Hailey McMillan, 9, of Boyers, left, colors while her sister Makenna, 5, relaxes and waits for the movie to start at Pioneer Drive-In in Center Township. Their parents, Ian and Desiree, have been loyal patrons of the Pioneer for 11 years.

CENTER TWP— Daylight-saving time. Increased entertainment options. The cost of land. All have played a role in driving out the drive-ins over the past few decades.

Yet many, including the Pioneer Drive-In in Center Township, have persevered.

The Pioneer Drive-In lives on, celebrating its 50th year while its brethren in Butler, Chicora, Cranberry and Wexford have long since passed.

Other drive-in theaters in the region celebrated their 50th birthdays in recent years. The Kane Road Drive-In in Aliquippa has been around for 54 years, the Moonlight Drive-In in Brookville for 56 years and the Brownsville Drive-In for 59 years.

"The industry peaked during the 1950s," said Clint Marsh, who runs the Pioneer for his father, former Butler resident Chester Marsh, through Epic Theaters in Deland, Fla.

"Some (drive-ins) came back in the 1990s, but they can still be a tough sell.

"They require a lot of property and most property owners can find more profitable ways to use their land," Marsh said.

Pennsylvania has 35 drive-in theaters, the most of any state. Shankweiler's, located in Orefield six miles north of Allentown, is the second oldest active drive-in in the country. It debuted on April 15, 1934.Camden, N.J., is the home of the nation's oldest active drive-in, celebrating its 75th birthday this year.During the 1950s, Pennsylvania was home to 180 drive-ins. But 80 percent of those have since died off."No one wanted to build houses near the interstate highways, so land value was cheap there,"said Shankweiler's owner, Paul Geissinger. "A lot of people put up drive-ins because they were popular and relatively inexpensive."When Wal-Mart and big store chains developed, they bought up a lot of those sites, and drive-ins began to disappear."Shankweiler's is miles from any interstate and the land it sits on has no room to expand."Wal-Mart has no interest in our land and the first two owners here were millionaires who built and ran this drive-in as a side hobby,"Geissinger said. "During the lean years, they kept it running."Geissinger began working as a projectionist at Shankweiler's right out of high school in 1971. He and his wife, Sue, eventually bought the facility."The gas crunch in the 1970s didn't help us. We used to get second- or third-run movies. I remember many a Saturday night in this place, sitting here wondering why we were open. A lot of drive-ins had to fight to survive back then."Steve Gray, 80, owns the Kane Road Drive-In in Aliquippa, which still has speaker phones, with built-in FMradio transmitters.The speaker phones that customers used to hang on their half-open car windows became obsolete at most drive-ins during the mid-1970s. Sound switched to AM radio signals until FM became available in 1980."Our facility used to be a farm,"Gray said. "My father owned it and turned it into a drive-in. When the indoor malls began popping up with indoor theaters, drive-ins took a hit."It was hard getting our hands on fresh movies. We showed the same film for six weeks at a time. Eventually, that all changed."Pioneer Drive-In owner Chester Marsh, now 80, broke into the business by opening the Larkfield Drive-In in Grove City in 1947. He opened the Pioneer 11 years later.The Larkfield facility, like so many other single-screen drive-ins, eventually closed."A lot of drive-ins died or were sold off because one screen just wasn't attracting enough people," Chester Marsh said. "Once we expanded our number of screens, our audience became more diverse. Families started to come out."If we didn't increase our screens, I doubt we'd still be out there."Pioneer Drive-In expanded to three screens in 1989 and to five screens in 2001."Extra screens meant extra customers,"longtime Pioneer employee Russell Forsythe said. "It's a better crowd now. People are respectful of each other."Forsythe worked at the old Butler SkyWay Drive-In for two years until it closed in 1989. He took a job at Pioneer that year and has been there ever since."I sell tickets, concessions, pretty much whatever's needed," he said. "It's an old, nostalgic place that you don't see much of anymore."I love the atmosphere and I love the people. I've never thought of working anyplace else."

