At 71, Silver Moon stands test of time
Since 1948, Lakeland’s Silver Moon Drive-In has been a community fixture, no signs of going away anytime soon
Drive-in movie theaters can evoke feelings of nostalgia, even to those us who may have rarely been. The concept, which started in the U.S. in the 1930s, really took off in the 1950s and ‘60s. Drive-in theaters numbering in the thousands popped up across the nation.
Now, there are just over 300 left. The advent of Daylight Savings Time, the introduction of VHS movies (later DVDs, Blu-Ray and services such as Netflix) and increasing land value and taxes are all
factors in the steep decline in popularity of drive-ins throughout the 1970s and 80s.
There are just seven left in Florida and the nearest one to Orlando is the Silver Moon Drive-In just outside Lakeland.
Established on April 14, 1948, the theater has been a staple of the Lakeland community for more than 70 years.
Harold Spears ran the theater for decades, refusing to close several remaining drive-in theaters in the 1990s at the behest of his corporate bosses.
Even as many of the theaters were shut down and sold, Spears saw a future in the business. He continued showing up to work until his death at age 87 in 2017.
In the years before that, his grandson was learning the ins and outs of the business. After his
“It’s the experience. It’s something people’s parents and grandparents talked about. When they get the opportunity to bring their kids out and themselves, people really enjoy doing that.” Chip Sawyer, who took over the Silver Moon drive-in after his grandfather’s death
grandfather’s death, Chip Sawyer took over both the Silver Moon drive-in and the Joy-Lan drive-in in Dade City.
“The last couple years of his life, [my grandfather] started telling me a little more about the business side, showing me things and how to run it,” the 26-year-old owner said. “I think he’d definitely be proud. He’d be happy to see customers continuing to come and have a good time and treated well.”
Sawyer, too, believes the theater has a future. Even in the age of Netflix and Hulu, people continue to show up, week after week.
“It’s the experience. It’s something people’s parents and grandparents talked about,” he said. “When they get the opportunity to bring their kids out and themselves, people really enjoy doing that.”
I found this to be true in my own conversations with movie-goers.
Auburndale resident Dale Stringer brought his two grandsons out to see “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Aquaman.” He remembered seeing films at the drive-in while growing up in the rural Midwest.
“It was the only place to go. We lived out in the country, so we didn’t have indoor theaters,” Stringer said. “It was fun. [My grandsons] had never been and I had talked to them about it before.”
After talking with Stringer and getting settled in for “Spiderman,” my friend and I went to the concession stand. We got an entire pizza for $7 or $8.
I struck up a conversation with a man who said he had been coming to Silver Moon his whole life. This place definitely has some history and doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
Coming together over a movie, especially at the drive-in, is something that transcends time, politics and ideological differences. Sometimes it really is the simple things that can bring people together the most.