Friends group premieres documentary concerning Governor Dick Park

There are two stars in the documentary film about Governor Dick Park that made its world premiere Friday evening, May 16, at a showing in Mount Gretna.

There’s the park itself, which is featured prominently in the 15-minute film titled “One Forest. Many Voices,” that was shot and produced by local filmmaker Finn Royer. 

And then there are the people who are members of the local organization Friends of Governor Dick who care about the forest’s stewardship. 

“I really needed to capture the sense of community, which is really what I wanted to convey,” Royer said. “I thought that that was gonna be the most impactful message, trying to capture the community.”

Shot over the past two years, it was a delicate balancing act to highlight that sense of community while also showcasing the forest.

The film discusses through several interviews the efforts of Friends members who have expressed their concerns about how the 1,100-acre parcel of woodlands is managed by the park’s board of directors. 

“So I just got a healthy amount of coverage for every event that I went to. I was out in the forest, in the park, shooting plants and animals, and I got a lot of footage,” said Royer, who shot about 10 hours of footage with a digital camera. “And that was a big challenge at the end, deciding what footage I was gonna use.”

Ryan Fretz, Friends of Governor Dick president, told LebTown before the film aired that the organization has come a long way since it reorganized a few years ago. He reiterated that same sentiment to the audience, which included individuals of all ages. 

“We’ve got a relationship that’s improving with the park. And as a 501(c)(3), we’re now a nonprofit and we need a mission. So we’re going to support this park because we love this park,” Fretz said. “But our presence there means we’re paying attention, and if things go awry, there’s someone watching.”

The film highlights efforts to reorganize the Friends group after it had disbanded years ago.

The movie also discusses several issues that are of concern to the organization and, in some cases, also to the park’s board of directors. For one, both agree that the forest has a whitetail deer problem that needs to be addressed as the animals decimate plants and prevent young trees from growing to maturity. 

Issues on which the two entities have disagreed in the past include management of the forest, specifically tree harvesting, the use of herbicides to control invasive species, and a lack of turnover on the board, with directors serving for years.

Royer, who grew up in the woods that constitute Governor Dick Park, said he has a passion for seeing it survive. Royer entered Penn State University’s main campus last fall to major in film and recently finished his first year of studies there after producing a number of award-winning films as a student at Cedar Crest High School.

Read More: Cedar Crest senior named Student of the Year by national broadcast organization

“A lot of it (the decision to shoot a documentary) comes from my passion for, you know, just the woods around these areas. I mean, I grew up at Governor Dick. It’s really just a big part of my childhood and still continues to be,” he said. “I guess Ryan approached me and so I started going to meetings and the more I learned about what was going on with the board and stuff like that, the more I felt passionate about making a documentary and about trying to bring the community together because two years ago there was a lot of division.”

The original goal of making a documentary was to raise awareness about the forest, according to Fretz.

“I think there wasn’t really an end goal as much as just to document what we were going through. I think the original idea was how can we raise awareness? ‘Cause everything early on was about raising awareness,” Fretz said. “How can we get this in the public eye? Because we’re trying to do something that’s only gonna be successful if people care and how are we gonna get more people to care? So, you know,’ Hey, let’s make a movie, that’ll help.’ And now we’re at this point where relationships are a lot better with the park (officials).”

Prior to the film showing, Fretz told LebTown that there were a number of edits made over time since relations between the board and the Friends organization have been improving. Royer said he believes there were four or five versions created before a final cut was selected. 

“As the actual story that I was telling was evolving, I had to kind of adapt and change things over time. That was probably the biggest challenge of the whole thing was keeping it up to date,” he said. “I guess that’s always a challenge with documentaries.”

Mount Gretna resident Sarah Minnich said she was impressed with the documentary, which had a first showing to about 50 to 60 people at the Heights Community building. The film was originally to be shown under the stars in the field adjacent to the community building but was moved inside due to the possibility of thunderstorms moving through the area.

“I thought Finn did a phenomenal job with his, like how creative he was with this to bring awareness to what happened at the park and what’s happening now and Friends of Governor Dick’s involvement and what we stand for and what we’re fighting for,” Minnich said. “I think he accomplished that with this documentary very wonderfully and the emotion behind it was just incredible.”

One aspect noted by Fretz is that the park’s board is no longer allowing timber to be sold. Trees that are cut to permit light to reach the forest floor are left on the ground to decompose, a decision Fretz called a win for the park’s health. 

After the documentary aired, the children’s classic film “FernGully” was shown. Free popcorn was available along with desserts that everyone was encouraged to bring and share during the event. 

For those interested in watching the documentary, it can be viewed on Royer’s YouTube channel.

The Friends of Governor Dick: A Documentary