Events Calendar

The Petoskey Film Theater will be showing the Academy Award nominated documentary "Gasland" on Wednesday, February 9, 7:30 pm at the Petoskey District Library, Carnegie Building (old library). Donations are appreciated. There will be a discussion following the film with speakers from the newly formed organization "Don't Frack Michigan".

Director Josh Fox finds himself trailing the history and future of natural gas mining for this documentary, "Gasland", a moving and evocative political expose. Can you imagine being able to light your tap water on fire? This is just one of the many shocking results due to the natural gas drilling boom which has swept the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" has unlocked a "Saudi Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown. Josh Fox encounters EPA whistleblowers, congressmen, world recognized scientists, and some of the most incredibly inspiring and heart-wrenching stories of ordinary Americans fighting against fossil fuel giants for environmental justice.

Unpretentious and lacking in the didacticism that plagues many political documentaries, "Gasland" is edifying in the most entertaining and palatable way. Fox's open-ended questions presented during his narration are answered by interviewees found as he travels cross-country to source out water pollution happening as a result of hydraulic fracturing. The tension beings when Fox researches a letter he receives in the mail at his rural Pennsylvania farmhouse, inviting him to sell his land for $100,000 and permission to mine natural gas. He comes to discover how the Deleware River watershed's imminently endangered status will threaten New York City's main water source.

But before filming congressional hearings, Fox charts his personal dilemma and how it quickly spirals outward, as first his neighbors tell him horror stories about water contamination due to this process. And as he tours Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas, where hydraulic fracturing has already contaminated myriad underground wells, Fox actually films many families' water faucets catching fire as people hold a match to their running tap water. Fox's continuing investigation ties this unchecked chemical process to Dick Cheney's Halliburton activity and bills covertly passed during the Bush administration.

"Gasland" does not have a conspiratorial feel; it takes an honest, even-keeled investigative approach and relies on information relayed to Fox from renowned activists like Dr. Theo Colborn and Environmental Protection Agency staffer Weston Wilson. This documentary sheds light on what has been a practice that many American citizens have assumed mysterious and possibly benign. It is easy to understand why "Gasland" has garnered so many film festival awards, since it presents vital information that will necessitate action once it reaches enough of the population. This is grassroots documentary filmmaking at its finest.

For more information on upcoming films call the PFT Movie Hotline at (231) 758-3108. To receive weekly email updates send an email to petoskey.film.theater2@gmail.com.

They say great skiing is not cheap and cheap skiing is not great, but we beg to differ. Boyne Highlands is teaming up with 98.9 KLT to deliver deals and a whole bunch of fun Wednesday nigths through mid-March.

$9.89 Night Session Lift Tickets (4 to 9 pm, all ages, 8 and under are still free)

$9.89 Ski or Snowboard Rentals (4 to 9 pm all ages)

Food and beverage specials at the Slopeside Lounge

Lift Tickets and equipment rentals must be purchased at Boyne Highlands "day of" from 4 to 9 pm in order to receive the promotional price. Not to be combined with any other coupon or offer.