Saturday, October 6th at 7:00 PM:
Local Hero (1983) at the
Brandywine Valley Association
Square-jawed environmentalism, in one of the most beautiful spots in Chester County!
From
GORP's list of "
Top 10 Outdoor movies of all time:
"When Mac MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is sent to Scotland's west coast to swindle the "simple" townsfolk
out of their drilling rights, you know the natives are going to somehow turn the tables. Great performances
throughout (including Burt Lancaster as a wonderfully crazy Texas oil magnate), a loving portrayal of small town
life, and beautiful scenery will surely have you contemplating a trip to Scotland before Mac comes to grips with
his direction in life. Funny, charming, and quirky, this movie is a joy ride from beginning to end."
What else can I say, except that this movie gets a
100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? I rest my case.
Here, watch the trailer:
The
Brandywine Valley Association is one of Chester County's best-kept secrets, which is a damn shame.
The BVA is
awesome in every way — hundreds of acres of beautiful land for walking around, lots of naturalists and education programs, and all sorts of "green" educational activities that are actually fun and are not calculated to make you feel apologetic for breathing.
Just for instance, check out what's happening at the BVA the very day that we'll be there: from 9AM-2PM on Saturday, it's
Field Insect Day (PDF link), sponsored by the National Entomological society. Field walks, beginner's bee-keeping (learn to be like Sherlock Holmes!), and this total gem from the brochure:
"...AND at lunchtime, donŐt miss the Blindfolded Bug Buffet! Is that a bug in your mouth, or not?! You decide. If you dare.."
Now THAT'S two-fisted environmental advocacy, y'all. And I haven't even mentioned the yearly point-to-point horse race, which is your
yearly excuse to pack lunch in a wicker basket and
act like a toff.
We'll be showing the movie on Skytop, the grassy hill behind the BVA's big barn. There's a big, capacious fire ring, and every marshmallow we provide for toasting will be an actual marshmallow and NOT maybe a grasshopper instead I PROMISE.
What to Bring
- Warm, layered clothes. It might be warm, it might be cool, it might be arctic-freaking-cold. Time to show off your wooly-jumper collection!
- A blanket or chairs, to keep you off the dewy grass.
- A flashlight and/or camp lantern. If there's cloud cover, the path up to the hill will be as dark as the inside of a halloween cat. And our generator can't power the Ingersoll-Rand balloon light.
If you are available to show up early (around six?) to start the fire, and/or available to stay afterwards to make sure the fire is cold-ashes out, please let me know over email at . Thank you!
Rain: if it rains, we'll still show the movie, just under a pavilion or in the BVA's barn. I'll post updates (if any) on this page by Saturday afternoon.
Map and Directions
Follow the directions below to the BVA, and park your car on the
north SOUTH (sorry!) side parking lot (the side away from the barn; on your left as you're driving away from West Chester.)
Carefully cross the road towards the big barn, and walk
behind the barn up the hill. There's a footpath on the left, and a grass road suitable for wheelchairs on the right.
It's a steep couple-of-hundred yards to the top of the hill, and you'll see the fire at the top.
The movie starts at 7:00, but you're welcome to arrive as early as you like; you can even make a day of it by coming out in the morning to hang out with the entomologists to eat bugs! Or, you can stop by
Northbrook Country Market just around the corner — they're open until 6:30.
Google Maps thinks that the BVA's address — 1760 Unionville Wawaset Road — is a few hundred feet away from the real entrance, so the directions below will all take you to the correct latitude and longitude, not the street address. Using the GPS coordinates will get you there, but you should definitely have the "human directions" as a backup.
Please let me know what I left off this page by shooting your questions to ! See you then!
