WRPN Women’s International Film Festival

We’re so excited to announce that TRAIL MAGIC received a designation of Excellence in the Documentary Category and Anne McEvoy (our Grandma Gatewood) received the Excellence designation in the Lead Actress Category of the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival! We thank the Festival staff for including us in the festival and for this honor. If you haven’t seen TRAIL MAGIC yet, there will be an on-line screening sponsored by the Rocky River Library on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. There will be a Q & A after the screening. The program is FREE and open to the public. For more information, contact the library at 440-333-7610. Registration is requested.

Advertisement

Indie Gathering International Film Festival Nominations!

We just learned that “Trail Magic, the Grandma Gatewood Story” produced by Bette Lou Higgins and Eden Valley Enterprises, written by Kelly Sagert was nominated for “Best Director, Ohio”, Peter Huston and “Best Editing” Peggy Foley. Special shout out to DPs Bruce Lundeen, Tom Whaley and assistant editor Kaleb Grine. Congratulations all around!

Appalachian Trail View Protected

Much has changed since Emma Gatewood hiked the AT. This view is one of the most memorable. We know she would have approved.

NATIONAL PARK TRUST HELPS PROTECT POPULAR SCENIC VIEW ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN VIRGINIA

Washington, D.C. (August 4, 2020) – On July 23, 2020, the National Park Trust transferred ownership of 239 acres of land in one of the most popular areas of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) near Troutville, Virginia to the National Park Service. In the fall of 2018, the Park Trust volunteered to support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) in the acquisition of the property in Hogan Hollow, Virginia. The landowner wanted to sell before the National Park Service could accept the acreage, so in June 2019, the Park Trust worked with The Conservation Fund to acquire and temporarily hold the property until it could become part of the A.T.

The ATC was awarded a grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to make the purchase and The Conservation Fund managed the transfer of the property from the landowners.

“The Appalachian Trail Conservancy gives its sincere thanks to the National Park Trust for making the preservation of Hogan Hollow a reality,” said Sandra Marra, President and CEO of the ATC. “This acquisition will help preserve the views from McAfee Knob, one of the most beloved locations on the entire Appalachian Trail, and ensures that the area’s natural beauty and ecologically important lands are preserved for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations.”

Wendy Janssen, superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, said about the acquisition, “This acquisition highlights the power of partnership in preserving and protecting the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The National Park Service thanks all those involved for their commitment and support to secure the Hogan Hollow property and this critical viewshed for the enjoyment and benefit of all.”

Thousands of hikers each year see Hogan Hollow from McAfee Knob. The 3,197-foot overlook is thought to be one of the most scenic views on the A.T. It’s been said that more pictures are taken there than any other place on the trail. This view could dramatically change if the property was developed or the trees cut, which happened on neighboring land. This project also protects a section of the trail which runs through the property.

National Park Trust’s Executive Director Grace Lee stated, “We are delighted to provide our assistance and expertise to benefit the preservation of our national park sites, and are pleased to be able to assist the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in preserving this land for park visitors to enjoy in perpetuity.”

Hogan Hollow is the Park Trust’s third completed project to acquire land for the A.T. In conjunction with conservation partners, 219 acres near Pawling, NY were added in 2018 and 1,494 acres at Bald Mountain Pond, ME in 2019.

ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST

National Park Trust is a non-profit dedicated to preserving parks today and creating park stewards for tomorrow. The Park Trust is the only land trust with a comprehensive mission of preserving national parks through land protection and creating a pipeline of future park stewards by connecting kids to parks. Since 1983, National Park Trust has benefitted 48 national park sites across 28 states, one U.S. Territory, and Washington, D.C. Annually, the Park Trust provides an estimated 20,000 under-served kids with park trips through their nationally recognized Buddy Bison Programs and Kids to Parks Day National School Contest, both of which support nearly 300 Title I schools. Find out more at www.parktrust.org.

 

Media Contact: Ivan Levin at 540.818.5818 or ivan@parktrust.org.

Emma is a Winner again!

We’re honored to let you know that Trail Magic: The Grandma Gatewood Story has won 2nd place in the short documentary category of the International Indie Gathering! (http://www.theindiegathering.com/home.html) The film will also be screened at the upcoming festival. Details will be announced as soon as they are received, so check in often. We thank the festival committee for helping us share Emma’s story! 

Happy 4th of July!

Celebate your independence!

It’s Fourth of July! Celebrate our nation and our heritage and help Eden Valley continue to tell the stories that others forget. Between July 2, 2020 and July 31, 2020 make a donation of $50 or more and get access to a FREE Vimeo download* of our Emmy-nominated film, TRAIL MAGIC: THE GRANDMA GATEWOOD STORY or make a donation of $15 – $49 and get a FREE copy of any e-book of your choice!

Your donation will help us to continue our quest to bring you lost stories from our past. With the cancellation of our program schedule due to the COVID 19 pandemic, we are working hard to find ways to continue to tell our stories — this means working on finding ways to convert programs to on-line formats, creating new books AND continuing our our work on our book about LOST CLEVELAND RESTAURANTS and our documentary about presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull.

We look forward to the time we can see you at a program in person again, in the meantime, thank you for all your help and support.

