Amid development, nostalgic drive-in remains popular

RUSKIN, Fla. - You'll start to see a line form on US 41 about two hours before showtime at the Ruskin Family Drive-In Theatre. 

"We have been almost sold out just about every night for the past two weeks. But people love to come and get their spot," says ticket taker Sheila Singletary.

Moviegoers come seeking nostalgia and a bargain. 

"Well, last time we went to the actual AMC it was $100 plus for myself, my daughter and my two grandkids. Tonight, we got in for under $20," says Lindsay Murphy. 

It's the last drive-in theatre in Hillsborough County. Owner John Freiwald has been here since the day it opened, 72 years ago. He was the theatre's first manager. 

"They wanted to put a theater in here, but they needed somebody to run it," he recalls. 

John says farmers in Ruskin wanted a place for field workers to hang out when they weren't working. The first movie ran in 1952, twelve years before the end of segregation. 

"The farmers and everybody here wanted a theater where their Hispanic people and their Black people could go to a theater. They couldn't very well go to the one downtown. It was pretty racist. They needed something to keep them occupied, so they were happy."

Decades later, the Ruskin Family Drive-In is a cornerstone of the Ruskin community. John's wife, Karen, keeps the theatre running day-to-day. 

"Drive-ins are disappearing. It's like dinosaurs. And this way they get to actually see it and feel it and be part of it before it goes away," says Karen. 

But as construction in the booming Southshore area closes in on them, she says this piece of history won't be going away anytime soon. 

"This is my husband's life. So, when you love him, you love the drive in. And I'll do everything to keep his dream alive and well and living in Ruskin."

The Ruskin Family Drive-In is open Wednesday through Sunday The price of admission gets you two movies.