Galaxy Drive-In Theatre

Info Updates:

5/19/2015 - John McDowell

News reports (9&10News is one source) say that this location, now the Mio Flea Market, was destroyed by fire. One of the posts earlier in this section wondered about the Dai-Roy name. According to a commenter on the 9&10 website, a relative of the former owners, it comes from Daisy and Roy Whitney.

4/24/2008 - -Fred.

IIRC - The Mio drive-in was still operational in the late 1980s, but a tornado in the early nineties forced it to be closed.

3/29/2004 - Andrew Wilson AKA The Librarian

In 1954, Gordon Whitney brought a new form of movie-going experience to Mio and vicinity as The Dai-Roy Drive-In opens on April 23, 1954. "Kiss Me Kate" (1953) was the first film shown on the outdoor screen. The drive-in generally did not advertise, but upcoming movies were announced the the "Local and Personal of Mio and Vicinity" column in the Otsego County News. One exception to this rule was on August 18, 1955 when an adpromoting "SKABENGA! The Killer Lust" and the Billy Graham film "The Mighty Fortress" ran. Both films were shown August 23-25 1955. The Dai-Roy indoor did operate concurrently with the drive-in, but it is not known for how long. (It is likely that the Indoor operated between October and March, and the drive-in between April and September, at least for the frist few years). 1971 was the Dai-Roy Drive-Ins last season. By this time, the drive-in was running ads every now and then. An article appears in the May 28 1971 Otsego County News that lists all of the films planned for the season. The Whitneys retired after 30 years of service to the Mio community in early 1972. The drive-in did not open that year. By 1973 Ron Koch had purchased the Dai-Roy property and on May 4th the Galaxy Drive-in made its debut. A double feature of "Whats Up Doc" (with Barbara Striesand) and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" made up the first bill. In 1974, Ron Koch sold the Drive-In to the Iowa based American Entertainment Company and the Galaxy went Adults Only. "Galaxy Takes it All Off" screamed the July 18, 1974 headline of the Otsego County News. The first X-rated movies to be shown were "Dirty Doll" and "Prime Pleasure." Not suprisingly the change was condemned by the community. The July 25th Otsego County is filled with articles and letters to the editor. The editor of the "Timber Topper" another local newspaper apologized for running the offensive ads and promised it would never do so again. The community, however outraged, apparently did nothing to attempt to have the theatre closed. The 1977 International Motion Picture Almanac lists Michigans favorite pornographer, Harry Mohney as the owner. It is unknown when he purchased the Theatre from AEC. In 1985 the Galaxy was still showing XXX films. Advertisements for the drive-in were appearing in newspapers as far away as the Bay City Times (nearly 80 miles south of Mio) Ron Koch owned the 20 acre property in 1991 according to Otsego County plat books. By 1997 the property had been split with nine acres going to the local Baptist church. The 2003 plat book lists the owner of the other 11 acres as M. & L. E.

1/6/2003 - MichiganDriveIns.com

The Galaxy and Dai-Roy Drive-Ins in Mio were separate drive-ins. The Galaxys marquee is still up and is used for a flea market. (Larry Lewis Jr. 3-30-01)

1/6/2003 - Drive-Ins.com

The Galaxy has been mostly torn down. The driveways and marquee remain, and the lot is now a flea market. Bobby Peacock