29 Drive-in Theater’s Old-Fashioned Charm
By: Anna Eileen White / Photos By: Ashlee Glen
Picnic tables, old patchwork quilts, and bug spray alone might be enough to evoke glowing memories of summer evenings. But, if there’s any doubt, the 29 Drive-in theater has a few more ingredients. There are sizzling smash burgers and fries, soft-serve ice cream in sugar cones, popcorn, a playground, a projector screen cozy against the wood line, and warm-hearted folks—everywhere.
The aura isn’t an accident. Jamie and Candice Ohler and son Jesse have nurtured this plot of land, located approximately five miles south of Lynchburg on Route 29, turning it into a community hub. It is currently home to two food trucks—I Scream You Scream and Gorilla Grill—the new 29 Drive-in, and a growing number of events.
Tonight, the grassy parcel is daubed in the technicolor of simpler times. Even first-time drive-in theatergoers will sense a familiarity, questioning whether they’ve been here before.
Is it the fire-kissed breezes drifting from the grill? The soft earth anchoring tired feet beneath the picnic table?
These simple motifs are summer classics, but for the Ohlers, cultivating the magic of summer evenings at 29 Drive-in has taken determination. Through challenges and obstacles, they’ve focused on serving the community and seen God’s provision in the unexpected.
The Ohlers have been in the food services industry intermittently for over two decades.
A deli, a hotdog stand, and a pizza parlor were all part of their story.
When they first bought I Scream You Scream, now in its 4th season under Ohler ownership, they were also operating Papa O’s Pizza in Forest. Initially, they operated the ice cream trailer out of a leased lot near the Route 29 Food Lion, an ideal location which they believed was unlikely to sell any time soon. It was a community staple. All was well until the lot did sell, and a major gas station began site work.
Though frustrated, they began scouting new locations. The search took them as far as Smith Mountain Lake and Bedford as they worked with multiple real estate agents and even began contacting property owners through information found in the regional GIS systems. The options were sparse.
Then, another blow hit. The walk-in cooler at Papa O’s Pizza went down. “It was just kind of one of those things where you throw your hands up and you’re like, ‘What the heck? What is going on here?’” Jamie (“Papa O” to the community) said.
Defying the discouragement, Candice made a suggestion, “Mama O, in her awesome wisdom of womanhood, basically said, ‘Let’s just get out of town. Let’s go to Rustburg and eat out at La Carreta,’” Papa O recounted.
The drive took them past an unexpected sight—a parcel of land with a newly placed “for lease” sign. They called the owner before reaching their destination and signed a lease the very next Monday. The owner later recounted the story of another interested lessee who would have gotten the space had the Ohlers called him even two hours later.
“It was a total God thing,” said Papa O.
Even with significantly higher overhead, the Ohlers were excited about the property’s potential. They moved the ice cream trailer and started dreaming. “As the season went on, our son came up with the ideas like, you know, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we get a drive-in board meetings led to a successful trial-run in October 2024 and then the start of their first season on April 1, 2025.
Now, every Saturday at 7:15 p.m. cars roll in, ready for a show; shows that they’ve often helped pick through polls published by the Ohlers on social media.
Papa O bounces from vehicle to vehicle, finding each new batch of visitors a clear line of sight. Nothing is an inconvenience, not even the oversized pickup trucks that dominated the recent “Cars” showing and maxed out the parking space. “It’s not an issue,” Papa O explained. “That’s the fun that happens before the show!”
Everything is done with a smile and his “serve, care, inspire” ball cap is a fitting, if redundant, nod to what so clearly motivates the Ohlers. “If you focus on serving people, and those individuals can honestly feel that you truly care, it will inspire them to want to be around you and for them to do better in life as well. So that’s what we teach our staff,” shared Papa O.
Candice is focused on satisfying customers’ sweet tooths, and a queue snakes further and further away from the trailer. “We love ice cream in and of itself, but the experience with the customers and the kids having a good time, we weren’t expecting that at all. That’s just such a bonus,” said Papa O.
“All you hear is laughter and joy.
There’s something remarkable about that atmosphere.”
Feathered clouds overhead turn to pink as Jesse and team serve up a few more burgers from the window of the Gorilla Grill. The grill is his own creation and an increasingly popular lunch spot for those who work at businesses along Route 29. Diners are chatting over piles of crisp fries and sharing with friends what they can’t finish from the generous portion sizes.
Visitors fiddle with car radios and boomboxes and toss quilts over the soon-to-be dewy grass. Another douse of bug spray won’t do any harm.
Things are settling.
One couple who recently celebrated their 49th anniversary said they were regulars at their local drive-in theater while dating and newly married.
They remembered the way things were: larger than life screens and parking lots that accommodated hundreds of cars. Now, nearly 50 years later, they still have only one expectation for the evening: fun.
Papa O says he’s even seen grandparents bring their grandkids, “It’s so cool because they’re reminiscing about the days when they were young.” Motioning across the lawn he said, “I mean, look at this—seeing all these people, it just tickles you inside.”
Parents are braced for popcorn refill runs, and the best dog-sitter in the world settles in with two pups, ready to watch her late stepmom’s favorite movie.
A vintage movie bumper elicits chuckles from the crowd. It insists that young lovers refrain from public displays of affection.
Twinkling sky above, and friends all around, Papa O is right: “It’s not just a drive-in, it’s an experience and a community destination.”
For some, this is the new flavor of summer, for others, the old. For everyone, it’s a change of pace that makes room for all of the season’s best.
