Second of two parts. This introductory chapter from “The Ford-Wyoming: Cars, Candy and Canoodling in the Motor City” is posted with permission. ©2014, The History Press
By Karen Dybis
It was a clear June morning when the procession carrying Harold Clark made its final inspection of the Ford-Wyoming Drive-in Theatre.
The black hearse had been past each significant landmark in the lifelong Dearborn resident’s life: his childhood home on Steadman Street, the Town-n-Country Bowling Lanes in nearby Westland and the former site of the Dearborn Tool & Machine on Ford Road. One landmark remained on the schedule: the iconic “ozoner,” or drive-in theater, by the corner of Ford Road and Wyoming Street that Clark and his brothers built.
Clark’s travels to the Ford-Wyoming that day in 2012 also took him past the statue of former Dearborn Mayor Orville L. Hubbard. His figure still looms large in front of city hall on Michigan Avenue. Hubbard—that bombastic, outspoken politician and perfectionist—was the most vocal opponent to the drive-in’s construction. Hubbard’s many attempts to stymie the Ford-Wyoming put the Clark brothers at odds with the powerful mayor at a time when few others dared to challenge him.
Part 1: The author talks about “canoodling” and the “special place in my heart” for drive-ins.
Steven, Clark’s youngest son, had asked for permission to take his father through the Ford-Wyoming that day. Although the Clark family had sold the drive-in nearly 30 years before, it remained part of their father’s legacy. This would be his last goodbye.
The question didn’t need to be asked. Of course, “Uncle Charlie” said.
Clark’s longtime friend and current Ford-Wyoming owner, Charles Shafer was also mourning the passing of his late-night dinner companion and business confidant. It was the least he could do, Shafer said, for the family who had built the theater and been its guardian for three decades.
Final Turn Onto Ford Road
No one documented that cruise through the Ford-Wyoming, the hearse’s wheels treading heavy on the clay and stone. The property once served as the foundation for one of Dearborn’s preeminent brickyards and, later, an amateur airfield. The neighboring businesses likely chugged through their daily routines, never noticing the lineup of cars in the driveway. After all, vehicles waiting for their turn to go inside were part and parcel of the Ford-Wyoming, even after all these years.
The 64-year-old theater is at an "oddly peaceful location off I-94 on the border of Detroit and Dearborn."
The theater’s manager, Virgil Berean, would later ask about the procession, wondering if the rumored drive actually took place.
Berean wasn’t there to watch Clark make his final turn onto Ford Road. Much like those men who came before him, he was working that night, arriving just as the sun was falling and staying until nearly daylight.
During that long night shift, Berean would check the screens, reattach speakers, pick up litter and prepare for another crowd. In a very real way, his work as the Ford-Wyoming’s caretaker is a kind of tribute to Clark and Shafer for their devotion to this institution.
‘There Is a Magic There’
Although Clark didn’t request it, it is understandable why his family wanted that final farewell. Something about this drive-in theater stays with you, whether it is its mighty height, its dusty acres or its oddly peaceful location off I-94 on the border of Detroit and Dearborn.
There is a magic there, an alchemy that combines the new with the old. It is the memories of children running to the playground under the original screen’s shadow. It is the smell of popcorn oil, boiled hotdogs and candy bars. It is the glare of neon signs advising drivers, “Children Playing Drive Slow.” Despite the rust that comes with six decades of hard work, there is life.
"Something about this drive-in theater stays with you," the author observes.
Maybe it is nostalgia or an appreciation for kitsch, but every generation seems to find the Ford-Wyoming. It is Metro Detroit’s community-gathering spot. It knows no race, color or creed. It serves only to entertain. As Shafer promises, it will continue to do so for years to come.
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