TRAIL MAGIC: THE GRANDMA GATEWOOD STORY Comments from 2018 -- 2021

Cindy Hronek , Holy Spirit Guild Program Chair (February 15, 2018, presentation) "What a memorable 'movie' night we had with you!! When I first mentioned this program idea, many women had never heard of Grandma Gatewood's walk on the Appalachian trail (sic). No the case any more !! Emma Gatewood deserves not to be forgotten, so thank you for bringing her to us through your documentary. The inspiring story of her struggles and hardships and ultimate perseverance has lessons for us all."

Kaitlyn Fox, REI Virginia Beach (April 24, 2018, presentation) "REI Virginia Beach’s film screening was a success! We had 20 folks register plus 1 on the waitlist, and had a total of 17 attend. REI provided popcorn & trail mix, and we set up camp chairs as seats. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. This was the first time our store has ever shown a movie, so we weren’t quite sure what to anticipate, but everyone left happy! "
She sent this picture:

Jenn Bush , Johnson Humrick House Muesum (September 13, 2018, presentation) "Our goals are to provide fun, educational program(s) of a wide range of medias. This program did all of that and we had a great turnout. Thank you for a great program!"

Sara J. Gain Virginia Beach Public Library (November 13, 2018, presentation) "Thank you for following up again. With the Holiday my inbox was a bit chaotic. I apologize! Trail Magic went fantastic. I'm sorry I didn't get any photos, but I can tell you that we had 35 attendees. For our Library, this is definitely a success! The Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club was in attendance and we both had tables with information. I had the book, the children's book, activities for children, and information about the funding for Trail Magic. The Trail Club had a map of the trail, the segment they maintain, information on joining and hiking the trail." (continue reading the whole letter)

Rachel Nagle, Outdoor Recreation Manager, Cleveland Metropark (March 22, 2019, presentation) "The showing of Trail Magic raised $1,520 for the new Outdoor Recreation Fund! In addition, the raffle on Saturday raised $385. We wouldn’t have been able to create this fund without the showing of Trail Magic to kickstart the fund, and now it has about $2,405 in it! So thankful to have such amazing support in the community!!!"

Steve LeBrun, The Mountaineers, Bellevue, Washington (April 5, 2019, presentation) "It went great!! The audience was quite enthused. It was a sell out - 180 tickets sold, at the Bellevue Botanical Garden Hall."
He sent this picture:

Lauren Robinson, Sandwich Library (October 27, 2019) "It was wonderful! It was a blustery, rainy old day on Cspe Cod but 60+ people crowded into our meeting room to enjoy the film. ... People really enjoyed the film. Someone asked who Anne McEvoy was. She really did a fabulous job taking on the character. You should be so proud of your work. Great production values, solid content and smooth editing. Your film was a perfect accompaniment to our author talk with Ben Montgomery offered earlier this month."

Ryan Qualls, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (November 10, 2019, presentation) "I loved the film and thought the shots, graphics, and music were expertly done. The story was well crafted from the events of her life."

Justin "Last Out" Fuson, one of the hikers in TRAIL MAGIC wrote an e-mail after receiving his DVD, April 14, 2020: "I was very excited to receive my copy of Trail Magic yesterday. I was interviewed for the film the day before I completed my thru hike of the AT in 2012 and have wanted a copy of it for sometime. I had randomly caught the end of it on PBS here in St Louis some years ago and was thrilled to finally have the chance to watch the whole thing. Such a great documentary! I enjoyed hearing from the people who actually knew Grandma Gatewood and thought the film did an excellent job of capturing the sense of community on the trail. Thank you for making this wonderful documentary!"

Marv Jonason wrote after the February 16, 2021 screening by Appalachian State University: "The documentary was fantastic. I've seen many such narratives in film festivals and this is so well done. I loved the actress/narrator.. the editing was excellent...seamless...cinematography was beautiful and supportive. Congratulations on a wonderful creative project."

Randall Roberts (Buckeye Trail Association), February 16, 2021 Facebook post about the screening by Appalachian State University: "Just watched the Live Streaming of Trail Magic: The Grandma Gatewood Story. This was my 6th time and it never gets old. It was fun watching it with my fellow hikers and seeing some of their comments. The Q&A is going on right now and I'm seeing comments about how people were impressed and inspired with Emma's legacy. In honor of that, I'd like to share a poem she wrote that was published in the BTA newsletter in 1968 when she was a trustee. I've shared this before, but like the film it doesn't get old:

THAT ELUSIVE BUG
A professor came from college.
We caught bugs of many kind.
But the great big bug I'd like to catch,
Seems extremely hard to find.
One can travel over the country
One can look in vain for him
When all along ’tis plain to see
Where that dirty bug has been.
He travels over the country
We track him by the litter
We've tried and tried our very best
To educate the critter.
He still persists in littering
No matter what people say
And will it seems go on and on
Until on his dying day.
You thoughtless bug, you litter bug
Why don’t you stop and think?
You’re bringing shame on all of us
And make the roadsides stink.
That thoughtless bug I'd like to catch
That travels far and near
Just catch him when he least suspects
and just kick him in the rear.
GRANDMA EMMA GATEWOOD"

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