BY CLINT SCHEMMER
Bowling, battlefields and big-screen classics. An unheard-of combination.
But that’s what is on tap this weekend at Spotsylvania County’s Muvico Village 12, in a first-ever benefit to save a few more acres of the Fredericksburg area’s dwindling Civil War battlefields.
All-day Saturday, for $5 a show (cash donation), people can see “Gone With the Wind” or “Glory” as these great movies were meant to be seen, not on a TV screen or a laptop PC.
People can meet Civil War historians Don Pfanz, Russ Smith, Eric Mink and Erik Nelson, who wrote the new “Fredericksburg History and Biography,” and purchase this journal of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust.
They can also admire the battlefield imagery of local photographer Kerri Williams, owner of Magpi Studios. (She’ll donate 40 percent of sales to CVBT.)
On Sunday, at Splitsville next door to the theaters, families and friends can enjoy an inexpensive couple of hours of 10-pin fun, along with soft hors d’oeuvres from the gourmet dinner lounge. The $20 per person price tag includes all of that and shoe rental. Children under 12 are free.
Proceeds will go toward buying more “dirt and grass,” the trust’s pet phrase for battlefield land, said Tom Van Winkle, communications director of the Fredericksburg-based nonprofit. “It was very, very generous of Muvico to let us do this,” he said. “Every penny will go to battlefield preservation.”
The trust’s volunteers have designed the special event to be family-friendly and affordable, he said.
Each film was a trend-setter in its day, but neither depicts warfare as graphically as newer movies do.
“Gone With the Wind” (1939), based on Margaret Mitchell’s best-selling novel, is a Hollywood epic with generations of fans.
“Glory” (1989) reveals the heroism of black troops who fought in the Civil War, part of history that many Americans had never heard of.
The benefit grew out of a chance encounter between a CVBT board member and one of the partners in Muvico. The partner, who’s keen on history, offered to let CVBT show a big-screen pitch for its work before winter shows at the Spotsylvania theaters.
“After he saw the 30-second spot we made, one of the owners said maybe we can do something else to help,” Van Winkle said. “One thing led to another, and we created this monster of a weekend with movies and open bowling and local authors and battlefield photography. It just kind of grew.
“This is a new idea, something different. So we’ll see how it goes.”
What: Battlefield Preservation Weekend: Civil War movies and family bowling; meet local historians and get the new Fredericksburg History and Biography journal
Where: Muvico Village 12 theaters and Splitsville, Spotsylvania Towne Centre
When: Saturday: CVBT journal release party, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; “Gone With the Wind,” noon–4 p.m.; “Glory,” 4:30–6:30 p.m.; “Gone With the Wind,”
7–11 p.m. Sunday: Bowling for Battlefields, 2–4 p.m.
Info: cvbt.org; village12.com; magpistudios.blogspot.com
Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
cschemmer@freelancestar.com
