Major League Baseball has selected the McHenry Outdoor Theater to be one of only four drive-ins in the United States to host an America250 celebration on the Fourth of July.
Festivities at the McHenry Outdoor Theater on July 4 will include a showing of the classic childhood baseball film “The Sandlot,” a live screening of the evening’s Cubs vs. Cardinals game, Ballpark Bites, baseball-themed activities like wiffle ball, a pop fly scramble and virtual batting cages.
A fireworks display will cap off the night.
“From a community standpoint, this is huge,” McHenry Outdoor Theater President of Marketing and Promotions Joe Cicero. “To be recognized by Major League Baseball doesn’t happen every day.”
The Major League Baseball (MLB) is in the midst of a multi-tiered America250 campaign and selected McHenry Outdoor Theater to be one of four sites for the Fourth of July Summer Drive-in Celebration.
The others are the Delsea, Swan and Paramount drive-ins, which are respectively located in Vineland, New Jersey; Blue Ridge, Georgia; and Paramount, California.
“What’s more American than baseball and drive-ins?” said Scott Dehn, owner of the McHenry Outdoor Theater in Lakemoor.
“I do think we got on the map for this sort of thing because of what we did during Covid, with the alternative events we had, like concerts, and I hope it just keeps opening up more and more doors,” Dehn said.
Both Dehn and Cicero said their excitement has been building ever since MLB reached out to them in early March.
MLB crews will set up a large LED screen, over 43 feet wide and over 24 feet tall, in front of the theater’s big screen for the Independence Day event, Dehn said, adding that the LED screen will be bright enough for daylight viewing.
The movie is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., with the Cubs vs. Cardinals game’s start time at 7:08 p.m.
Admission will be free but only those who secure one of the limited carload tickets available by MLB on Eventbrite or those who win a ticket in a special theater-driven drawing will be admitted, Dehn and Cicero said.
Gates will open at 4 p.m., as will the MLB’s Ballpark Bites stand, Play Ball Zone and Keepsake Dugout.
Cicero and Dehn said they anticipate tickets to get acquired quickly.
Dehn lauded his theater staff, most of whom are high school or college-aged, and said they should take a bow for their dedication to maintaining the McHenry Outdoor Theater’s reputation as a “wonderful spot for family fun.”
“I told them, ‘Because of your hard work, this place has attracted the eyes of Major League Baseball,'” Dehn said. “It’s very exciting.”