Gift for the Village: Wrap Up

OK, so I know our tour has been over for a week now, but it's taken me that long to process the journey and look at photos, not to mention finally getting the laundry done.
The last two shows in Gainesville, GA and Manteo, NC were also great.

I rolled into Gainesville after a LONG drive from Orangeburg, with a short detour to see my Aunt Norma in a tiny town near Greeneville, SC called Due West. I surprised her and we had a nice lunch in her retirement complex (given the choice of shrimp or chicken tenders, I went with the shrimp.)


I arrived in Gainesville in time to see the chicken statue: a monument to Gainesville's status as the poultry capital of the world. The screening was well attended and afterwards there was a Q and A with Dr. Jeff Marker, Ph.D., a film professor at Gainesville State College. Then I wandered downtown Gainesville and found a nice little restaurant where I was able to eat an amazing bowl of shrimp and grits and watch my beloved Indiana Hoosiers lose to Kentucky in the NCAA basketball tournament.

I caught an early flight from Atlanta to Norfolk, VA, and then drove the two hours to the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina, where I was glad to see my co-producer of A Gift for the Village Jenna Swann, who had driven in with her fiance, Chet, to experience the last night of our SouthArts Tour. I was super glad she was able to be there, and happy to let her handle the introduction and most of the Q and A after the film.

And now it's back to work on my next film, which I hope will one day be chosen to be a part of a future SouthArts tour. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

From Orangeburg, SC to Gainesville, GA

Today was a day of driving, from Orangeburg, where we showed the film last night, to Gainesville, where we'll do it again tonight.

The show in Orangeburg was cool for several reasons. The film showed in the Stanback Planetarium and seeing on the curved dome screen gave the shots of the mountains in Northern Nepal a whole new scope and perspective. The students who attended the show were great: many didn't know where Nepal or Tibet were before the show, but the questions after were fun and smart.

I'd arrived early and spent over an hour walking through the Stanback Museum's current show - a Warhol retrospective that was VERY high quality and testimony to the curatorial skills of Ellen Zisholtz, who went the extra mile of giving me a place to sleep after the show, even though she had to get up early to take a group of museum curation students to Charleston first thing in the morning.

After leaving Orangeburg I headed toward Gainesville, but a conversation with my father reminded me that my aunt Norma lived along the way, so I stopped and had lunch with her and some friends at the Covenant Retirement community in Due West, SC. It turns out to be a good thing I did: Norma is moving back to California in a few months and it will be a lot harder to visit. Thanks for lunch, Norma!

GFTV: 3 things about Madison, Georgia

1. They just don't build auditoriums like the one at the Madison Morgan Cultural Center anymore. The building is beautifully restored, but the 350 + seat auditorium is the gem: a wood paneled, acoustically excellent old school auditorium built circa 1895. It was great to see the Himalayas projected on that school stage screen. Dina Glardon is the performance director and a gracious host, and she introduced the film.

2. The James Madison Hotel. When I walked into the building I actually asked the nice woman behind the counter when the building was constructed, thinking it was historic, but in fact it's only 5 years old. I stayed here at the suggestion of the folks at Madison Morgan and I'm glad I did. The whole hotel only has 17 rooms and it is very nicely done. I love to see a new building built to last, as if it expects one day to be on a historic register.

3. The Pizza Place across the street. I had noticed a lot of places to eat in town while walking around before the show, but I wasn't prepared for all of them to close before 10 p.m. and thought I'd go out for a quick late dinner after the show. I walked into two as they were stacking the chairs and was beginning to wonder what I was going to eat when I met my gastronomic saviors who made me a hot personal pan pie just before they also closed. Note to future film tourers: If it's Tuesday,eat before the show or go see the guys at The Pizza Place.

We had about 60 people watch the show, with great questions at the Q and A and conversation at the reception after the show. Madison has to go on the list of places I'd like to come back to, hopefully with another film one day. Tomorrow it's another day off before 3 shows in 3 days, starting in Orangeburg, SC. On the way to Orangeburg I plan to stop in Newberry, SC to do some shooting before heading to Columbia for the night.

Gift for the Village: Hapeville sets the bar pretty high...

After months of wondering what the tour would be like, I can honestly say that the first night in Hapeville exceeded my expectations. I rolled into town a little early and saw banners about the screening hanging in town.
About 30 people turned up for the screening in beautifully re-purposed Christ Church in a trim little park in downtown Hapeville. There was a reception at 6 with great food, a piano player and drummer playing standards, and free beer - always a plus.

Charlotte Renz, president of the Historical Society showed me around the newly renovated church and meeting room - and it's clear that she loves this little town. Mayor, Alan Hallman, introduced the film - for a town of about 6500 people, it was great to see the support for the arts from the community and local government.

Two old friends from the past came to the show: Margaret was the maid of honor at my wedding but I hadn't seen her for years, and she was with one of my wife's long-ago journalism pals Laurie, and neither knew much about the film before the show - so great of them to come.

Now it's two days off in Atlanta before heading to Madison, GA. Lots of people at last night's show told me I'd love the town. Just a heads up to Madison and other stops though: Hapeville came through with a Hapeville coffee cup, tote bag, baseball hat and whistle.... pretty good swag for a documentary film maker!

And if anyone from Madison is reading this, Tom and Lisa Hammet - longtime residents of Madison who moved to Blacksburg, VA, send their greetings. Tom travels to Nepal on a regular basis and has been a big supporter of our film. They're hoping to hear from old friends after the show in Madison.

Thanks to the Mayor, Charlotte, Adrienne and everyone in Hapeville who made this visit a sweet one.

A Gift for the Village: Heading for Hapeville

All packed and ready to start the week long tour for A Gift for the Village in Hapeville, GA, just outside of Atlanta. It has actually been a few months since I last watched our film, and I'm looking forward to sharing it again, in person. Our screening is set for St. Patricks Day night, and I'm hoping that people will turn up to see a film about a Tibetan Buddhist and a painter from Appalachia on a night reserved for Celtic traditions.