Spectators file in for a movie at the Highway 2 Community Drive-in Theater in Manistique during a previous event. (Journal photo by Justin Marietti)

MANISTIQUE — The Upper Peninsula Film Union is a nonprofit organization that most recognizably runs Highway 2 Community Drive-in Theater with the help of its volunteers and local sponsors. The group also has its own film club, which meets monthly to watch and discuss movies. Donations to the U.P. Film Union help to repair and maintain the only drive-in theater in the U.P. and keep it free for all guests.

J. L. LeDuc opened the U.S. 2 Drive-In, as it was then called, in 1953. It had accommodations for 350 cars. In ’72, the theater sold to David Vaughan, who changed the name to Cinema Two. In 1995, William Giles bought the place. The theater continued operating as the U.P.’s last remaining drive-in until closing in 2001.

Fifteen years later, film buff Don Erickson was interested in organizing an outdoor community movie event, and the then-owner of the drive-in property suggested using his screen. The first flick of the revival showed in July of 2016.

In its third year of putting on several free-to-the-public movie events at the drive-in, the U.P. Film Union officially incorporated in 2018, with Erickson, Kevin Knaffla and Eric Sherbinow as its foundational members. That October, the film union acquired the property and changed the name to Highway 2 Community Drive-In Theater.

Productions are volunteer-operated. Local event sponsors assist with paying for certain associated costs like movie licensing; in return, sponsors get advertising time before each showing, ads in print and on radio, and may distribute literature to movie-goers at entry. SEMCO Energy Gas Company, Jack Pine Lodge, Wheaty’s Pub, Great Lakes Recovery Centers, Blade’s Bait and Tackle, mBank and other sponsors have helped out over the last eight years.

Alternating nonprofits run the concession stand during events and keep proceeds earned from the sales of food and drinks. Manistique Volunteer Fire Department, Eva Burrell Animal Shelter, Trillium House, Lake Effect Community Arts Center, Manistique Senior Center, Schoolcraft County Community Foundation and more have all taken turns behind the counter.

In 2020, through a partnership with production company Encore Live, Highway 2 became one of a number of drive-ins around the country to broadcast concerts taped exclusively for cinema during the pandemic. Those shows included Garth Brooks, recorded in Nashville, Tenn.; Metallica playing in San Rafael, Calif.; and in 2021, Bon Jovi appearing from Asbury Park, NJ.

The drive-in has hosted other community events, too, including graduation ceremonies and photos with Santa.

For a few years, the film union was projecting from a tent in the front row. In 2022, SEMCO Energy Gas Company donated a retired utility building to become the drive-in’s projection booth. In 2023, the theater upgraded to a new projector, “affording a far superior viewing experience for everyone.”

Donations made to the film union go directly to keeping the theater running. Erickson called it a “labor of love” and said that though there are no administrative costs, the mortgage on the property is a constant, looming presence.

“While we are so thankful to all of our donors and our community partners, we still have a long way to go in order to be debt free,” he said. “If we did not have the added expense of a mortgage payment, we are confident in saying the Highway 2 Community Drive-In Theater and this unique moviegoing experience (would) be available to everyone for years to come.”

The U.P. Film Union’s film club, which started meeting in November of 2018, is comprised of about 30 individuals at the moment and is a regular fundraiser for the theater. Members pay annual dues of $25 and each chip in $10 during the monthly meetings. The films they watch and have discourses on are chosen through a selection process designed to be fair to all — each participant may nominate two movies each month, and the person whose film is drawn is limited in their submissions for the next several months.

Since its reopening, Manistique’s drive-in has been hosting Fright Night the weekend before Halloween. This year’s event was the ninth one and included trunk-or-treating before the double feature — “Scooby-Doo” followed by “Scream.” Many more vehicles were parked and tuned in to 100.5 FM at dusk on Saturday for the first flick than remained for the second, which started shortly after 9 p.m. Fright Night was the last drive-in event of the season at Highway 2.

To find out more information and donate to the nonprofit, visit upfilmunion.org.