Don "Sleepy" McNally: From Vaudeville to Drive-In Pioneer

Don McNally was many things - a dedicated family man and friend, a jokester, an entertainer, a musician, a drive-in owner, a man of great faith, and the king of popcorn.

My wife Penny (Curtis) Wheeler went on our first date shortly after we graduated from high school in 1984, she from Lake Region Union High School in Barton, and I from North Country Union High School in Newport. More than two decades later, we still don't agree with who asked who out on that first date, but the one thing we do remember is where we went on that date - the Derby-Port Drive-In.

Don McNally and his wife, Irene, are best known for the three plus decades that they owned the Derby-Port Drive-In.

The drive-In stood on the Derby Road in Derby between 1950 and 1985. It was located in the general vicinity of where Poulin Lumber is today. While the drive-in is long gone, the memories of it are still alive in the minds of the people who went there to watch movies. It was a favorite nightspot. Many couples, such as Penny and I, went on their first dates there. Entire families also loaded into cars, and sometimes in trucks, for an evening under the stars.
Don and Irene McNally of Derby built the theater and operated it much of its 35 years. Irene, who now lives in North Carolina with her daughter Bonny, was a pleasant, kind-hearted woman who loved the drive-in. Her husband, who passed away on October 21, 1990, was probably one of the most colorful men ever to live in Orleans County. Born of Vermont stock, Mr. McNally was born in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1920, the son of Vaudevillian actors who traveled the East Coast, moving from community to community with a troupe of entertainers performing as they went. Mr. McNally made his first appearance on stage when he was only nine days old. By the time he graduated from high school he had attended 306 different schools. He attended some of those schools more than once.

This is the preliminary cover of the book that once completed will take readers through Don McNally's life from the Vaudeville stage to one of the early pioneers of the drive-in movie industry. It'll also be filled with photos of the Derby-Port Drive-In from construction to destruction, with all of the good times in between.

Most people remember Mr. McNally for the years that he and his wife owned the drive-in. Others also remember him as the first manager of the Jay Peak Ski Area. Although service in World War II took him forever away from the Vaudeville circuit, Vaudeville and his love of entertaining never left his system. Blessed with a keen, sometimes offbeat, sense of humor, he loved to make people laugh.
One thing few people realize is that McNally was one of the early pioneers of the drive-in movie industry. Before moving to Vermont to his ancestral roots, he was involved in the drive-in movie industry in South Carolina.
In recent weeks I have been talking with McNally's widow, Irene, and the couple's three grown children. After talking with them, and going through a lifetime of Don's memorabilia, including many of photos of the beloved drive-in, it appears that he, with his family blessings and support, will be the subject of my next book - "Don "Sleepy" McNally: From Vaudeville to Drive-In Pioneer" I hope to have this book completed by late summer or early fall.

Although Mr. McNally left Vaudeville at a young age, the entertainment bug never left him. He is seen in this photo third from the left.

With this project ahead of me, I'm looking for more photos of the drive-in and/or Mr. McNally performing in some of his many comical costumes. Also I welcome people to share their memories of the drive-in (G-rated memories), and memories of Mr. McNally. Please mail them to Scott Wheeler, P.O. Box 812, Derby, Vermont 05829 or email them to northlandjournal@gmail.com