‘Home, Hearth & History: Stories of Old Saluda’ premieres July 2
The Historic Saluda Oral History Committee recently announced a release date for the much anticipated DVD titled “Home, Hearth & History: Stories of Old Saluda.”
Copies of the DVD will be available at the film’s premiere, scheduled for July 2 at 5 p.m. at the Saluda Mountain Jamboree. The premiere is being held prior to the Saluda 130th Birthday Celebration square dance that will be held that same night at 7 p.m.
Eljapa Media Group has worked with the oral history committee to record more than 14 hours of video interviews, copied hundreds of old photographs from private collections and received more than a dozen original cassette tapes of interviews conducted by Charlene Pace and Anne Osborne for their 1981 book “Saluda, N.C. 100 Years 1881-1981.”
Martha Anderson, Bill Russell, John Rhodes, Dr. George Jones, Charlene Pace, Henry Twiggs, Martha Ashley, Betty Pace Thompson and Ruth Pace Lawter were the first to be interviewed for this first in a series of oral history interviews. Committee members hope that future interviews will be compiled into additional DVDs and then archived on a Historic Saluda website.
The oral history committee, which is a subcommittee of the Historic Saluda Committee (HSC) operating under the jurisdiction of the City of Saluda, also announced that fundraising efforts have been successful. The City of Saluda pledged seed money in the amount of $2,500 to launch the project and more than $4,000 has been raised through private donations from individuals and businesses.
Donors will be recognized in the film credits; many have chosen to donate in honor or in memory of a loved one. The HSC voted at its meeting in April to continue fundraising efforts in order to carry on the efforts to collect the rich stories of Saluda’s senior citizens.
Kim Clark with Eljapa said, “We’re fitting all these pieces together to tell the story of Saluda – from amusing personal stories to touching family tales to some serious historical scholarship. To make it all flow smoothly, we’ll then write and record some narration and top it all off with a splash of homegrown music.”
According to Cindy Stephenson Tuttle, chair of the oral history committee, “The DVD will be riveting through its blending of the past with the present. One minute you’re going to be watching someone recently interviewed and then the next minute their voice and image may meld with another voice captured on the audio recordings from the 1981 project. In most cases, those folks have long since left this earth. As all these folks, past and present, drop the names of people and places, we will throw in pictures and other audio/visual material for added interest. To say the least, this is not your typical oral history project.”
Admission to the film premiere is free; however, donations will be accepted to help with future oral history interviews. A small donation will be requested to participate in the square dance.
Members of the Historic Saluda Oral History Committee include Cindy Stephenson Tuttle, chair; Charlene Pace, co-chair; Lynn Cass, Cathy Jackson, Martha Ashley, Greaton Sellers, Martin Anderson, Anita Moore, Carolyn Ashburn and Kate Barkschat.
If you would like to make a donation to the oral history project, you may do so by sending it to the City of Saluda. All donations must be received by June 1 in order to be included in the film credits of the first DVD.
Donation forms are available for download and additional information regarding the Historic Saluda Committee may be obtained by going to saludalifestyles.com.
For more information, contact Cindy Tuttle at cindystuttle@gmail.com.
– article submitted
by Cindy Tuttle