The Associated Press

PARIS - Even though the number of drive-in movie theaters is declining, a Paris couple is doing their best to keep the crowds coming.

Each week, Trish Earlywine chooses two movies to run at the drive-in - about 17 miles east of Georgetown - that she and her husband, Lanny, own.

Earlywine's heart tells her that a cartoon about sharks will draw the crowds, so she put the poster on the wall and plans to stay open into October to run the movie. It is a risky undertaking for a drive-in in Kentucky, where only 13 remain open.

"If you've got the right movie, they'll come," Earlywine said.

The popularity of drive-ins across the nation has dwindled in the last decade. There are 417 open in the United States, according to Drive-ins.com, a Web site dedicated to drive-in movie theaters and their history. Ten years ago, there were 733.

People have been coming to the Paris drive-in for the past 48 seasons and don't show signs of stopping.

Rick Butcher, 46, used to come to the theater with his parents. Now he comes with his children and grandchildren. They have been setting up camp in the drive-in's front row almost every weekend for the past four years.

Bethany Hanser and her husband, Frank, have been making the weekly hour-long commute from their home in Pendleton County for almost a decade.

"It's our date night. I look forward to it," Bethany said.

On the last Friday in August, the lot was about half full.

Some were younger regulars like 16-year-old Katrina Stamper.

"When I was little, I came here every weekend with my parents," Stamper said.

Dressed in jeans and a black tank top, she waited shyly while her boyfriend, Joe Herrington, bought her a barbecue sandwich. Both remember the first double feature they saw together - Shrek 2 and The Day After Tomorrow.