Connecticut Public Television will release a documentary in March featuring a segment on Dartmouth's Ledyard Canoe Club.
The documentary, titled "Connecticut River: Journey Through Time," will be released on March 19 and will cover the river's journey from the source to the sea. The section on recreation will include interviews and footage from the College's annual trip to the sea, as well as interviews with alumni.
The documentary has been in production since last November. The idea came from a viewer survey CPTV sent out that registered a strong response in favor of more programming about the environment, especially the New England region. The film will use archival pictures and footage interwoven with more contemporary sources and interviews.
It will cover the geography, history and contemporary uses of the river, including sections on the floods, pollution and recreation.
The film will chronicle the history of the river's usage, including a section on Native Americans, its "discovery" by Dutch settlers, trading, the growth of manufacturing and floods. There will also be a section on groups that have been formed to protect the river.
The CPTV crew came up in November to interview Jay Evans '49, Walker Weed '40 and Sara Greenberg '97 about their experiences as club members and their connections to the Connecticut River. Other members were videotaped kayaking and canoeing on the river.
The club, founded in 1920, is named after legendary Dartmouth student John Ledyard, who left the college in 1773 by building a dugout canoe and paddling it down the Connecticut River to Hartford. Ledyard went on to become a world explorer.
Martha Davidson, the associate producer of the film, said that she believes Ledyard Canoe Club "is an example of one of the strongest groups on the river." She said, "Dartmouth students, since the 1920s, have been inspired by the spirit of adventure that Ledyard represents and we saw that same spirit in Walker, Jay and Sara."
They had hoped to include footage of more recent "trips to the sea," but production will be finished before this year's trip. Producer Lisa Simmons said, "We're hoping someone who videotaped the trip in the past couple of years will be able to help us out." She explained that they were particularly interested in video footage showing the canoeists at the end of the trip arriving in Old Saybrook at the mouth of the river.
Although filming is complete, the crew is still searching for some material, most notably Fox Film's 1920s movie of a canoe trip down the river. Simmons said, "We've found some wonderful material but we're still searching for pre-1940s film showing timber drives, dam and canal construction, major floods and people having fun on the Connecticut River. I hope people will look in their attics for film in these categories."
Simmons said that any footage submitted would be fully credited. "We'll include the names of people who donate videotape of the 'trip to the sea' or vintage film on the credit roll."
Davidson said the crew has a lot to do between now and the film's release in March, including editing, producing the narrative and putting together a soundtrack.
The film will be released exclusively to CPTV viewers as a part of a fundraiser, but Davidson said she hopes to open it up to other public television stations in New England shortly after.
Davidson said their experience working with the College was excellent. "It was a cold day and we'd been going back and forth on logistics all week ...but everyone was so welcoming and friendly. It was a lot of fun."
The film crew, while small, is well recognized. Most notably, Simmons has won six Emmys for her previous documentary work.
Davidson expressed interest in a special showing of the film at Dartmouth, and said she would love for the College see the results of their work. "We learned so much and met so many interesting people. I really enjoyed being able to go up north."
