The volunteers of Growing Lucasville Opportunities (GLO) came together to send the spooky season off at the end of October, as they worked 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 settled on bringing it back once again for four movies across two nights.

The movies included Hocus Pocus and Hotel Transylvania and Mario Bros and The Haunted Mansion.

Prior to the event, Glo’s Todd Crabtree said, “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. 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 these events will generate serious excitement for Lucasville and a potential renaissance for the future.

Social media exploded with news of the return as people flocked to purchase tickets. Crabtree takes it as a good sign of people’s interest in the venue, explaining they will continue hosting the showings so long as there is interest.

According to Crabtree, the event sold out Friday night, but didn’t sell out Saturday, but they did offer more tickets than their initial release and sold much more than in the spring, welcoming close to 500 cars to see the four movies.

“We had a great turnout. Friday sold out and Saturday was close, but there was a lot to compete with, considering there is so much going on,” Crabtree said. When you plan a Saturday event in October, you’ll run into that. This is better attendance, overall, than the first event, because we offered more tickets.”

Crabtree is guessing 2,000-3,000 were present.

“The community was amazing and showed up to support us once again,” Crabtree said. “Everyone seemed to have an amazing time and we are looking forward to the next one. We’re excited to see the next showing in spring or summer.”

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 funds raised from the event will go towards the development of Lucasville’s park, as well as their various events throughout the year, including the Christmas events, back to school event, and more.

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