Press Release              Event Date:  May 10, 2018

For further information contact Mary Chrastil, 260-982-0672 nmhistory@cinergymetro.net

North Manchester Video to Be Shown at Historical Society Movie Night

On Thursday, May 10, the North Manchester Historical Society is screening the documentary film A Sense of Place.  The program will be held at the Center for History, 122 E. Main Street, North Manchester at 6:30 p.m.  The movie night will be a fun, relaxing time for the community to come together, and it’s all free!  Free popcorn and lemonade will be available, and there will be music and door prizes.  Videos will also be available for purchase, both in Dvd and Blu-Ray formats.

The video was conceived as a project for the Indiana Bicentennial, and as a follow up to a 1938 film See Yourself in the Movies.  It explores how North Manchester has been perceived in videos from 1938, through a 1985 ABC Good Morning America series.  The video tells North Manchester’s story and lets town residents give their views about North Manchester’s strengths and challenges today.  The video is also a resource for school children studying local and Indiana history, touching on why the town was first settled, who the early settlers were, and the importance of the river, business and agriculture, culture and community involvement.

Movie makers James R.C. Adams, Charles Boebel and Mary Chrastil will introduce the film and be available to answer questions.  They interviewed scores of North Manchester residents—about 35 of them appear in the video.  The interviews took place from 2013 to 2017. 

During the interview process, it quickly became apparent that the information gathered would be far more than can be included in one video.  The NM Historical Society realized that the interviews make up a wonderful collection of oral histories that document our town at this point in time.  The Society is in the process of transcribing the full interviews so that these records can be accessed in a variety of formats.  The hope is that as technology changes, the information will remain easily available.

There is no admission, but Center for History staff would appreciate RSVPs so that they can accommodate all guests comfortably (reply at 260-982-0672 or nmhistory@cinergymetro.net by Wednesday, May 9).