MANY RECALL OUTDOOR THEATER

Friday, August 25, 2006 10:08 PM CDT

Last week we wrote a bit about the short-lived outdoor theater that was located west of Watertown on state Highway 19.

We asked our readers if any of them recalled the theater and better yet if any of them had any photos of the theater. Well, we didn't come up with any photos but we had a number of people who had first-hand knowledge of it, and offered their recollections. We'll cover some of that information today.

The people that called or wrote have similar recollections but they did vary a bit, but that's understandable given the fact that the drive-in theater last operated over half a century ago. Still, we think our readers will get a pretty good concept of that short-lived business.

Watertown's drive-in theater was located on state Highway 19, about 4.5 miles west of the current west city limits. It was on the north side of the road and it was east of the intersection with Highway Q. At the Highway Q/19 intersection there is a big house that used to be a bar known as Schmidtville. Just east of that a little ways is a white house set back from the road a little and that one was another tavern. We're told that one was known as Joe and Elsie's Tavern and was also known as “Stutterin' Joe's.” It was just east of Stutterin' Joe's that the drive-in was constructed. One person had such a vivid memory that he said back then “you could get a Fauerbach CB on tap for 15 cents.” Now that was a deal!

From the reports of our readers there wasn't all that much construction. There was the projection booth which also housed a small concession stand, and a separate concession stand that apparently also doubled as a ticket window. There was no blacktop or even gravel, we're told, but rather just an open field where the crop was cut down.

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Speakers in the cars was the norm but not at this theater. A couple of people who wrote in said a large speaker was placed on a pole and people just rolled their windows down to hear the sound. That was OK on a cool, bug-free evening but some folks recalled there were some hot and mosquito infested evenings watching films.

One person recalled, “The setup included a slate screen with loudspeakers you could hear a mile away. The projection and concession building was about a 15 by 15 size. I don't remember any toilet facilities, but the setup was in a hay field so that really wasn't a problem. The owner was Bernie Trappish but the operation was run by local high school kids, from the projection to the concession and ticket sales and parking. Our farm was nearby and after milking we would walk down and help park cars.”

Another reader who was born in that area recalls tearing down the old concession stand in the 1970s. A couple people told us Glen and Dorothy Rabenhorst own the property today.

Still another person said he was one of the young people who worked at the drive-in. Wil Streblow said, “I was one of the five kids that worked the drive-in theater. Four of us are still alive. I have very fond memories of those days. For one season I was the projectionist at this theater. This was a venture that was started on a shoestring with hopes of greatness. One factor in its demise, in my opinion, was due to the downtown theaters (yes at one time there were two!), putting pressure on film distributors not to let first-run movies be shown at the outdoor. This brief encounter may have had an influence in my later life. I did not follow the theater profession, but I did spend 40 years in TV engineering doing very similar things.” Wil thought the theater closed during its third year of operation.

Phil Strunz recalled that back in 1951 his family moved here from Janesville after his dad Louis took the job of Watertown street superintendent. He has a good story connected with the theater. Phil says, “We drove out there one night, parked the car in front of the big screen and waited for about 20 minutes. No one else was there. Finally, someone came out of the house and asked if we were there to see a movie. We said ‘yes' and he promptly told us there would be no movie because the place had been closed for some time. We sure felt stupid, but I still remember that day every time I pass by that area.”

Charlie Schadt owns a neighboring farm and he said the projection booth had been moved to his farm years ago and was used as a shed. But, after Charlie acquired the farm the building was in a state of disrepair and he tore it down and burned it up.

Karen Schmidt wrote us and confirmed most of what was written above but she added the owners of Joe and Elsie's Tavern had a chimpanze as a pet. She said, “We were in that bar one time when the chimp got out into the bar area and really scared a woman who didn't know they had the animal as a pet. It just bounced along the bar with the woman screaming wildly.” She said most regular patrons knew about the chimp and the occasional visit wasn't a big deal to them. We'll bet that was a good laugh.

Karen said her recollections went back to the days when her mom and dad ran the old Hofbrau on North Third Street (now part of the M&I Bank property). They later changed the name to Elmer & Beats.

Others confirmed the locations, the barebones operation, the years of operation and other information.

We also received information from at least two people who said outdoor movies were also shown in “downtown” Hubbleton around the same time. That screen was located between a house and the old Hubbleton grocery store. One person remembered the grocery store in Hubbleton was operated by a Mr. Kieffer and he believed the movies were projected on the side of the store building.

Although we received a lot of information on this short-lived theater, not one person was able to volunteer a photo of the operation. That would have been nice to have to accompany our column.

The topic of the old drive-in theater came up a week ago when we received a call from Charles Bruss of Milwaukee who is researching all of the drive-in theaters in Wisconsin in preparation of writing a book on the topic. He was especially interested in a photo that could be reproduced in his book. Maybe one of either the Watertown or Hubbleton operation will show up in the coming weeks. He was also looking for an early photo of the Jefferson Drive-In which is still in operation today.

It was an interesting topic and we were quite surprised at how many people took the time to drop a note, an e-mail or a phone call. We appreciated all the input. That's what makes the column fun - input from our faithrul readers.

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