B.C. care home residents watch ‘Grease’ at simulated drive-in theatre

Summer days are drifting away, but a group of B.C. seniors had one lively summer night this week – watching “Grease” at a simulated drive-in movie theatre.

The trip down memory lane was organized by staff at Dania Home, a long-term care facility in Burnaby, who transformed the property’s parking lot into the type of outdoor theatre many elderly residents began visiting many decades ago in their teenage years.

Employees served hot dogs wearing matching uniforms – including paper “soda jerk” caps and red bowties – while guests parked before a large blow-up screen. Some had cut-out cars attached to their wheelchairs.

“I remember going to these outdoor theatres 50 years ago,” said Aili Gopalian, a Dania Home resident. “I’m sorry that many of them needed to quit.”

Most of the seniors at the care home grew up in Burnaby, former home of the Cascades Drive-In, which opened along the Grandview Highway in August 1946 as Canada’s first drive-in theatre.

The Cascades closed in 1980, with the site now occupied by the Cascade Village condo complex.

Cars line up at the Cascades Drive-In movie theatre in Burnaby, B.C., in a 1946 image. (Heritage Burnaby)

The Lougheed Drive-in opened just a few years later, in June 1949, before closing in 1981.

Leslie Torresan, recreation consultant for Dania Home, said the idea for the simulated drive-in came during a “reminiscing group” for residents, some of whom remember stealing their first kiss at a drive-in, or “hiding their buddies in the trunk” to save money on tickets.

“The residents are really excited,” she said at the screening. “(They) deserve to have these special events – and I’m telling you, the buzz before, during and after is wonderful.”

Gopalian said she’s been living at the long-term care home for about 18 months, after spending nearly a decade in an independent living facility. She moved to Dania after losing her mobility, and said the types of events like Monday’s drive-in have helped her adjust to her new living situation.

“The most difficult thing is to be in smaller quarters, and to find enough to do,” Gopalian said, calling the employees “excellent” and the screening a “fun diversion.”

When deciding on the movie, staff landed on the 1978 classic “Grease” for the lively songs and colourful sets, Torresan said.

Gopalian told CTV News she’s seen the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John musical before, but that it was “so long ago that I’ll enjoy it over.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shelley Moore