Muir's March 2011!

It's not too early to register. In fact, I did so today!

Film Fest success!

More than 100 Bay Area Hetch Hetchy-ites enjoyed the Hetch Hetchy Film Festival -- Northern edition. Wednesday night in downtown Berkeley we were treated to three films. The David Brower film from the 1950s was new to me, and almost brought tears to my eyes. It showed footage of a dry year in which the stumps of the trees chopped down to make way for the reservoir are visible. It's a summer day and a whopping 1,500 people are visiting Yosemite Valley (can that be right?) while the photographer and one hiker are in HH Valley. The wind kicks up alkalai dust. It's not a pleasant place.

The second film was a short one created by two SoCal 3rd graders for a class project. (One proud set of grandparents was in attendance.) It was cute and funny but brought the point home. The third film was the Harrison Ford-narrated film most of us are familiar with, albeit with some new editing and appearances by our fearless leader, ED Mike Marshall.

At the reception before the viewing, Muir-Hanna Vineyards provided wine for the guests. The vineyard is run by Muir's grandson, Bill Hanna.

It's a bit embarrassing that I have not blogged here in over a year. But I thought I would write a quick note after going to the Hetch Hetchy Film Festival in LA last Thursday.

The principle reason for the festival was to debut the re-release of "Discover Hetch Hetchy" with Harrison Ford. The new version is a bit leaner, though includes compelling new footage of our articulate and photogenic Executive Director Mike Marshall. As always, Sally Kaplan and David Vassar did a great job.

But we saw two other great films as well. David Brower's 1955 "Two Yosemites" was moving. The video is low-quality by today's standards but Brower is quite eloquent. No wonder he was and is such a revered environmental leader. Still the film does not imagine restoration but only bemoans the tragic flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley.

For me the surprise of the evening was Gabriel Vasquez and Dylan Norris' "Restore the Hetch Hetchy". It is fun, fact-filled and will soon be on Youtube.

The best way to see these films is all at once. They will be shown December 1st at the Brower Center in Berkeley. I recommend that all fans of this historic restoration opportunity make the effort to attend. For more information go to Restore Hetch Hetchy's new website.