03/31/2016
‘Beast of Whitehall’ to air Saturday at WAC
B y Jamie Norton
It’s been almost 40 years since Sasquatch was first spotted in the tight-knit town of Whitehall. And on Saturday, his story will be told.
An area known nation-wide for its association with the big, hairy monster will bring Bigfoot back to the center of attention when the Small Town Monsters series premieres its “Beast of Whitehall” documentary at the Whitehall Athletic Club. The premier is set for Saturday, beginning at 3 p.m.
In conjunction with the Small Town Monsters filmmakers, the Arts and Recreation Commission of Whitehall will make it more than just a movie viewing – it’s going to be an event. Local Bigfoot historian Paul Bartholomew will start the festivities at 3 p.m. with a presentation covering Whitehall’s history with the creature before the documentary premieres at 4 p.m.
“(I’ll talk about) Bigfoot in Whitehall and how the community has embraced this,” Bartholomew said. “The documentary focuses on Whitehall – I think it’s a positive. It deals with the encounters in the 70s that hadn’t been dealt with in full details until now.”
The film, which is based on claims of Sasquatch sightings in Whitehall, will be shown again at 5 p.m. It is expected to delve into not only the history of Bigfoot in the area but the history of the area itself, and will take a “different angle,” according to filmmaker Seth Breedlove, at the issue than has been seen in other coverage, including what was shown in an episode of “Finding Bigfoot” last year.
“I think they did a nice job,” said Bartholomew, who has already seen the film. “It puts Whitehall in a good light. It’s interesting; they have some new witnesses that have never been interviewed before.”
“It isn’t for a certain show or network or anything – it was an independent project. A new witness might shed some new light on the sighting.”
The film’s primary focus is on the famous sighting by Brian Gosselin on Abair Road in the 1970s. It’s approximately 40 minutes long, but it will also be available on DVD, which contains a variety of special features, behind-the-scenes featurettes, extended interviews with witnesses, and more.
Vendors will be there with food and drinks for sale, and after the feature presentation, Breedlove, producer Brandon Dalo, and members of the film cast will take part in a question-and-answer session.
“It looks like it will be a fun time,” Bartholomew said. “There should be a lot of researchers on hand. Hopefully we’ll get a nice turnout and some new sightings will come to light.”
The Beast of Whitehall is part of the Small Town Monsters series, which focuses on telling the stories of unknown creatures in rural communities throughout the country. These creatures, according to the crew, “become part of the lore and legend of rural communities.”
More information about the documentary or the Small Town Monsters crew is available at smalltownmonsters.com or facebook.com/smltownmonsters. And if you can’t attend (or even if you can) and you’re interested in purchasing the DVD, you may order it at shop.smalltownmonsters.com.
