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‘Governor just shut us down’: Canterbury Village postpones drive-in movie nights scheduled during COVID-19 pandemic

New dates announced

LAKE ORION, Mich. – Canterbury Village is postponing drive-in movies that were scheduled this week and next week.

The postponement announcement was posted to the Canterbury Village Facebook page with the message that the “governor just shut us down.”

According to the post, the governor halted the event.

All tickets that were already purchased will be valid on rescheduled nights. See the new dates below.

Refunds will be issued to those who cannot make the new dates. Email support@bigtickets.com for refunds.

Keith Aldridge, who owns Canterbury Village, said there were plans in place to make the drive-in safe and socially distanced.

“We were limiting the amount of cars. Every car would get a 20-by-20 spot. You could listen to the movie on your FM radio and we decided against trying to do concessions," he said.

The idea was so popular multiple days sold out almost immediately.

Aldridge, like every other small business owner is worried about survival. The drive-in was a way to generate some revenue.

When Canterbury Village posted to its Facebook page the governor shut the drive-in down, it became a keyboard war in the comments between those disappointed, those furious and others who support Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Aldridge gets people are disappointed but also sees this as government overreach.

“At the end of the day this is America,” Aldridge said. “We want to keep people healthy we want to keep families safe but we also want to do the things that make sense, use our head and it seems like we’re not using our head right now.”

Below are the new dates:

  • Thursday, April 30 moved to Thursday, May 21
  • Friday, May 1 moved to Friday, May 15
  • Saturday, May 2 moved to Saturday, May 16
  • Sunday, May 3 moved to Sunday, May 17
  • Monday, May 4 moved Monday, May 18
  • Tuesday, May 5 moved to May, 19

QUESTION FOR COMMENT: Many people in this thread disagree with this decision. If you disagree, share more. Do you feel the drive-in took enough precautions? Did you have tickets to one of the shows?