Contact: Cheyenne Bear, 1-877-434-3456 or 301-241-3350
Coordinating Producer, Historical Entertainment
Historical Entertainment, LLC
Begins Filming Documentary of Famed Pen Mar Park
- HE seeks park memorabilia and donations to offset expenses
- Park once attracted thousands of visitors from Baltimore-Washington each weekend
Cascade, MD—October 1, 2008—Historical Entertainment, LLC, a one-stop source for special effects, props, wardrobes, stunts, actors, and reenactors for nationally and internationally distributed films, has begun filming a documentary about Pen Mar Park, a tourist attraction that, between 1877 and 1942, attracted thousands of visitors each weekend from the Baltimore-Washington region.
Blue Ridge Summit Free Library in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. has been invited to participate in the project as a fund-raiser, with a portion of the proceeds from film DVD sales going to the library.
“We are discussing the opportunity with Historical Entertainment,” explained Melodie Anderson-Smith, president of the library board. “We greatly appreciate this chance to partner on such a worthwhile project. As soon as we work out the details we will let the public know how they can help the project and the library through donations and DVD purchases.”
“We are thrilled to be working on this project,” said Russell Richards, Historical Entertainment’s CEO and project manager for the company’s Historical Extras division.
“It’s eye-opening, it’s exciting, and it’s important history,” Richards said.
Frank and Suanne Woodring, who publish Maryland Cracker Barrel magazine and wrote the 2005 book Pen Mar for Arcadia Publishing, will serve as historical advisors for the project.
“This documentary is a great way to pay tribute to the individuals who worked at the park prior to its closing after the 1942 season. Those people deserve any accolades that come their way. They were instrumental in getting the park open again in 1977,” said Frank Woodring. “It’s unbelievable how many people remember the park. It was an outing everybody looked forward to, and it holds many wonderful memories for many, many senior citizens.”
Featuring interviews with past park patrons and employees, the documentary will explore the storied past of the Washington County, Md. park where 10,000 to 15,000 weekend visitors once dined, danced, enjoyed a carousel and other amusement rides, and rode a miniature railroad. The park also offered a photo studio, movie theatre, and scenic overlook. Record park attendance was over 20,000 visitors in one day.
Many park visitors were attracted by their belief that areas with elevation over 600 feet were safe from risk of malaria. Additionally, the mountain air was cooler in an era before air conditioning.
Historical Entertainment invites anyone with firsthand park memories to contact their office. In addition to personal narratives or memories about the park, HE seeks photographs, vintage film footage, and mementos.
The company offers unpaid internship opportunities for help with the project and associated tasks; financial support for the project is also welcome.
The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is helping to sponsor the documentary. According to CVB President Tom Riford, “This is a great project which will help bring to light a fascinating part of Washington County’s past. Today, Pen Mar Park is a beautiful county park, with Sunday concerts from late May through early October.”
Riford said that the documentary will be well-suited for Maryland Public Television and will be for sale on DVD. He added that, as the project develops, Historical Entertainment is particularly interested in memories of Baltimore-Washington residents who once made weekend trips to Pen Mar.
Both Pen Mar Park and the Blue Ridge Summit Free Library share a Western Maryland Railroad connection. The library is now housed in what was, until 1957, the railroad’s Blue Ridge Summit station. Western Maryland Railroad’s Pen-Mar Express brought thousands of weekend and holiday visitors from Baltimore’s Hillen Station to the park.
First opened August 31, 1877, the park was the brainchild of Colonel John Mifflin Hood, a former Confederate soldier who became president of Western Maryland Railroad in 1874.
Dismantled in 1943, Pen Mar Park reopened in 1977 as part of the Washington County, Md. park system.
Blue Ridge Summit Free Library first opened in September 1922 and is part of the Franklin County, Pa. Library System.
Historical Entertainment, LLC, offers a one-stop shop for authenticity, production quality, and cost-effective details that make for great films.
For more information about the project, to share memories or mementoes, to learn how to serve an intern, or to contribute to the project, call 1-877-HE4-FILM. For more information about Historical Entertainment, see www.hetvfilm.com.
Historical Entertainment is a member of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau. For more information, see www.marylandmemories.com.
