Sept. 19, 2018
Kristina Smith
Marketing Committee chairman
American Presidents Film & Literary Festival
Fremont, OH
43420
800-998-7737, ext. 217
ksmith@rbhayes.org

 

Film Festival Event: ‘Meet’ Historical figures at lantern tours of Spiegel Grove

FREMONT – “Meet” First Ladies Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison, Gen. Ulysses Grant and Sen. Robert Kennedy at lantern tours of Spiegel Grove on Friday, Oct. 5, during the inaugural American Presidents Film & Literary Festival.

Tours begin at 9 p.m. with the last tour leaving at 10:20 p.m. Each tour is about 45 minutes.

Guides carrying lanterns lead the groups around Spiegel Grove, the grounds of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. They will stop at various points to see the living history presenter portray the historical figures.

Tickets for tours are $6.17 ($5 plus a $1.17 processing fee.) Lantern tour tickets also are available with an All-Access Pass for $68.27 ($65 plus a $3.27 processing fee) and a Friday-Exclusive Pass for $26.87 ($25 plus a $1.87 processing fee).

All-Access Passes are available until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Tickets are limited. Buying advance tickets or passes is recommended to secure a spot.

Tickets and passes are available at americanpresidentsfilmfestival.org.

The living history presenters on the tour are Jeremy Meier, Jean Blechschmidt, Cathey Harpster and Caleb Hall.

Meier will portray Kennedy.

Meier is a theater professor at Owens Community College in Northwest Ohio. He teaches acting and has directed 19 student productions at the school, including Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

In addition to his portrayal of Kennedy, Meier has created original solo performances for the Ohio Humanities on John Dillinger and Oliver Hazard Perry. Meier also was a consultant on the organization of these lantern tours.

Blechschmidt will portray Madison. Blechschmidt is a retired school counselor and has been a Hayes Presidential Library & Museums docent for two years and a Hayes Home guide for nearly six years.

Harpster will portray Adams. She has been a guide in the Hayes Home for two years.

Hall will portray Grant. He is a student at Owens Community College and has performed in a variety of shows. He wrote the part for and performed as Nikola Tesla for the 2017 Ohio Chautauqua Training Program.

For a full schedule of film festival events, visit www.americanpresidentsfilmfestival.org. Like the film festival on Facebook at @ampresfilmlit.

The American Presidents Film & Literary Festival is committed to providing a place for expanded national and international understanding of the history and current events that have and continue to shape and influence the President of the United States. Utilizing the site and community of America’s first presidential library and museum, filmmakers, film professionals and authors will inspire audiences to explore, understand, critique and analyze the people, places, politics and power surrounding the American Presidency.

It is organized by the Liberty and Learning Foundation, Fremont City Schools, Birchard Public Library, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums and Downtown Fremont.  The Lantern Tours are sponsored by Woleslagel Moving