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A Trump rally prompts America’s oldest drive-in to reschedule 90th anniversary celebration

Shankweiler's Drive-In, in Lehigh County, was set to host a 90th anniversary celebration Saturday — until Trump rolled into town.

Shankweiler's Drive-In, near Allentown, has rescheduled its plans to celebrate its 90th anniversary on Saturday after a Trump rally was scheduled on the same night about a mile away.
Shankweiler's Drive-In, near Allentown, has rescheduled its plans to celebrate its 90th anniversary on Saturday after a Trump rally was scheduled on the same night about a mile away.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer
    by Jason Nark
    Published 

On Saturday, Shankweiler’s Drive-In was set to host an anniversary celebration the likes of which you’ve never seen.

The North Whitehall Township drive-in, which is currently America’s oldest, was planning to show a double feature of Twister 2 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Now that former President Donald Trump is holding a rally at a nearby firehall, however, Shankweiler’s has decided not to compete with the main attraction in Lehigh County that night.

“Literally less than a mile from the theater, the same day as our 90th-anniversary event, at the same time,” Shankweiler’s co-owner Matt McClanahan said in a social media post Saturday.

McClanahan said the celebration marking Shankweiler’s April 15, 1934 birthday had been in the works for a long time, with hundreds of people coming in, along with special vendors and attractions, including vintage automobiles. But with major road closures expected, the drive-in opted to shut down entirely and reschedule for Sunday.

“We are a small business. We are new owners of a historic theater. We run on very tight margins and we rely on these events,” McClanahan said. “When things like this happen to jeopardize our spring events they are, in fact, an existential threat to the theater.”

Gates will open at 5 p.m. Sunday for the anniversary celebration and anyone interested in attending can purchase tickets at www.shankweilers.com.

Pennsylvania is home to 27 drive-ins — one fewer than New York — according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. Shankweiler’s is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia. The only drive-in that predates it debuted closer to the city, in 1933, on the Camden-Pennsauken border, but it closed by 1940. Only one remains in New Jersey today.

The comments section on Shankweiler’s Facebook page was emblematic of Pennsylvania’s divided politics. Some commenters said the theater was “lucky” to have Trump in town. Others suggested McClanahan and McChesney invite the former president to Shankweiler’s, or ask him to reschedule.

“It’s terrible he is costing you money,” another said.