On Monday, Aug. 9, the Meadow Mall parking lot in Boothbay Harbor was packed full of cars in anticipation of Harbor Theater’s second, free drive-in movie. Following “Ghostbusters” (1984) on July 28, the theater hosted the first movie of the Indiana Jones series, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981). Directed by Stephen Spielberg and story crafted by George Lucas, this classic film of adventure and action attracted families wrapped in thick blankets sitting in folding chairs, youths lounging in the back of pick up trucks and open SUV trunks, and children car hopping to wave and greet their friends. 

Downeast Ice Cream Factory and Boothbay House of Pizza were open late, and popcorn and candy, placed in paper boxes to be pandemic friendly, was sold at the theater door. A multitude of kids compared the size of ice cream scoops and shared licorice and gummy bears.

Emma Doucette, 8, explained in a word why she wanted to come to the drive-in: “Popcorn!” Her father, Michael Doucette, said “First, ‘Jurassic Park.’ Awesome. But also, this is a nice outdoor thing.”

The theater provided variance for each person’s value of safety. For those who wanted to stay enclosed in their car, they could access 91.5 FM to hear the movie. Others could sit outside and hear it through the speakers. 

Meg Donahue from Connecticut who comes up for the summer said, “I think it’s a really smart thing to do. I think it’s a safe way for people to be outside and be together at their comfort level. ... Everybody needs to do what they need and that’s a great thing.” She laughed. “We’ve done ‘Ghostbusters’ and it was great! The only thing we learned is we needed to bring a blanket because we were so cold. We had the first experience so, you know, we came fully prepared this time.” 

Many others also praised the event. Carson Fassett, 19, of Boothbay said, “I think it's nice because you want to keep the community tied to each other. Even if you're not interacting with the car next to you, you can get everybody in the same place. It’s a good alternative to being in a movie theater. You still get that movie experience without being in an enclosed space.”

With Fassett was her friend Hali Goodwin, 20, who described how nice it was for Boothbay’s community to have a way to get together outdoors during the pandemic. “I really love the idea of (the drive-in movie). Before, we didn’t have any drive-ins close. I went to the drive-in in Saco, which is quite a drive. Even more, you’d have to pay $20 to go. So the fact that the Harbor Theater is doing this for free is really cool. It’s a great way to stay socially distanced.” A generous community member made the drive-in possible. 

Ava Gauthier, 17, a summer resident, said “There’s not many events in Boothbay that go on. It’s always fun if there’s something like this so we are gonna come out and do it.” 

Her friend, Lucas Thress, said, “I think it’s just good to be with my friends. I have a lot of friends but there hasn’t been as many opportunities to do something, but here we can be just, like, a community and watch movies together again.”