Wild Rivers Film Festival: Avigail’s Flower

Posted on by Thor

There was a party for the filmmakers and vip patrons at Abigail’s Flower in Brookings, Oregon. The same woman was running the bar that was in charge of wines at the pizza party the day before. The shop has an amazing eclectic mix of antiques and floral arrangements. When you first enter the door there was a wall above a couch covered with tall grass with the Pom Pom seed pods and the women seated on the couch and gossiping, were dressed to the 9’s. I felt under dressed since I didn’t pack a suit. I also didn’t pack a sweatshirt, jacket or wool shirt. I was so glad I found a wool shirt that fit at a bait and tackle shop. I was starting to look like a local, or at least one of the hikers that pass through the town each day.

As I was searching for an angle to sketch from, I met a married couple in the back and shared my sketchbook with them. I got to tell them about my film, which they had not seen yet. Hopefully I talked them into checking it out.

There were finger bites, my favorite of which was tomatoes, basel and mozzarella on a stick. Rather than getting a drink so early in the day, I had lemonade which was delicious. Avigail, in a lovely white dress told me I had to check out a wedding venue right out side of town. It is a wooden structure with a very interesting series of exposed roof beams. I looked it up online and decided to sketch nature instead of a wedding chapel. She said the number of weddings she has hosted at the venue has risen exponentially.

Overall, this was a pleasant gathering. I wanted to get to a final screening of my film, so I skipped out a bit early. When I got to the theater, I realized I had the day and or time wrong. A film I had already seen was about to screen. I therefore jumped in my rental car and rushed to another theater.I probably watched 4 or 5 feature films at the festival and there were others I hoped to see.

National Military Heritage Museum

Posted on by Thor

The 75th Division Association had a field trip that went to the National Military Museum in Enid, Oklahoma. The bus stopped at the entrance in what looked like a deserted shopping mall. The sliding glass doors slid open and we were greeted with several naked manakins leaning against a wall. That sight diStracted Many from noticing the much smaller donation bin to the right.

The Military museum occupies a rather large space about the size of a typical mall Macy’s ground floor, but instead of moments clothes there were military dioramas featuring soldiers represented by store manakins in uniform. The 75th Infantry played a part in the Battle of the Bulge so we all posed in front of the Bulge diorama which had an injured manakin stiffly lying on a stretcher on a bed of cotton snow.

The first order of business was lunch. About 8 long folding tables were set up and sandwiches had been ordered by the organizers, along with chips and cookies. I walked around the museum for a bit trying to figure out which WWII diorama I would want to sketch. Once I settled on this WWII truck, I went back to eat lunch.

I used the tiny folding camping chair that I had packed in my bag. It unfolds like a camping tent with thin aluminum poles that snap together. This was my first time assembling it indoors but assembly was quick. I like this chair, it is so much lighter than the usual steel camping chair that I have been using for years. I researched and found it at REI for my trip to Europe. Only time will tell how well it holds up to regular use.

Today is day 2T at the Wild Rivers Film Festival on the coast of Oregon. I plan to spend the day watching films and then going to a cocktail party at Avigail’s Flower and the Awards ceremony at the Elks Lodge. I am hoping the Elks lodge might have some WWII memorabilia. I overheard that my film is the only animated film at the festival. I watched it last night with an audience and was pleased at the applause. The audience didn’t applaud for every film. They were quite selective. Being the only animated film, maybe I will win the best animated film award. That might feel like a shallow victory.