Video: Fork Union to reopen after 15-year break

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Virginia’s Fork Union Drive-In, which first opened in 1953 and closed in 2011, plans to hold another grand opening on April 10. That’s according to a video (not the one posted above) from WCAV, Charlottesville’s News Leader.

By the way, I fibbed just a little. Although it opened as the Fork Union Drive-In, its rebirth will be as The Drive-In at Fork Union. (Grr. It’s taking a lot of concentration to not type “Fort Union,” the drive-in on the cover of my best-selling Drive-Ins of New Mexico.)

The opening and closing dates are from an article last year in the Fluvanna Review about the work to restore the drive-in. That article tells the story of the orignal owners’ daughters working with a local team, headed by Ron Unnerstall, to bring back the drive-in even better than its glory days. I’m looking forward to adding the Fork Union to the list of active drive-ins in a couple of months.

Kanopolis gets new laser projector

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Here’s a different kind of good news. The Kanopolis Drive In Theatre had to shut down late last season when its digital projector bit the big one. But after an off-season of various fundraisers, the owners have announced on their Facebook page that they will be reopening April 3 for the 2026 season, featuring a new 4k laser projector.

I have so many reasons to love the Kanopolis. It’s a tiny drive-in in a tinier town, but its owners have spent a lot of effort and resources into making the place nice. And their Facebook page is currently my favorite drive-in page, not afraid to be quirky and fun. It’s nice to see that KWCH, Wichita’s News Leader, joined in with a report about the good news while including a video from last year that documented the original problem.

I searched for 4K laser projectors, and the ones I found look a lot less expensive than the huge digital projection that failed last year. But for the little Kanopolis, it’s probably an intelligent solution for getting going again. Congratulations!

New Laredo drive-in rolls along

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Now this is the kind of news that I enjoy sharing. The Sunset Drive-In Cinema opened in Laredo TX last September, but I just now noticed it. As reported by the Laredo Morning Times, the Sunset is the culmination of Martin and Priscilla Resendez’s dream, inspired by drive-ins they visited during trips to Central Texas.

The Sunset lot is so new it doesn’t really show up on Google Maps, and its location on Francisco Guerra Jr. Blvd. is so remote that there’s no decent Google Street View yet. But the drive-in has been showing movies at a steady pace. According to its web site, tonight’s double feature will be “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club.” Tomorrow night brings two showings of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.”

If you’re anywhere near Laredo, be sure to drop in and help support this great throwback to the drive-ins of old.