This story first appeared in The Daily Illini.
(Graphic by Anjali Wadwha/The Daily Illini)
In 1954, Clifford and Joyce Orr founded the Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in Theatre in Gibson City, Illinois, after seeing the popularity of drive-ins skyrocket. The Orr family ran the drive-in for over a decade until closing in the late ’60s due to the decline of drive-ins.
According to its website, the drive-in was briefly owned by another local businessman in the late ’70s before closing because of a lack of interest once again. Years afterwards, the drive-in remained vacant until local business owner, Mike Harroun, revived it in 1989. He ran four drive-ins across the state when he discovered the vacant lot through one of his coworkers.
From there, Mike Harroun talked to the original owners for months about acquiring the drive-in and spent his life savings reviving it. When he told the news to his family, they were initially hesitant about the idea of Mike Harroun taking ownership of the drive-in.
“Both my father and my brother told me I was crazy,” Mike Harroun said. “When I decided I was going to open it, they said, ‘You have absolutely lost your mind,’ and I said, ‘Okay, what else is new?’ I just thought it was a fun business investment.”
After taking ownership, Mike Harroun went straight to work by making advertisements and remodeling the drive-in. The process included putting up a fence and setting up the electricity and water lines.
When it came time to evaluate the number of drive-ins he owned, Mike Harroun stated that running multiple drive-ins was a struggle — ultimately leading him to move his business to Gibson City entirely.
“That was a problem because I couldn’t be in multiple places at once,” Mike Harroun said. “The other drive-in was in Clinton, and we had all the equipment already from that drive-in, so we took it down and moved it to Gibson City.”
Mike Harroun retired after working the drive-in for more than 30 years and moved to North Carolina. His sons, Ben and Will Harroun, currently own the business. Despite working at the drive-in his entire life, Ben Harroun says that wasn’t his initial intention.
“I wanted to get as far away as possible,” Ben Harroun said. “When I graduated from college, my dad was at a point where he couldn’t run the drive-in by himself. We had been running it for him and, after considering everything, I decided that I’d rather stay to keep the place open even though I had fought for a very long time not to do that.”
During the pandemic, Ben Harroun expanded Harvest Moon’s services to include hosting weddings, graduation ceremonies and one of the first COVID-safe live concerts in the state.
While the drive-in no longer provides most of these services, it hosts year-round events, including its Spring Fling Vendor Show, Frightfest, a Lighted Luau and an Easter egg hunt. When it comes to hosting these events, Ben Harroun states that the main purpose is for everyone to have a great time.
“We’re about the experience … that’s what the drive-in is all about, so we really lean into that,” Ben Harroun said. “We do a lot of events throughout the year where people can take pictures, socialize, shoot videos and do more than just watch a movie.”
One person who supports Ben Harroun’s intentions is Colin Filkins, junior in ACES, who’s been going to the drive-in since he was a kid. Filkins says that his experiences at Harvest Moon are unique compared to a regular theater because of its old-fashioned themes.
“You can tell you’re doing something that’s different because they play old commercials and have intermissions throughout the movie,” Filkins said. “There’s a bunch of kids running around, and it’s fun seeing everyone there.”
Despite the positive aspects of running the drive-in, one of the most recent obstacles was a flood that occurred in 2021. The aftermath resulted in thousands of dollars in damage to equipment, merchandise and supplies.
Luckily, Ben Harroun had the support of his friends, who helped him clean up the damage made to the drive-in.
“It was a nonstop 48-hour task,” Ben Harroun said. “We went there during the flooding to move the really expensive equipment and waited for the floodwater to recede. The next day, we jumped right in to pull everything out, clean everything off and sanitize everything, making sure things work so we could reopen that weekend.”
Not all recent events have been negative for the drive-in. Harvest Moon celebrated its 70th anniversary in summer 2024 and was voted the second-best drive-in in the U.S. When reflecting on the recent accomplishments, Ben Harroun stated the success was amazing given the drive-in’s history.
“It’s honestly incredible,” Ben Harroun said. “There’s been so many businesses come and go over the years, and realizing we’re still here running a drive-in theater decades after they were supposed to go extinct — and most people think they did — is unbelievable.”
Sophia Vasilakopoulos is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a staff writer for The Daily Illini.