It鈥檚 the dog days of summer. It鈥檚 high season at the drive-in movies. Independent producer Erica Heilman went with her friend Kelly to the Bethel Drive-In for an all time classic.
Erica: Where are we?
Kelly: We鈥檙e at the Bethel Drive-in in Bethel, Vt. We鈥檙e going to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I鈥檓 real excited about it. It came out in 1977. I watched this鈥�
Erica: Before you should have.
Kelly: Yeah, and it鈥檚 in me. And that鈥檚 why I came out here 鈥�
Erica: It鈥檚 in me! It鈥檚 in me too.
Here, Kelly and Erica broke into song to sing the song from Close Encounters.
Kelly: It鈥檚 in me, do you know what I mean? And I came here to get some answers.
Erica: I didn鈥檛. I came here just to be entertained 鈥�
Kelly: Because I said "Can you come with me to the movie?" Because no one else would come to the movie!
Erica: That鈥檚 my friend Kelly Green. She鈥檚 a lawyer. She lives in Randolph, right up the road from the Bethel Drive-In. And when Close Encounters came to town, we both felt pretty strongly that it was the best movie you could hope to see at a drive-in, especially a tiny drive in surrounded by trees and hills in central Vermont, in the middle of the summer.
They watched, as the abduction scene began.
颅Kelly: They鈥檙e definitely coming for Barry.
Erica: They鈥檙e coming for the kid. Definitely coming for the kid.
Kelly: He's coming for them.
Erica: Yeah.
There was some screaming.
Enter: Marie and Steve.
Erica: Where are you coming from?
Steve: We鈥檙e from Braintree.
Erica: How often do you come to the drive-in?
Marie: Often.
Steve: Yeah, we do. Whenever they have a good movie, you know, that we're interested in.
Erica: Have you seen this one before?
Marie: Not since we were young 鈥� real young. So I actually originally saw in the theater when it came out and I was like 12, 13. So now I'm almost 56.
Erica: This is a great one. I love this movie. It's burned into my memory from childhood.
Marie: We can't remember...
Erica: Don't you remember the song?
Steve: Kind of like the three notes or something.
"We've come here a lot for dates, especially during COVID, because it鈥檚 the only place that's open."Jillian, Rochester
Erica: Doot, doot, doot, doot, doot!
Steve: Yeah.
Then came Courtney and Edgar from Roxbury.
Erica: What was your strong impression of the movie?
Courtney: I鈥檝e never seen it. He鈥檚 seen it a bunch and he was like "We have to go."
Erica: What is your lasting impression?
Edgar: The Devil's Tower, I would say.
Courtney: You told me about the mashed potatoes.
Edgar: Yeah, when he plays with the mashed potatoes to make the Devil's Tower.
Erica: Can you sing the song?
Edgar: No.
Erica: The song is burned ...
Edgar: Doot, doot, doot, doot, doot.
Edgar and Erica: Doot, doot, doot, doot, doot.
Kelly and Erica got back in the car.
Kelly: I have definitely seen UFOs. I just don't think that they were being driven by alien life. I mean, it really just means "unidentified flying object."
Erica: Do you really have to be a lawyer about this? I mean it's "unidentified."
Kelly: That doesn't necessarily mean an alien is flying it. It just means that you don't know enough about airplanes or drones or you could just be an idiot.
Erica: So you didn鈥檛 believe. You weren鈥檛 believing 鈥�
Kelly: Well, I doubt I have seen 鈥� I鈥檇 be shocked 鈥�
Erica: It鈥檚 hard to be such a linear thinker.
Jillian and Leland were also there at the drive-in.
Erica: Where are you from?
Jillian: Rochester.
Leland: I'm from Randolph.
Erica: Is this a date?
Jillian: Yeah, I guess so. We're here with our friends celebrating our graduation. But we've come here a lot for dates, especially during COVID, because it鈥檚 the only place that's open.
Leland: We bring pillows, put them in the back. Get some snacks.
Jillian: Yeah. Get snacks.
Leland: And you just kind of hang out here.
Erica: And how many dates do you have to be on before you'd be comfortable coming to the drive in? It would be hard to go on the first date.
Jillian: Yeah. Don't come here on a first date. You have to be comfortable enough with that person to be in the back of your car for a long time with them. So like, it's different for everybody. I guess whenever you want to do that.
Erica: Do you believe in, I mean, do you believe in them? There are obviously unidentified flying objects, but do you believe in life out there?
Jillian: 100%.
Leland: Definitely, because the universe is infinite.
Jillian: God is so great. And I think that if He created humans, He definitely had the power to create something else and He probably did.
The abduction scene resumed, and with the mother screaming "Barry!!!!"
Kelly: Yeah, lady, you really have one job, you know?
Erica: I know.
Kelly: It鈥檚 to not let the kid out the pet door.
Have questions, comments or tips? or tweet us.
