The volunteers of Growing Lucasville Opportunities (GLO) have come together to bring a massive spooky event guaranteed to excite people through nostalgia and entertainment, as they work to bring back the Lucasville drive-in for another one-time event called the Lucasville Fall Frenzy.

After a special one-night event held earlier in summer, which sold out very quickly, they’ve settled on four movies across two nights for another go this fall.

The movies include Friday, October 27^th’s Hocus Pocus and Hotel Transylvania and Saturday, October 28^th’s Mario Bros and The Haunted Mansion.

“We, as an organization, are trying to find opportunities and excitement for Lucasville. If you ask most of the people in Lucasville what they’d enjoy most about Lucasville would be to have the drive-in back,” GLO’s Todd Crabtree said. “Even if we can’t bring it back permanently, this is a good place to start and a great venue overall for a festival.”

Crabtree believes this will generate serious excitement for Lucasville and a potential renaissance for the future.

“The last event went amazingly,” Crabtree said. “It was a big hit in the community, and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. We are, currently, playing things by ear with future drive-in events. If everyone stays interested, then we will continue to work to bring it back for limited engagements.”

Crabtree says the upcoming event is doing well with sales, with Friday showing much more popularity than Saturday, but interest staying steady both nights.

“We tried to find kid and family friendly, popular seasonal movies,” Crabtree said. “We think we have a good lineup and interest is showing that. There is a lot to do this season, but this event is a great opportunity in that lineup. We’re looking to cap off the season with a bang. We think it will be a great event with the movies. With some of the other things going on in the county, there is a lot to do, and we think everyone will have a blast this October.”

Social media exploded with news of the return as people flocked to the page to vote on their order their tickets for another night at the drive in. Crabtree is taking it as a good sign of people’s interest in the venue.

“Based on the response on Facebook and the general feel of the community, we feel that it is going to go over really well.”

The Lucasville drive-in was a major aspect of the local identity and losing it was a major loss for not only that smaller community, but also the region as a whole. The group believes that pursuing a way to tap into that history and nostalgia is only good for Lucasville.

“It was a big part of people’s upbringing. It was a place where a lot of people went on dates. A place where people took their future wives on dates,” Crabtree said. “I spent a lot of great nights there with friends and girlfriends and I think it is a nostalgia thing for Lucasville residents.”

Crabtree was one of the founding members of GLO and believes strongly in the mission of the organization.

“If someone is going to do it, and it has to be someone, then it may as well be us,” Crabtree explained. “We are from here and we want to give people of Lucasville a reason to be proud to be here. We’re one of the few communities in the county without a park, for example. One of our missions is to change that. We are looking at a lot of things, really.”

The cost to attend the Lucasville Fall Frenzy will be $40 a carload. Tickets are on sale now on their website. Follow GLO on Facebook to stay up to date on all their activities. The venue opens at 4 p.m. and movies will start at sundown.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.