PRESS RELEASE: Download file
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Eileen Hudson/ Publicity Committee/Black Bear Film Festival
Phone: (570) 409-0909
FILM FESTIVAL BRINGS PEOPLE HOME
Ask anyone how they came to live in Milford and Pike County, and they will have a story. Some heard about it from friends, others came because it was close enough to New York City to commute on weekends. Still others may have been born and raised here and chose to stay because it’s a great place to live. But more and more, people say they’re drawn to Milford because of the pace of life and the arts and culture it has to offer.
Nearly five years ago a couple from western New York passed through Pike County on their motorcycles. Rick and Valerie Brairton were impressed with what they saw and decided to come back. When they did, they brought their camper and stayed a while.
What continued to bring the Brairtons back was the community, the people and the beauty of Pike County and Milford in particular. AS they learned more about the community they realized they wanted to be more involved.
Three years ago they heard about something new in Milford. The Black Bear Film Festival was generating talk around town. The Brairtons decided to check it out. They liked the idea of a small community coming together to present a cultural activity like no other. Imagine, a film festival offering independent films and chats with the people behind the camera set amid the blazing colors of fall in the Poconos. The bonus was the fact that Milford has once been the center of filmmaking in the early 1920’s. History and culture combined to make for a great weekend.
The Brairtons decided this could be the place for them to settle down when they retired. Last September, the couple packed up and moved to a home in Gold Key on the Lake. Once again, they were here for the Black Bear Film Festival and were not disappointed. They liked the way the films were promoted, the movies were intriguing and the excitement in Milford was undeniable.
Now the Brairtons have joined dozens of others who have found their way to Milford and Pike County, and are volunteers for the annual film festival. They say the Black Bear Film Festival was a deciding factor in where they spend their retirement. It’s the community, the culture, the art and the nature that brought the Brairtons and others to Milford. Now they are feeling more a part of the community because of their work with the Festival.
The Black Bear Film Festival is looking for more people like the Brairtons to help make this year’s Festival even better than before. The Festival is expanding this year to four days, October 10 through 14. A special Sneak Preview movie will be shown Thrusday, October 10 at the Milford Theater. The Gala Night on Friday will include cocktails, dinner and a movie. The rest of the weekend will be filled with independent films from around the world, seminars and short films at the Film Salon at Milford Borough Hall, a special screening of a film made by young people from the Milford area and a focus on a Milford native who made his name in Hollywood. As in the previous two years, films will also be shown at the Tri-State Drive-In Theater in Westfall Township on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Tickets for the Black Bear Film Festival go on sale on Saturday, September 14. Watch for more details.
Join the fun and volunteer for the third annual Black Bear Film Festival. For information, contact the office on 115 Seventh Street, Milford, PA 18337, 570-409-0909 or visit our newly re-designed website at www.blackbearfilm.com. The Black Bear Film Festival is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
If you would like to join the Black Bear Film Festival you can do so by attending the next Volunteers meeting on August 31st at 10:00 am at the Milford Borough Hall on Catharine St.
Photo to Attach: Valerie and Rick.jpg
Photo Caption: Valerie and Rick Brairton at the Black Bear Film Festival Office, The Old Lumberyard, Milford, PA.
###
|
|