Raymond Wild of Harmony said he visits Pioneer four times a season and has been doing so for 20 years."It's casual fun. We break out the lawn chairs, frisbee and relax," he said. "We come up here because it's the closest drive-in to us."We used to go to the Blue Sky on Route 288 near Ellwood City. There was another one on Route 65 in Beaver Falls. ... It must have closed 30 years ago."The memory that stands out in Wild's mind?"Watching Star Wars during a rainstorm, trying to follow the movie between the windshield wipers," he said. "You remember those kind of nights."Kathy Ohm of West Mifflin goes camping with her family in Butler County and makes it a point to visit the drive-in while here."We like being outside and you can't beat the price,"Ohm said. "It's like going back in time. The kids sit in the back of the truck and watch the movie when they're through playing.Graff has worked at Pioneer since 1990. He said the facility's clientele drives from as far as an hour away to frequent the theater.The drive-in can hold 500 cars and Graff said it gets as many as 1,000 customers on a weekend night.On a nice night, a line of cars can be seen forming along the berm of Route 8 north, leading into the Pioneer Drive-In entrance."With decent weather, we'll get 100 or more people on a weeknight," Graff said. "You see more dating couples during the week."The atmosphere of the drive-in has changed over the years."Years ago, people drove in here and never left their cars,"Graff said. "Now it's more of an event, a social experience."Customers bring lawn chairs, sit outside on blankets, toss a frisbee or a football. They come here in large groups and park alongside each other."Jean Panza of Hampton recalled a kids' roller coaster set up in front of the screen at the old Wexford Starlite. Kids could ride it until it was dark enough for the movies to begin."I remember riding that roller coaster when I was little," she said. "It's a shame, what's happened to a lot of the drive-ins. Thank goodness this place is still here. Some people even bring their dogs. It's such a friendly atmosphere.""It's almost all families now,"Geissinger said of Shankweiler's. "We have one screen, show PG and G-rated movies and pack the lot on Saturday nights."Even the days of younger people trying to hide in the trunk to avoid buying a ticket has become a thing of the past."We caught on to that one a while ago,"Graff said, laughing. "Now some people park in other places and try walking in, but we're keeping track of them, too."Graff said Pioneer's location and value have turned it into one of the longest living drive-ins in the country."We're sort of out in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing around us,"he said. "You get two movies for the price of one and we have a lot of loyal, repeat customers."Our attendance hasn't slipped at all. In fact, it's growing. People are rediscovering the drive-in theater."Ian and Desiree McMillan of Boyers have been loyal patrons of the Pioneer for 11 years."This is the first sign of summer," Desiree said. "You're cooped up indoors all winter. We love being outside watching two movies for the price of one."It's quality time with family. Every now and then, we get to watch shooting stars from here, too."The McMillans bring their own food to the drive-in, but patronize the concession stand regardless."We smell the popcorn, we buy the popcorn," Desiree said.Popcorn is the hottest selling item at the drive-in, according to concession worker Darlaine Thompson."We sell at least 60 large boxes a night," she said.Panza and her husband, Vic, have been coming to Pioneer since their kids were 5 years old. Now their kids are 27 and 23, respectively."We like to support the mom-and-pop businesses," Vic Panza said. "We're old-fashioned. We like this stuff."Fresh air and freshly released movies — you can't beat it."While the Panzas agree that drive-ins have become ideal family entertainment, dating couples still frequent the facility."Dates still come. They just park in the back row,"Jean Panza said, a smile coming across her face. "We went to the drive-in when we were dating."Ed Bishop of Allison Park has been bringing his son, Tanner, to the drive-in for five years.To Bishop, the bonding time is worth the drive."We're comfortable here," he said. "It's relaxing."His son agreed."The big screen and being outdoors," he said. "It's the best of both worlds."

• As of July 31, 2007, there were no drive-in theaters in Alaska, Hawaii or Louisiana.• There were 4,063 drive-in theaters nationwide in 1958, marking the industry's all-time high.• More than 1,000 drive-in theaters closed in the United States between 1978 and 1988.• Butler County has had three drive-ins close: The Skyway Drive-In in Butler, Chicora Drive-In and Ski-Hi Drive-In in Cranberry Township.• The first official drive-in theater opened June 6, 1933, in Camden, N.J. Its inventor, Richard Hollingshead, worked out the details by nailing a sheet to trees in his backyard and mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car.• The largest drive-ins by size exist in Detroit, Mich., and Lufkin, Texas. Both can hold 3,000 cars.• A drive-in theater in Florida expanded to 13 screens during the 1990s.• The smallest drive-ins existed in Harmony, Pa., and Bamberg, S.C. Both could hold only 50 cars.Sources: www.driveintheater.com and the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association

Here are the 10 states with the most drive-in movie theaters:State-------------------Sites--------------ScreensPennsylvania............35..........................56Ohio...........................34...........................50New York..................30...........................53Indiana......................21..........................35California..................19..........................47Texas........................15..........................24Tennessee..............15..........................22Missouri...................13..........................19Illinois.......................13.........................17Kentucky..................12..........................15Source:United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association

Employee Bob Ruediger makes change at the Pioneer. During the 1950s, Pennsylvania was home to 180 drive-ins. Today 35 survive, more than in any other state.

Ryley Grossman, 6, above, of Slippery Rock enjoys some candy and a laugh with his parents, Chad and Regan, while waiting for a movie to start at the Pioneer Drive-In in Center Township.

Alan Schroeder a concession worker checks to see if the popcorn needs filled at Pioneer Drive-In located in Center Township.

Cars and trucks wait to get into the Pioneer Drive-In in Center Township. The drive-in, which is celebrating its 50th year, is among a handful that have survived hard times.