Kim Fundingsland/ MDN The theater may be closed but there’s still the aroma of freshly popped popcorn. Here a customer purchases popcorn for take-out at Minot’s Oak Park Theater.

It’s a theater favorite. No doubt about that. It seems everyone likes movie theater popcorn.

With movie theater screens blank, closed down due to the possibility of spreading coronavirus, people still crave their favorite movie-time snack – popcorn. Unable to sell tickets to the big screen, Minot’s Oak Park Theater has found an innovative way to satisfy other wants of movie patrons.

“Everybody’s doing drive-up so we came up with idea of drive-up popcorn,” said Allan Schon, Oak Park Theater manager. “We do a lot of it during regular operation.”

So now, each day from 3-7 p.m., customers can drive-up to Oak Park Theater and purchase their movie theater popcorn. It’s a unique twist on take-out, to be sure, but it offers a bit of normalcy in the midst of social distancing and the practice of staying at home.

What better way to watch a movie or a favorite television show, at home, than with a bag of freshly popped popcorn? That is, if it isn’t gobbled up before it gets in the door.

“At first I wasn’t going to do it, but there was too many people asking about it,” said Schon. “It’s worked out pretty well.”