Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library | mywalkinmanhattan

I took time out from my walk in Manhattan to run a second special event for the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library. We celebrated this Friday the 13th with a special retrospect of showing the original uncut version of the 1980 classic film, “Friday the 13th” starring Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King. This was the second special event I ran since joining the Friends in September.

The famous Moravian cemetery sign in Hope, NJ

We opened the retrospect with a talk on the film, followed by the uncut original film. In today’s terms, this film is rather tame in comparison to some PG-13 films and video games which I think are much more graphic. In its day though, this was a real eye-opener in film making and introduced the 80’s to the genre along with the movie ‘Halloween’ to the slasher film.

The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library at the “Friday the 13th” retrospect

We set up a complete concession stand with movie candy, various snacks and chips and beverages to the audience. It was a special treat to many who had never seen the film and managed to jump at the right times.

We ended the retrospect with an interview with Don Stein, a local Lodi resident who was a Scout Master at Camp No Be Bo Ca (North Bergen Boy Scout Camp) thirty five years ago. He told our YouTube audience about his time with helping prepare the camp for the filming and assisting the producers with the sets. What was interesting about the interview is how he described how the storm scenes were done with the Blairstown Fire Department shooting water all over the set and rocking the vehicles to make them look like they were going through the storm. You can see the whole interview on YouTube.

The movie “Friday the 13th”

We had tried to get an actor who was in the film to come out and talk to the crowd about their time on the film but Melissa Merindino (Betsy Palmer’s daughter), Marc Nelson and Peter Brouwer all turned us down. It seemed to be the consensus of the actors that they did not want to have an association to the film anymore. Some like Adrienne King embrace the film and promote it. I respected their thoughts and feelings toward the film even though we would have loved to host any or all of them.

Justin Watrel giving the introduction to the film

We were able to interview that evening local Lodi residents, Donald and Marie Stein after the filming. Don Stein, the President of the Lodi Senior group, was a Boy Scout Master the summer of the filming of the movie and talked with us about his time helping the film crew on the set. He and others Scout leaders helped the Boonton Fire Department with some of the scenes. Although he did not meet any of the actors personally, he talked about how the film was made and his time on the set. Please see the the YouTube video ‘An interview with Don Stein at the 35th Anniversary of the film “Friday the 13th” at the Lodi Memorial Library’ on the Lodi Memorial Library Video Library.

Overall it was a big success to those who attended and I hope you access the video on YouTube “Friday the 13th” at the Lodi Memorial Library and my interview with Lodi resident Donald Stein, who worked on the film helping the Blairstown Fire Department when he was a scout master at Camp NoBeBoCo (North Bergen Boy Scout Camp) in 1979.

Justin Watrel’s introduction to the ‘Friday the 13th” 30 Anniversary Retrospect:

After the movie was over, we had the discussion with Donald Stein but the movie is what people came for. This is the introduction to the film. It is still scary after all these years.

Part One of the Movie “Friday the 13th”

The Making of “Friday the 13th”

I hope you enjoy our retrospect. It was a lot of fun.

Articles on the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library:

http://lodi.bccls.org/friends-of-the-library.html

Miss New Jersey Lindsay Giannini receives accommodation from the Borough of Lodi, NJ — Welcoming Miss New Jersey 2015 Lindsay Giannini.

The Executive Board of the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library honoring Miss New Jersey, Lindsey Giannini with an Honorary Membership to the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library.

You have probably wondered why I have not been as active on my walking project. I joined the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library back in early September and immediately started a project (on top of many others) an event called “Celebrating Books: 150th Anniversary of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Below is the press release from the event. Check out our pictures and videos on YouTube shortly. It was a great event that many people including many of us ‘big kids’ enjoyed:

Miss New Jersey 2015 Lindsey Giannini visits Lodi Memorial Library

On October 22, 2015 Miss New Jersey 2015 Miss Lindsey Giannini visited the Lodi Memorial Library in Lodi, New Jersey. Miss Giannini was invited by the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library and the Lodi Memorial Library as part of the special event “Celebrating Books: 150^th Anniversary of “Alice in Wonderland” in honoring this classic novel.

Miss Giannini read an excerpt from the first chapter of the novel as Alice discovers the white rabbit and chases him down the rabbit hole. This was followed by a Question & Answer discussion on the novel by Lewis Carroll with the audience made up of many elementary and junior high students from Lodi. Miss Giannini discussed her love of the novel as a child and the influence it had on her growing up. She then engaged the crowd on how she became Miss New Jersey and her path to the Miss America competition this summer. The audience was fascinated on what it took in pageant competition to become Miss New Jersey.

After the Q & A, Miss Giannini asked for participation from the audience on a series of magic tricks (Miss Giannini is an amateur magician) and had the children and the adults performing magic tricks for the audience. She even had one parent participate on the time it takes to get distracted while driving and texting. Even the parents understood after the program how difficult it is to do two things at once.

The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library with Miss New Jersey Lindsay Giannini

Miss Giannini’s platform for the competition is “The Dangers of Distractive Driving” and her participation in advocating in the hearings as part of People Against Distracted Driving became “Nikki’s Law” and was signed by the Governor in 2013. “Nikki’s Law” requires signage and variable message signs to warn against distractive driving. These signs are available in 17 states and 3 countries. Miss Giannini is a Junior at Rowan University with a 3.9 GPA in Broadcast Journalism and has received the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Scholarship, the Rowen University Trustee Scholarship and the President’s Education Award for Academic Excellence. In 2014, she was recognized by the Miss America Organization with a National Community Award. In 2015, she was named “Children’s Miracle Maker” by the Miss New Jersey Organization for being the contestant who raised the most money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, one of her passions.

After the Q & A and the magic tricks, Miss Giannini joined the crowd in picture taking with none other than Alice herself joining in with the fun. One of the Lodi teachers joined in the fun by dressing up as Alice to entertain and take photos with the audience. Miss New Jersey was presented with a proclamation from the Borough of Lodi by Deputy Mayor Patricia Ann Licata and an Honorary Membership to the Friends of the Library by President Judy Schroeder. An autograph session followed as the Friends of the Lodi Library sold copies of “Alice in Wonderland: to raise money for the library. Even the Lodi Women’s Tennis Team took a break from their match with Hawthorne High School to join in the fun. After that, everyone joined in a special “Tea Party” with foods from the book including cookies, fresh fruit tarts, freshly sliced fruits (lots of pineapple), fruit juice and water.

Miss New Jersey Lindsay Giannini with local Lodi children

Refreshments were continued upstairs as the crowd settled in to watch a double feature of the 1903 Silent version of “Alice in Wonderland”, the original film that was set to music. Most of the patrons had never seen a silent film so it was a treat and the second film was Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” starring Katherine Beaumont. It was a wonderland afternoon for those who were there of great food, engaging conversation, enjoyable movie watching and the excitement to meet Miss New Jersey 2015 Lindsey Giannini, who set by example the true meaning of community spirit through service. The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library and the Lodi Memorial Library want to thank everyone who attended.

Enjoy this two part video of Lindsey’s visit to the Lodi Memorial Library!