Drive-in ‘moovie’ a big hit
Cows grazed in the distance as the sun set behind the big, portable drive-in movie screen set up in a pasture at the Beason Family Farm Friday night.
Neshoba Central JROTC presented the colors, the national anthem was sung and everyone was set for the show, the farm's inaugural feature of the 2002 "Grand Champion," a film about a young boy who raises a prize steer in rural Texas starring Joey Lauren Adams and Jacob Fisher.
A pasture full of cars and pickups formed rows in front of a large blow-up screen in a family-friendly tailgating atmosphere billed a Drive-In Moovie Experience. When the headlights on the cars and pickups went off, the screen lit up the darkness and movie-goers were thrust back to a more simple time in America.
Food and drinks were sold at the the dairy farm off Road 1343, including their whole chocolate milk and varieties of ice cream.
As the night fell, rows of pickups with blanket-covered beds were filled with families and young children.
Lawn chairs were scattered about with moviegoers munching on pizza from the snack stand. Country music blared through speakers.
Carlee Fairchild said the event seemed like a break from the monotony created by the COVID-19 quarantine and cancellations allowing some quality "family time."
"Especially since this year the (Neshoba County) Fair's not gonna happen and stuff," Fairchild said. "This is a sense of community we're not gonna have all summer."
"I wanted to bring Abby because, I mean, the drive-in movies were gone by the time we were old enough to be able to do anything, and you don't get to go to a drive-in movie every day," Joyner said. "And out here in the country, you can't ask for much better than that."
Joyner's father, Keith Joyner, remarked at how long it had been since he had been to a drive-in movie and suggested his previous visit must have been to the Royal Drive-In Theater in Meridian, which closed down in the 1980s. Neshoba County had a drive-in at Williamsville for many years.
Shelby Beason, one of the owners, was on horseback, leading vehicles to their spots.
Beason's grandfather bought the property after returning from World War II, and he was raised on the land his whole life.
The Beason Family Farm specializes in dairy from Jersey cows, pasteurized at a low temperature and non-homogenized to retain the milk's creaminess.
The farm sells fluid milk and ice cream and distributes throughout central Mississippi, as far north as Starkville and as far south as Hattiesburg and west into Jackson. Beason trotted over to speak to a reporter on the origins of the drive-in.
"When we first started talking about this, three weeks or a month ago, there was nothing to do, you know, and we just thought we might give it a try," Beason said. "If this goes over good, it may be something we do every summer. We'll just see how it goes."
Beason admitted to never having been to a drive-in before he put on his own, and his wife Marlo Beason and his sister-in-law are who concocted the highly popular idea that ran Friday and Saturday nights.
The Beasons handed out surveys at the beginning of the event, and depending on the feedback they get, they are considering making the event a more regular occurrence.