Nino Maccagnan Helps Bring New Look to Southington Drive-In

Southington has given Nino Maccagnan a great life, the longtime resident said, and now the 70-year-old handyman is doing his part to give back to the community.

Thanks to Maccagnan, the will be sporting a new look this season, with retro-style ticket booths the newest improvement at the Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike facility. It’s part of several new looks the facility will have this year, Drive-In Committee member Mike Riccio said, and something that Maccagnan deserves all the credit for.

“It’s a project that wouldn’t have gotten done without him,” Riccio said. “He called us and said if we could come up with the materials, he would take care of putting everything together for us.”

Maccagnan’s effort should come as no surprise to the community, where the 40-year Southington resident has spent the last several years building a resume as volunteer handyman. He spends many days volunteering for the Southington-Cheshire , mowing lawns and keeping things trimmed.

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But the latest effort, an idea that Maccagnan took to the Drive-In Committee himself, came as part of his daily walks through .

Over the last several years, he said he has watched as town volunteers helped revitalize the drive-in facility. He said watching 400 cars and countless local residents pack the lot on a Friday or Saturday night made him want to get involved as well.

“I still have very fond memories of my days at the drive-in. We used to go in the 1960’s often and enjoy the evening,” he said. “When I looked down at this facility, I thought ‘a retro ticket booth would be a great addition,’ and we just took it from there.”

Riccio said Lyon & Billard Lumber, of Meriden, donated half the materials and CWPM, LLC, of Plainville, provided use of a dumpster for free to help get rid of the old materials.

But the new ticket booths aren’t the only renovation that is taking place this season.

, a Plantsville-based company, was at the drive-in last week helping to spray hydro-seed in order to repair the grass after the facility was used as a staging ground for debris removal around the community following the October snowstorm.

True North, a response management group with the Neel-Schaeffer organization in Texas, is paying for the effort as part of their contract agreement, town officials said.

“We had done the original seeding, so it was great to be able to get back out here and contribute again,” said Glen O’Hala, owner of Gro-Landscape. “We’re happy to have the work, but it’s great to be able to do something that contributes in your hometown.”

Riccio said this season is also offering some new twists as well with bonfires for the community, a special Halloween Extravaganza (provided there is no snow again) and a special night geared towards adults, which would include R-rated movies for adults to enjoy.

In addition, he said the committee is looking into the possibility of offering “in-theater” movies provided that it would not have an impact on the neighboring Rave Motion Pictures Theater on the Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike.

“There’s a lot we hope to do, and we are in the process of putting everything together now,” Riccio said. “We will have a complete list of movies in the near future.”

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