To make a donation with a credit card using PayPal by press the “Donate” button below. You can also send a check made payable to Eden Valley Enterprises; 1250 East River St., Elyria, Ohio 44035 (download a convenient PDF form)

(As a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) or the Internal Revenue Code, all donations are tax-deductible. You will receive an acknowledgment for tax purposes.)

There’s no such thing a “small donation”!
We appreciate your help.

*You will need to create a FREE account on Vimeo to take advantage of this offer.

 

Trail Magic is streaming!

We’re happy to announce that our Award winning, Emmy-nominated film, TRAIL MAGIC: THE GRANDMA GATEWOOD STORY, is now available for streaming so you can watch it on your computer or mobile device! For only $8.99 you can rent the documentary and enjoy it at your leisure.

For those of you who still prefer to get a DVD, copies are still available.

Happy Indoor Hiking!

Please be aware we’ve been having some e-mail issues.  If you e-mail us directly and do not receive an answer within a day, please use our contact form

Trail Magic- Winner Best Local Documentary

The Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival provided the team from “Trail Magic” with a magical night at their Awards Ceremony. The festival is celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary. The founder and director of the festival, Mary Ann Ponce, inspired by her son David, who passed away from cancer, endeavored to honor his memory and legacy with a wonderful festival. Friends and neighbors have worked together over the 10 years to make the festival one of the top 50 small film festivals in the world!

We showed the film at Federated Church to nearly 200 people along with “Against the Wall” featuring Kevin Foster. After the film we did a Q&A. Later that evening we attended the festivals award ceremony. Screen writer Kelly Boyer-Sagert, Producer Bette Lou Higgins, and Director Peter Huston were in attendance.

This film could not have been made with out the creative team of Peggy Foley, producer and editor, Directors of Photography Bruce Lundeen and Tom Whaley. A special thanks to our presenting sponsors Buckeye Trail Association and Watterson Associates.

This process spanned nearly 10 years, but is testament to the “evergreen” content of “Trail Magic, the Grandma Gatewood Story”.

Thanks to Ohio History Connection and all our project supporters for helping us make this film.

Chagrin Documentary Film Festival 10/2-6 UPDATE

See the Emmy-nominated documentary, TRAIL MAGIC: THE GRANDMA GATEWOOD STORY on Saturday, October 5, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. at the Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival at The Federated Church, 76 Bell St., Chagrin Falls. Tickets are $12.00 and can be purchased at the Festival Office 440-247-1591 or online.

This film tells the true story of Grandma Emma Gatewood who was the first woman to solo thru-hike the 2,050 mile Appalachian Trail in 1955 at the age of 67 after raising 11 children and surviving domestic abuse!  As if that wasn’t enough, she went back and did it two more times (becoming the first person — man or woman — to hike it three times) and she hiked the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail in 1959.  A founder of Ohio’s Buckeye Trail, this remarkable woman’s life will inspire you!

Can’t make it to the festival? You can arrange for a screening for your group!  Simply contact Eden Valley Enterprises and we’ll help you arrange for a special event in your neighborhood!

Watch our promo

Continuing lessons from the trail- by Peter Huston

Thanks to NYT Bureau Chief Katharine Seelye’s recent obit, Emma “Grandma” Gatewood’s story continues to demonstrate firsthand that her inspiration is “evergreen”.

Seeing “evergreen” happen, has been the most amazing part of our experience while making our EMMY nominated film “Trail Magic, the Grandma Gatewood Story”. Recently the New York Times New England Bureau Chief Katharine Seelye wrote an op ed piece “Overlooked No More, Emma Gatewood, First Woman to Conquer the Appalachian Trail Alone”.

 

This was an over due obituary notice that the New York Times does to honor famous and notable achievers like Emma “Grandma” Gatewood, in her case 40 years later. I had no idea that back in 2008 when we first started this trek interviewing Emma’s youngest daughter Lucy Seeds, that we would be on a long ever enlightening transit from obscurity to recognition for “Grandma Gatewood”.

 

Along the way author Ben Montgomery joined us on the journey with his award winning book “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk” and together we have shared Emma’s story with thousands of people in church basement, lecture halls and movie theaters.

 

Perhaps our experience has mirrored the public’s interest in this fascinating and brave woman who survived a 33 year abusive marriage while raising 11 children to become the first woman to solo through hike the Appalachian Trail. She did this in 1955 at the age of 67. When we started our project, her story seemed best known by the people that were most familiar with the AT, the thousands of annual hikers who vicariously learned about her on their own Appalachian Trail hike.

A few years ago Bill Bryson’s book “A Walk in the Woods” was made into a film starring Nick Nolte and Robert Redford. That film and “Wild” featuring Reese Witherspoon have continued to refocus people’s interest on hiking and ultimately Emma and her inspiring story. We are excited to see this interest in Emma continue to broaden and deepen. Thank you Emma for all you did and continue to do, inspiring others to reach for new opportunities.

Overlooked No More, Grandma Gatewood and the NY Times

The New York Times review important peoples lives and sometimes discover that they had never done an obituary for them. So the follow up with a nice article that gives a great overview of her life and accomplishments. Click on the link to read the entire article.