The sunset lights up past and present in Aurora, Missouri, where the Sunset Drive-In Theater has brightened the community story since 1950.
For more than 75 years, it has remained a beacon to the past – when drive-in theaters were common across America – and now is a novelty in a world that is searching for nostalgia and community connections. And it’s true for those in charge, too. As the ticket-taker told me, “Maybe it was born into me,” of her dedication to the theater.
I met Cassandra Henson, that person in the ticket booth, on my recent visit to the Sunset, one of only a handful of drive-ins still operating in the Missouri Ozarks. (Other long-lasting examples include the Route 66 Drive-In in Carthage and the Barco Drive-in in Lamar. More recently, the Twin Crescents Drive-In opened in Buffalo.)
Aurora’s Sunset Drive-In Theater has been a destination for families and friends since the landmark opened in 1950. Today, it’s one of few operating Ozarks drive-in theaters.…