SALISBURY — A good-sized crowd turned out Friday night for the debut of the Knight Drive-in Theater at the Rowan County Fairgrounds, and it was interesting how far people traveled to be there.

Random interviews turned up people from Charlotte, Concord, Thomasville, Huntersville and China Grove.

Another point of intrigue was how many people were at their first-ever drive-in.

“Our parents always talked about it,” said Kristen Neely of Mocksville.

Neely was cuddled up in the back of a Chevy Silverado pickup with her boyfriend, Laurence Propst. The college students were under three blankets and layered in jackets. They had backed into their spot, giving them a good view of the giant screen several rows of vehicles ahead of them.

“We’re doing this for the experience,” Propst said.

Kim Rabon drove her van from Thomasville with her son, daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend — all of whom were drive-in newbies.

“People like new stuff,” Rabon said. “They get tired of the same old thing.”

Ron Whitener and his wife, Linda, are old enough to remember when drive-ins were everywhere before becoming that “same old thing” and pretty much disappearing from much of the American landscape.

“I’m down here celebrating, reminiscing with my honey,” Ron Whitener said, laughing.

He and Linda drove to the Knight Drive-in Theater with their neighbor, 87-year-old Phyllis Shiflett. They definitely were among the older folks in the crowd, which included many families.

“I’m impressed with the young people,” Whitener said. “It’s encouraging. Good things never die.”

Linda and Virgil Knight are the couple behind the new drive-in.

“I’m really trying to target the families,” Linda Knight said. “It’s something to do, to be able to sit back with your family and laugh.”

By the time Friday night’s first movie — “Coco” — started, 69 vehicles had entered the gate and more were coming in. A second movie, “The Greatest Showman,” followed at 9 p.m.

The same two movies will be shown tonight, and the Knights hope to continue offering their fairgrounds drive-in, mostly on Friday and Saturday nights, as regularly as they can in coming months. Their next movies are scheduled for March 30-31.

“It can only get better when it gets warmer,” said Randall Barger of the fairgrounds staff.

The Knights contract with a company to provide the inflatable screen, which is 30 feet high and 45 feet wide, along with a sound system that can be heard well outside the cars. Patrons also tune in to FM 107.7 on their car radios to hear the movies.

When the weather warms up, Linda Knight said, the drive-in will set aside an area where patrons can watch the movies in lawn chairs and on blankets.

On Friday night, a modest line formed at the concession stand, which was selling popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, hamburgers, pork chops, chicken, fish, “and some of my famous lemonade,” said Linda Knight, a former restaurant owner.

For future drive-in nights, the couple think they’ll have several vendors providing food and drink.

The Rowan County Fairgrounds at 1560 Julian Road provided the generous space the Knights needed for screen, speakers, cars and people. Linda said she was giving customers comment cards Friday, asking them to share their likes, dislikes and suggestions.

“I would like everyone to come in with a positive outlook and please leave their input,” Linda said. “If we can do it better, we will.”

To get things rolling Friday night and tonight, Knight Drive-in asked customers to give canned goods for Rowan Helping Ministries as an admission price and whatever cash donation they wanted.

The price structure in the future probably will be per car. The same two movies will be shown over each two-night period. The early movie will be geared toward children, and the Knights hope there is enough time between the first and second movies to allow cars to leave and vehicles for the second movie to take their place.

But customers will be allowed to stay for both movies if they want, Linda said.

Linda and Virgil met 16 years ago, and she often told him about some of the old drive-ins from her younger days — places such as the Thunderbird on U.S. 601 and Joe’s off U.S. 29 South.

After Linda’s long period of taking care of her ailing mother, who died this past November, she wanted to direct her energies to something new.

“We just ended up and said, ‘Let’s do a drive-in,'” Linda says. “There’s so much crime and negative stuff going on. It would be great to do something to create a little family time.”

Virgil Knight is retired from the military and working for the Postal Service. Linda said he’s always enthused about doing something for the community, such as this drive-in.

He was also personally supportive for Linda during her mother’s illness. “He helped take care of her all the time,” she said.

Friday, the Knights depended on family and friends from New Life Community Church in East Spencer, where the pastor is Carl Gray. Linda’s son-in-law Marcel Bellamy manned the entrance gate and was helped by young Izzy Bowers.

Bellamy said people arrived as early as 5 p.m. Friday. Linda Knight said word spread of opening night mostly on Facebook.

The drive-in Facebook page had some 8,000 hits, and 700 people indicated they were going to attend, she said.

“I’ve never been to a drive-in,” said 35-year-old Jennifer Weber of China Grove. “And I’ve never seen any of these movies, either.”

Next to Weber, Shonda and Randy Cruller had two children piled into the back of their van with them. Their back hatch was open, and they planned to watch the movie from there.

“I prepared for the cold,” Shonda said. “That way, I don’t have to keep my car running.”

Linda Knight thinks this venture will work.

“I’m sure it’s going to go well in Salisbury,” she said. “It’s well needed. It’s a solution to a problem, especially for family time.”

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.