Opening weekend for the Blue Moon Light drive-in in Galesburg ended as a success, with an estimated 800 plus vehicles converging on the 2875 West Main Street location over the course of three days to view "Batman Begins" and "War of the Worlds."

"We've had so much good response all weekend," said the theater's co-owner Teresa Carlson, "it went real well."

The drive-in didn't fill to its 750 plus vehicle capacity, Carlson stated, adding, "but we still did real well." She estimated that over 1,500 viewers came to see the double feature over the weekend, with over 1,000 adult tickets sold. It was estimated that around 400 vehicles came to the theater on Friday night, with about the same number present between Saturday and Sunday.

"We had people come in from all over," said Carlson, "I couldn't believe it." She noted that a group of girls who were in attendance over the weekend told her that "everybody's talking about it," at least as far away as their hometown of Macomb. In addition to the contingent from Macomb, it was reported that the Blue Moon Light saw visitors from Smithfield, Burlington, Monmouth, Kewanee, and of course Galesburg, in addition to a number of other local communities.

Carlson indicated that the theater drew a good mix of age ranges, "everyone from newborn's to 70 plus," and everywhere in between. In addition to the family audience and teenagers, a sizable nostalgia crowd was present for the return of drive-in movie-going to the area.

"People have been waiting 25 years for this," Carlson added, "they had a real good time."

The Blue Moon Light's opening night features will continue to play through Thursday, August 11, with two new movies slated to begin on Friday, August 12. It is hoped that the success of the drive-in will continue into and beyond the second week of operation, which will feature the family favorite, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," for the first show, with the second movie still to be determined.

Originally published online here: http://www.reviewatlas.com/articles/2005/08/08/news/local/news3.txt