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MITCHELL COUNTY PRESS ONLINE
AUGUST 5, 2008 WWW.MCPRESS.COM
Old fashioned drive-in movies
by Warren Haacke, Press-News Reporter
Steve and Lorraine Beland were looking to create just a bit of nostalgia when they decided to begin showing outdoor movies at the site of the old Bel-Air Drive In located two miles west of St. Ansgar.
"We were hoping to bring back a little history of the original site and maybe create a bit of publicity for our winery," said Lorraine. "Our family thought it was a good idea, so we decided to try it."
The original Bel-Air Fly-In Drive-In Theater began operation in the 1950s under the ownership of "Andy" Anderson.
The drive-in was one of the first combination drive-in and fly-in drive-ins in the country. At its peak, the drive-in held 100-150 cars per night, plus any small planes that decided to fly in, land on the grass runway, taxi in, grab a speaker and watch the show.
After the show was over, planes would simply reverse their route and fly off.
The drive-in ceased operation when strong winds blew down half the screen in the late 1970's.
In 1988, Steve Beland and wife Lorraine purchased the 13 acres of property located at 4351 Dancer Avenue just off Highway 105. After Steve retired from 22 years of service in the Army, the couple returned home in 1991. In 1992 they built a home on the site and began planting apple trees with the idea of developing an orchard. Eventually the couple had 350 apple trees of 15 different varieties providing apples for sale and for use in making wines, jams and jellies which are also available for sale to the public.
In 1999 the couple took another step when they decided to add a vineyard to their growing business. Eventually, after years of growth and additional planting, the couple's stock has grown to 450 grapevines.
The couple, along with business partner Adam Strouf, began renovating the old drive-in snack bar and projection building for use in the future winery business.
After much renovation work and securing the proper licensing, Bel-Aire Winery officially opened for business in the spring of 2007.
The partially renovated snack bar/projection building now houses various processing machines and storage vats, a storage room, a bathroom and a tasting room for the public.
The idea for recreating the drive in movie concept originated about mid-winter this past year.
"After deciding we might want to pursue the idea, we had to look into the leasing and licensing rights for the movies," said Steve. "We found a company at Swank.com that allowed one-day licensing rights to outdoor movies for a certain fee. We decided not to charge any admission because of the fact that you had to split those profits with company."
The Belands normally get the movies sent to them on Tuesday, show them on Saturdays and then ship them back via UPS on Mondays
Steve continued, "We didn't really decide to go into this venture to make a huge profit, so we decided on the free admission idea."
After securing licensing rights to the movies, the Belands then had to secure a DVD projector that was suitable for outdoor showings.
"We located one on E-bay and bought it," said Lorraine.
The next step was to build a new viewing screen suitable for the outdoor showings.
The Belands, with help from family members, built the framework for a 16' X 16' screen. Lorraine purchased a reflective type of cloth and sewed the "screen" together to fit the framework.
In late June, after some trial runs of their own, the Belands had their first outdoor movie. On June 21 a crowd of approximately 45 people watched the movie "White Lightning".
"We set up the DVD projector on a table and hooked up two big speakers," said Steve. "The picture quality is very good and the sound quality is also okay."
"As stated, we don't charge admission and patrons can bring their own food and drink if they desire," said Lorraine. "We do sell pop, hot dogs, pop corn and we ask for donations to help cover the cost of the licensing of the movie. People can also sample and purchase our wines if they desire. If we break even we're pretty happy."
"Luckily, the weather's been pretty good and we haven't had to worry a lot about "bug control"," said Steve.
Patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets.
"We've handed out some fliers and done a bit of advertising in the newspapers," said Lorraine. "We've been happy with the turnouts so far."
The second movie shown just recently on July 12 was "Field of Dreams". "We had a crowd of about 50 people for that one," said Lorraine. "I missed a great chance for a special effect. If I was thinking, I should have had some people come out of the cornfield, which is located just behind the viewing area. That would have been awesome."
"We've had many positive comments," said Steve. "People like the idea of the drive in concept. We've also had many people tell us about the times that they attended the old drive in or even worked in the concession stand."
The Belands have scheduled at least two more movies for the summer. On August 2, the movie "Unforgiven" is scheduled to run, with "Back to the Future" scheduled for August 9.
Some interesting offshoots have occurred since the movies began playing.
"My son took his Wii(tm) setup out to the area and played some games on the big screen," said Steve. "That looked pretty neat and we've considered having some Wii(tm) competitions out here somewhere down the road. We also discovered we might want to widen the screen a bit to accommodate the DVD projection."
It's been a fun and interesting experience," said Lorraine. "I think it's something we'll probably continue if we get more positive feedback in the future.
As you enter the gravel road just off Highway 105, you are immediately riveted to the large sign that points the way to the Bel-Air Drive In.
"It's the original sign from the 1950's," said Steve' "It's just been modified a bit. Kind of like our present set-up."
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