In episode 2, of our 2021 summer series, we profiled the Deer Lake Drive-In. While the facility shuddered in before the turn of the century and eventually had its remnants swept away to make way for St. Luke’s hospital, it was a relatively popular location throughout the decades it was open…
A nearby location was not so lucky.
On May 15, 1948, the Renninger’s Drive-in launched on route 122 near Schuylkill Haven. And with this, Renninger became the first drive in to open in Schuylkill County.. entering the new age.
News rags of the day posted ads about the opening night.. Double feature on Saturday! HOLD THAT GHOST with Abbot and Costello on Sunday! Admission 44 cents and all kids 12 and under free with no car charge.
Dreamers dreamed and all things seemed possible under the stars of summer nights..
Until reality hit.
RUFUS HAD AN IDEA
The farm market itself opened in 1942, years before the drive-in idea. Rufus Renninger, the owner of the Renninger Market, crafted an idea.. as drive-ins gathered popularity in the 40’s Renninger decided to give it a try himself. The drive-in was added to the rear part of the Renninger Market in 1948.
After a successful first run in 48, the drive-in continued in 1949.
This front page from the Republican HERALD blared a congratulatory ad for the second season in April. The paper reported that no expense during a renovation on Route 122.
1950, as Dwight Eisinenhower launched his presidential campaign and future Pennsylvania Governor James Duff ran for office, the Renninger Drive-In had another gala grand opening.
The first drive-in in the county becomes the first to close
About a decade into the drive-in world, Renninger’s eventually had issues..
An ad appeared in the April 27 1956 Republican HERALD that, due to customer demands, the drive-in was going to be refurbished and modernized.
In 1956, another ad ran with Rufus himself saying sorry to customers about the delay in opening the drive in.
Unfortunately, it is unclear with historical accounts if the drive-in was operational often during the summer of 1956 .. but a year later the “Renninger’s Drive-in Restaurant” opened replacing the theater…
The first official drive-in to open in Schuylkill County also became the first to close while others remained steadily popular…
RUFUS REFUSED TO BUDGE
According to the family many years later in a July 1, 2000 Pottsville Republican article, Marie Smith said that the closure could have been due to the the speaker system. According to recollections of the drive-in, the sound was not in vehicles, but instead on large speakers mounted on trees at the perimeter of the parking lot. That didn’t help on cold nights..
Rufus apparently sealed the deal of the drive-in himself.
While other theaters in the county popped up, the first county Drive-In refused to allow modern technology. Rufus Renninger didn’t want to add new poles to include modernized sound, as it would have interfered with the parking at the market.
x x x
And now all these decades later, the first drive-in to pop up in Schuylkill County hardly gets a mention.
Rufus himself met his fate when he died in 1972. Renninger at the age of 70.
While no mention of the drive-in was made in the obituary in September of that year, we can thank Rufus Renninger for introducing the concept to Schuylkill County. As short-lived as it was.
