One of province’s last drive-in screens struck by lightning

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This article was published 12/07/2015 (3778 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The screen of one the last three drive-in theatres in Manitoba was hit by lightning and damaged during a powerful storm Saturday night.

“It was very scary,” said Joanne Struss, co-owner of the Shamrock Drive-in just south of Killarney. About half of the big screen was missing after lightning hit the base of its wooden support posts.

“It was loud — really loud — and the lightning was constant,” Struss said.

She was inside the drive-in building with the youngest of her nine children while her older kids were getting ready to sleep in their camper when the storm struck. Her eldest child brought the older children inside the building and told her “half the screen is gone.”

Struss was gobsmacked.

“I didn’t hear it fall.” Over the roar of the storm, she couldn’t hear the giant screen supported by metal and wood collapse. “There was a deafening wind and lots of lightning.”

The playground equipment in front of the screen lay mangled.

She said she text-messaged her husband, who was in Winnipeg at the time of the storm. He insists the damage is reparable, said Struss, who thinks there may be just enough screen still standing to show a movie.

She isn’t sure if they’ll be able to open on July 25 as planned with the street-racing movie The Fast and the Furious (2001).

“At this point, we’re sitting in stall mode.”

She said they’re waiting to hear from their insurance company about how to proceed.

They’re grateful no one was hurt by the storm but the damage is another tale of woe for the beleaguered drive-in.

The July 25 Fast and Furious opening was to coincide with a “sporty” car show at the drive-in. It’s the latest fundraiser for the Shamrock, which is trying to stay alive by purchasing a digital projector to replace its soon-to-be-obsolete film projector. It’s getting harder to get movies on film to show using the drive-in’s film projector. The season opener was Back to the Future 3, a film first released in 1990.

On the bright side, the community is rallying to save the Shamrock, said Struss. She says they’ve raised close to $5,500 so far. Some girls in Killarney donated $150 they made from an iced tea and lemonade stand, she said.

After Saturday’s storm damaged the screen, several people in the area offered to help clean up and work together to repair it, she said.

“It’s neat to see support from the young and the old. It’s been such a part of their life,” said Struss, who recalled going on dates with her husband to drive-in theatres on the outskirts of Winnipeg.

“The love is very heartwarming,” said Struss. “You feel that people really desire to see this keep going.”

The only two other remaining drive-in theatres in Manitoba are in Morden and Flin Flon.

To donate online to the Killarney drive-in, go to https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/f104lb.

In a month-long crowd-sourcing campaign that ended recently, Morden’s Stardust Drive-in Theatre raised more than $30,000 to help purchase digital projectors. The equipment is necessary to keep the business running as the movie industry transitions away from traditional 35-mm film.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

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