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"We"
are Beth and Ernest Wilson and we are continuing the family tradition
of owning drive-in theaters started by Beth's father, Frank Seeber.
Originally,
Warwick Drive-In Theater was built in 1950 by Charles & Mary
Finger and George & Adeline Miller on 5 acres of land owned
by Paul & Emma Miller. George & Adeline sold out to Russ
& Gloria Eurich. It had one 70' x 40' screen and parking for
350 cars. Soon, the Fingers bought out the business from the Eurichs.
It was run successfully by the Finger family for 25 years.
Back
in those days, salesmen would come from the film companies to
lease their films to the theater for a $12.50 flat fee for 3 or
4 days at a time. Now, film distributors charge up to 90%
of the theater's gross ticket sales and demand 3 to 4 weeks
for each film. Eventually, competition heated up and Mr. Finger
successfully bid to make the drive-in a first run theater, giving
it the right to play the films on the same date as they were released
in New York City.
Mr.
and Mrs. Finger decided to retire and in 1977 sold the drive-in
to Frank Seeber. Paul Miller's widow, Emma Miller Sisco, decided
against leasing out the property so Frank also had to buy the
acreage in order to fulfill his dream.
He
had been in the drive-in movie business since he was 13 years
old, |
cleaning windshields for tips at Irving Hulst's Tri-States Drive-In
Theater in Matamoras, PA, which closed in 2004. Now in his 30s,
he had also managed the Newton (NJ) Drive-In Theater (now closed)
and had become a member of the projectionists' union, IATSE, but
owning his own drive-in theater had always been his dream.
In
1982, Frank and his wife, Ann, bought more acreage from Emma Sisco
and expanded the drive-in to two screens on 11 acres with two
modern projection rooms, featuring Xenon lamps and huge automated
platter systems to deliver the film to the new ORC projectors.
Later a third screen was added. We built more ticket selling stations
and complied with the town's insistence on controlling the traffic
and parking situations.
In
1996, the Seebers retired from the drive-in business and we purchased
the theater and land, forming Casey Family Theaters, Inc. The
name came from a nickname for the youngest of our four children.
Frank and Ann are still available when we need their expertise
on an advisory basis, and you might even find Frank in the projection
room on a busy summer night.
We
look forward to the continuation of our family tradition of providing
a unique Drive-In Theater Experience along with popular entertainment
since we are the only movie theater in the Warwick area. |
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