WHATELY — This year’s Whately Agriculture Day will combine farming with the Sundance Film Festival.
A documentary film highlighting the area’s farming history will be screened during the event, slated for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Whately Elementary School. Titled “The Farmers of Whately,” the film was created through a collaboration between Frontier Community Access Television and students at Frontier Regional School.
FCAT General Manager Chris Collins explained Whately Grange member Jim LaSalle of LaSalle Florists approached him about producing a documentary about Whately farms for Agriculture Day. Collins said FCAT’s outreach coordinator, Kevin Murphy, who also teaches at Frontier, worked with students to shoot footage of 15 Whately farms. Collins then edited it into a 90-minute series of short features.
“It was a lot of fun. It’s exactly the kind of production that we want to try to do more of,” Collins said. “This is what FCAT’s mission is. Our goal is to tell as many stories as possible.”
Collins said the film will soon be available on vod.fcat.tv and YouTube. It will also be on television this week. Collins said people can check the Channel 12 line-up in The Recorder for dates and times.
The Whately Grange and the Whately Agriculture Commission are co-sponsoring Agriculture Day. Future Farmers of America and 4-H will also be involved. It is free and open to the public. Twenty-seven farmers have been invited to participate to promote awareness and the importance of the rich soil and agriculture business in Whately.
According to Whately Grange member Adelia Bardwell, the town consists of more than 4,000 acres of tillable farmland, and local farms employ 420 people and combine for $20 million in gross annual revenue.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli