The Cactus Drive-in Theatre Foundation found a dedicated following at their “pop-up” drive-in event July 16 and are planning another one for August 20.  It will be held at the same temporary location on a property just south of the popular Mercado San Augustin.  The movies were shown on the back of  the two story structure owned by Tom Wuelpern.

Cox Communication and the Mercado San Augustin helped to sponsor the fundraiser for the new non-profit foundation.  It was a capacity crowd with lots of excitement and a true feeling of community.

For those that did not get the opportunity to experience this unique outdoor cinema will have another opportunity in August. Below is a slideshow of just what you missed.

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Early set up by the volunteers and staff Photo by Bo Popovic
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The line up of cars waiting to get into the drive-in early Photo by Bo Popovic
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Lining up at the drive-in entrance before gates opened Photo by Bo Popovic
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The first early arrivals Photo by Bo Popovic
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Cars and more cars Photo by Bo Popovic
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The lot begins to fill up Photo by Bo Popovic
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Cars being parked for movie enjoyment Photo by Bo Popovic
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Chairs loaned to the event by the Downtown Tucson Partnership and Regina Romero's office
Source: Photo by Bo PopovicSlide 9 of 29.
The crowds lining up for their movie enjoyment
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Early birds interaction Photo by Bo Popovic
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Families communicating before the movie Photo by Bo Popovic
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Crowded Snack Bar Photo by Bo Popovic
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View looking Westward
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The fun of the drive-in experience Photo by Bo Popovic
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Early birds interacting Photo by Bo Popovic
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Getting settled to watch the show Photo by Bo Popovic
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Why we love drive-ins. Sharing experiences Photo by Bo Popovic
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Community interaction Photo by Bo Popovic
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View looking East of crowd
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Cars waiting for the movie to begin
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Nearing capacity crowd
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Almost showtime Photo by Tom Wuelpern
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Historic Drive-in Speakers owned by George Cohn
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Fox 11 news interview Photo by Tom Wuelpern
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Author Rhody Cohon speaking to crowd about Cloudy With a Touch of Meatballs novelizaton
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Show is about to begin Photo by Tom Wuelpern
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Waiting for Darkness Photo by Tom Wuelpern
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Almost showtime. Photo by Tom Wuelpern
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ON WITH THE SHOW! Photo by Tom Wuelpern

The film shown that night was Cloudy With A Touch of Meatballs chosen because of its significance to their foundation and because it was a very family friendly film. It was the last film shown at the DeAnza Drive-in the last night of operation. The film was projected  that last night onto the giant cinemascope screen the Foundation was able to save from demolition. At the event the author of the book created from the screenplay spoke to the audience. Rhody Cohon is an award winning author and was contracted to write the junior novelization of the movie.

The Cactus Drive-in Theatre Foundation, Inc. is a new non-profit 501c3 corporation (Pending) and has plans to recreate a community oriented drive-in movie theatre in the city of Tucson. These outdoor pop-up  showings are fundraisers for the organization. If you desire to help the foundation achieve its goals you can donate at their website: http://cactusdriveintheater.com/donate.html

The organization also has a group facebook page and a blog site.

More details about the upcoming drive-in event on August 20 will be featured in another article in the coming weeks. If you would like to see a great short current documentary about drive-ins please visit: http://tinyurl.com/3c57qqm

I hope to see YOU at the Cactus Drive-in Theatre event August 20th.

The historic DeAnza Drive-In  movie theater closed down October 3, 2009 after being a fixture in Tucson for over 60 years. It was first established as the Cactus Drive-In Theatre in 1951 and became the DeAnza in the late 1970s. Hundreds of thousands of Tucsonans got to experience the uniqueness of an outdoor movie. On JULY 16^th that experience will once again be available to them.

Marquee and partial dismantled DeAnza Drive-in (Orgianally Cactus Drive-In)

Demolition of DeAnza Snack Bar

A newly formed non-profit (501c3 Pending) corporation was formed in March and this dedicated group is intent on bringing back the Cactus Drive-In to Tucson. The event this Saturday will be a fundraiser for the revival of a community oriented drive-in theatre. Volunteers have been working tirelessly for almost 18 months to make their vision of a new drive-in happen.

This exciting fundraising event for the Cactus Drive-in will be held on their temporary location on the Avenida Del Convento just south of the Mercado San Augustin building. (http://mercadosanagustin.com/)  It is located just west of I-10 on Congress and then south on Avenida Del Covento.  The suggested donations will be $10 per car or $4 per individual to help support their project. Some seating will be available for bike-ins and walk-ins but limited.  Gates open at 6:30 PM and Cartoon etc.seen at 7:30 and feature at 8 PM.

This exciting event will be the first of a series of fundraisers to help make The Cactus Drive-In Theatre a reality.  They will be showing a family type film that was actually the LAST feature film shown the LAST night the DeAnza was open. It was projected onto the giant cinemascope screen that the foundation was able to save from demolition and stored.  The movie CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is enjoyable by all ages.  The event is being sponsored by Cox Communications and the Mercado San Augustin.

Along with the feature, a historical cartoon and an intermission presentation from the past will be shown before the feature. A short video highlighting the amazing efforts volunteers have contributed to this project will also be seen. The foundation has TWO professional projectors and TWO complete sound systems donated to their project. One of these FM sound transmitters will be used at the event and broadcasted to the attendees’ radio.

Because of a growing demand by the community,  support for  this new vision for the future is growing. By looking at their facebook  following so far on their group page  Cactus Drive-In Theater project that interest is growing rapidly with a following of  well over 1500 and growing daily. Their website is :  (http://www.cactusdriveintheater.com/)  and a blog site: (http://cactusdriveintheater.com/wordpress/)