When did couples enjoy the cascade drive in at west Chicago?”
Love for drive-in movies still strong To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the drive-in movie theater’s demise have been exaggerated. Forty-five minutes before show time at the McHenry Outdoor Theatre, 40 cars worth of patrons eagerly await the sunset that will usher the start of the animated family film “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” Children dance on the lawn area in front of the giant screen to “Come Go with Me” and other oldies blaring on the iconic drive-in speakers. Couples set up chairs and tables and unpack bags of snacks. Toddlers in pajamas stretch out on sleeping bags that line the cargo areas of their parents’ SUVs. Not bad for a slightly overcast Tuesday night. The drive-in is in its twilight years. In the mid-1950s, there were more than 4,000 drive-in screens in America, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. In 2008, there were 636. Three of those screens are within an hour-ish drive of the northern suburbs, The McHenry Outdoor Theatre, the Keno Driv
