By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

Naris Nicolas, left, and his family enjoy a picnic in t
he back of the Kam Drive-In parking lot. They said they
didn't care to watch the movie; they just
wanted to enjoy a night out together.

Kam Drive-In
leaving starry
memories

Oahu's last drive-in will close
after Labor Day, concluding
get-together traditions for many

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

IT'S not really the stars on the big screen but the stars in the sky that attract Naris Nicolas and his family to the Kam Drive-In in Aiea.

As the motion picture began, Nicolas sat on a beach chair with a portable stereo hooked up to the movie audio; his children, a cousin and a friend played on a blue blanket spread out on the asphalt.

"We like the candies and the snacks," said 8-year-old Natasha Nicolas.

"It's cooler than the house, and you get to look at the stars," said 7-year-old Courtney Arakaki.

But after Labor Day, Sept. 7, their theater under the stars - Oahu's last drive-in - will close - a victim of changing times and multiplex theaters in nearby shopping centers that show a variety of movies at all hours of the night and day.

"It's sad," Nicolas said as he remembered going to the drive-in with his family when he was a kid, watching Disney movies and running around in the playground that used to be by the snack shop.

"It was a family night," he said. "That's what I'm trying to do with them," he said gesturing toward his children.

Tom Luk, managing director of the drive-in and swap meet, remembered when the Kam Drive-In had just one screen and could fit 1,400 to 1,500 cars.

"We're lucky if we can get about 75 to 100 cars on a good weeknight," he said.

A good weekend will only bring a few hundred cars to the two screens.

The drive-in has been losing money for years, Luk said. But the swap meet still makes money and will remain open for now.

The 15 people who work at the Kam Drive-In were informed of the closing yesterday.

Drive-In owner Consolidated Theatres will try to find a place for the employees who do not work for the swap meet, but there are no guarantees.

"I felt really bad about the closing," Luk said. "But I guess that's the trend."

In the first row of the drive-in, Hillary McLellan and her 13-year-old son, Max Viner, sat on a straw beach mat on the hood of their white rental car watching Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise in "Snake Eyes."

"We came 'cause we heard there was a drive-in here," the tourist from Boston said.

"Drive-ins are great," Viner said as he munched on popcorn and sipped a soda.

McLellan explained that there are only one or two drive-ins in the Boston area, so the visit to the Kam Drive-In was a rare treat.

At the snack bar, 20-year-old Dawn Tamashiro and her boyfriend Robert Kawasaki, 21, bought a chili and hot dog plate.

Tamashiro brought Kawasaki to the drive-in because she heard it was closing and wanted to show him what it was like.

"We used to pile into the van with my friends, hang out, watch movies, eat and talk story," Tamashiro said.

This was Kawasaki's first visit to a drive-in theater. There were no drive-ins in Hilo where Kawasaki grew up.

"I think it's cool. I never seen a place like this," he said. "I think it reminds me of olden times. I thought I'd have more chances to come."