Ths., 1 screen.
The 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1952 editions of the Theatre Catalog also list the Mendon Auto Drive-In, owner Fred Parker, capacity 100. There’s nothing in the 1953-54 edition, and in the next drive-in list (the 1955-56 edition) there’s the Milford Drive-in, with the owner of Twin D. I. Th., and Affiliated Ths., capacity 485 cars.
Maybe the Almanacs got it wrong, that the small Auto folded around 1953, soon to be replaced by the larger Mendon, and the Almanac kept assigning the old owner and capacity to the new drive-in. Or maybe Fred Parker kept owning the same drive-in from before 1949 till after the name change. I’ll bet an hour at the local library or a phone call to the right local historian could produce the answer.
Three good YouTube videos:
2008: a staycation postcard from The Herald News 2013: 10-minute Executive Suite TV interview, with drive-in footage, of the folks who run the Rustic 2017: Very nice drone video including what the front looks like at ground level
The Motion Picture Herald wrote in 1952 that Meyer Stanzler was the Boro’s operator. Full text on Internet Archive.