SWANNANOA GROUP OFFERS FIRST PEEK AT BEACON MILL DOCUMENTARY FILM

PRESS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE
SERPENT CHILD ENSEMBLE
Contact: Jerry Pope
686-3922
jerry@serpentchild.org

SWANNANOA GROUP OFFERS FIRST PEEK AT DOCUMENTARY FILM

Serpent Child Ensemble, a Swannanoa arts group, will present portions of its documentary film about the rise and fall of the Beacon Blanket Mill at the Bee Tree Fire Station Community room Saturday, June 6, from 1 til 3pm. There will be a panel discussion with former Beacon employees led by Dr Roxanne Newton and a presentation of original songs about Swannanoa and the village by local songwriter Bert Brown.

Serpent Child Ensemble, which produced the popular Way Back When series of plays at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts is led by Jerry Pope and Rebecca Williams.
“We were so taken by the loyalty the Beacon employees, even after the mill had burned down,” Williams said. “We included many Beacon stories in the plays, but felt there was a bigger story to be told. The detail and scope we wanted to present called for a documentary.” “This film will really be about the idea of community as it has changed over the years,” Williams added. “Most of the folks who worked at Beacon started out as farmers, then became factory workers, and now live in the post-industrial economy. It’s the history of America right here in our little town.”

While the film is far from being completed, the filmmakers wanted to show the community what they’ve done so far and get some feedback. To this end, Dr Newton, director of the Humanities and Fine Arts Division at Mitchell Community College, will lead a public discussion of issues raised in the as yet un-named film. Five former Beacon workers will tell stories and give their input.

Bert Brown, grandson of longtime Buncombe County Sheriff Lawrence Brown, will present just a few of the many songs he composed for the Way Back When plays, including the popular “Swannanoa, Where are You Going.”

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is also supported by Swannanoa Valley Museum, Swannanoa Pride Community Coalition, The University of North Carolina- Ramsey Library – Special Collections, and Warren Wilson College.

For more information, call Serpent Child Ensemble at 686-3922.

Learn More About the Documentary Film at
http://beaconmilldocumentary.blogspot.com/2009/05/story.html

The Documentary

Beacon Blanket Mill burned to the ground in September 2003, bringing an end to the largest mill in western North Carolina and an entity that influenced the lives of generations of residents of Swannanoa North Carolina and the Asheville NC region. But the impact of Beacon didn't disappear in the consuming flames. Beacon Blanket Mill lives on the memories and stories of those who lived, worked, raised families, played ball, played music and socialized in the village that grew up around "the Mill".

Rebecca Williams and Jerry Pope have spent their lives collecting local stories in various locations in th US and turning those stories into community theatre. Writing, directing, and producing plays is about telling stories; stories which chronicle lives and times in American History.

After moving to Swannanoa NC a few years ago, Rebecca and Jerry visited with a variety of local residents; collecting stories to be used in the successful "Way Back When" theatre series at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. They were struck by the number of individuals who wanted to tell about life around Beacon Mill but also by the emotional memories intertwined with tales from the mill. Resident after resident expressed to the couple that Beacon Mill was more than just a place of employment. The Mill was the central hub of life in Swannanoa and the surrounding areas.

As skilled story collectors and storytellers, Rebecca and Jerry saw in Beacon Mill the story of the changing face of small town America which is being repeated throughout all parts of the US. They saw the story of community identity and what happens when the core of that community identity is no longer present. They saw the story of how communities seek to create a new identity as they transition from of close-knit working class community into something new, something unknown.

Rebecca Williams and Jerry Pope saw a story which not only needed to be preserved but a story which needed to be shared with a much broader audience. They saw a story which was emblematic of the changing face of rural America as both jobs and cultural identity face challenges.

The wife and husband team spent the last two years meeting with local residents, listening, researching, collecting, scanning photographs, and taping and filming the stories surrounding Beacon Blanket Mill and the lives of the people who worked there.

The work continues as they craft a documentary film about Beacon Blanket Mill and the people who worked, played, and lived in Beacon Mill Village and the surrounding area of Swannanoa NC.
The documentary work is a project of Serpent Child Ensemble, a non-profit organization founded by Pope and Williams and based in Swannanoa NC. All donations to the project are fully-tax-deductible.