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 Senior Couple Got Married In The Most UNEXPECTED Place

December 4, 2025

A senior couple decided to tie the knot in the most meaningful location possible: the YMCA pool where they first met during a water aerobics class, creating a wedding ceremony that was as unique as their love story. The couple exchanged vows while floating in the very same water where

Read More
Happy News

Lost Bach Music Played For First Time In 320 YEARS

December 4, 2025

Previously unknown organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach have been presented and performed in Germany for the first time in 320 years after researcher Peter Wollny spent three decades confirming their authenticity following their discovery in 1992 at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels. The two pieces, Chaconne in

Read More
Happy News

Cream For Diabetics Will END Painful Injections Forever

December 3, 2025

Scientists have achieved what was long assumed impossible by developing a topical insulin treatment that delivers the hormone through skin cream, potentially spelling an end to the invasive needles that millions of people with diabetes rely on for daily injections. The breakthrough came from researchers at Zhejiang University in China

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.