Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

A Couple’s Million-Dollar Cinema Romance Rescue

When Lauren McChesney handed her ticket to Matt McClanahan at a drive-in theater in 2018, neither expected that simple transaction would lead to a million-dollar love story and the rescue of cinema history. Their romance blossomed over shared road trips visiting both operational and abandoned drive-ins across the country, originally planning to build their own theater until they learned that Shankweiler’s Drive-In—the world’s oldest operating drive-in from 1934—was about to be sold to developers. McClanahan, who had grown up attending Shankweiler’s, had the perfect lightbulb moment: “Why are we spending so much time trying to build one when there’s one literally down the road from our house that’s for sale and is like the most important drive-in?”

The couple pooled their savings and secured a $1 million loan to purchase Pennsylvania’s first drive-in in 2022, with McChesney even leaving her stable corporate healthcare job for this leap of faith. Now they operate one of only 283 remaining drive-ins in America, down from over 4,000 in the 1950s, hosting everything from summer blockbusters to Valentine’s Day screenings of “The Notebook.” Their success story came full circle when they got engaged in August, with McChesney joking that they kept doing other things instead of getting married, “like starting businesses and buying movie theaters.” Their love story proves that sometimes the best relationships are built on shared dreams, calculated risks, and the magic of movies under the stars.

PrevPreviousThe 4-Year Mission To Save Frogs So Small You Can Barely See Them
NextThis Perfect Match Between Two AmputeesNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

This 1986 Thanksgiving Tradition Is EXPLODING Now

December 7, 2025

Gus the turkey has been spending Thanksgiving week much differently than the 46 million other unlucky gobblers slaughtered across the United States, as he trots through a sprawling animal sanctuary on the Colorado plains where staff stop every few steps to pet him, hug him, or even give him a

Read More
Happy News

You Won’t Believe What Happens When Music Is Played During Surgery

December 7, 2025

Under the harsh lights of an operating theatre in Delhi, India, a woman lies unconscious during gallbladder removal surgery while gentle flute music plays through headphones over her ears, and though she’s under general anesthesia with much of her brain silenced by drugs, her auditory pathway remains partly active in

Read More
Happy News

The 76 Year Old Who Bottle Feeds Puppies In A War Zone

December 6, 2025

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for foreign volunteers, 76 year old Bruce Perry of Savona, British Columbia thought his military experience, first aid training, and Ukrainian grandfather made him the perfect candidate, but after a series of interviews he was rejected for military

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 HappyNews.