The Pine Ridge Planetarium

I hold my movie nights in our basement during the winter months. We call the indoor theater the Pine Ridge Planetarium -- that was Lum and Abner's theater's name in the famous 1930s/40s radio show. I am a very big Lum and Abner fan and have three of their features and am looking for prints of the other four.

My screen image is relatively small, about 4.5 feet wide with my Elmo's 2-inch lens. I run the sound through a stereo amp and into three-way speakers for a better effect. A small projection booth isolates the projector noise from the audience. I store most of my films in the "theater" room, which measures about 13-by-26-feet. The best seats in the house are the three on the sofa and the two in the big chairs. After that, it's the floor, friend.

Special mention must go to my wife Barbara who makes the best popcorn, chocolate chip and molasses cookies in any theater this side of the Rocky Mountains. The price is free to all patrons.

My outdoor screen measures 10 feet wide and 7.5 feet high. It is made of 3/8-inch plywood and supports.

In 1998, we added the Feather Drive-In Free-Ater. This is my outdoor walk-in theater. I built a screen from plywood and 4-by-4s. It blew down a week later. I rebuilt it. A second storm came up and blew one of the plywood panels out. I rebuilt it. Once again, storms in the spring of 2005 blew out the screen, and we rebuilt, this time with much heavily plywood.

We build a campfire, get a crowd together and annoy the neighbors with our outdoor films. I love watching them on my big screen -- after all, that is what this hobby is all about -- sharing the films with friends and watching them on the big screen.