Aloha … from BethCNorth Carolina woman, band
bring powerful tale to Vermont
RANDOLPH, Jan. 25, 2010 – Marcy Brenner was just 34 when she first found a lump in her left breast in 1997, the same year ovarian cancer took her mother's life.
In 2000, she suffered a devastating – and enlightening – reoccurrence. Afterfeeling an ache in her bones, she was tested for and diagnosed with advanced metastatic breast cancer in her spine, hips and a lymph node in her chest.
“Since that day, it has been my life’s work to offer a hand in the darkness of a cancer diagnosis,” says Brenner, now a survivor.
She’s done that with a powerful song turned award-winning film titled “Dead Girl Walking.” The short film by Ray and Judy Schmitt of Real Earth Productions documents Brenner’s experiences from the brink of despair to being truly alive.
It is, by all accounts, an incredibly powerful tale of emerging from the darkness to grasp life with a truly awe-inspiring zest and confidence. And it will be shown in Vermont this March.
Brenner, her husband and band, Molasses Creek, of North Carolina will visit Vermont on March 23, 24 and 25.
On March 24, Brenner will show the film, “Dead Girl Walking,” at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph beginning at 6 p.m. Following the 45-minute video will be a talk and question and answer period. The band, of which Brenner is a part, will then play a song or two.
The following night, on March 25, Molasses Creek will play a full concert beginning at 7 p.m. in Sharon at The Vermont Independent School of the Arts.
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| Marcy Brenner is also part of the group "Coyote" with her husband Lou Castro, right. Together they wrote the song "Dead Girl Walking" that would later become a film. |
Molasses Creek is a high-energy acoustic group with a captivating stage presence, elegant harmonies, blazing instrumentals and a quirky sense of humor, according to the band’s Web site.
Barbara Smith of Bethel brought Brenner and the band to Vermont.
“Over the years, I have gotten to know Marcy and Molasses Creek through visits to North Carolina. Marcy’s story is so inspiring and needs to be heard by women of all ages. My hope is that mothers will attend the screening with their daughters to encourage early detection of breast cancer,” Smith said of what prompted her to organize the event.
“Molasses Creek is a great group with a great sound,” she added. “They are generous musicians and put on a great show. While watching them perform in North Carolina, I kept thinking that they would be well received in Vermont.”
Smith is working in collaboration with the hospital and its Breast Care Coordinator Jane Harrness on the film showing.
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| Marcy Brenner poses with filmmaker Ray Schmitt at the premiere of "Dead Girl Walking." |
“This film will offer hope to anyone who has experienced cancer or a serious illness as either a patient, caregiver or friend,” said Harrness. “It is an inside view at one woman’s experience with breast cancer and how she turned loss into life and love.”
Brenner describes her cancer diagnosis as a “a wake up call to life.
“My journey delivered me to a side of the river I would never have seen without having had a life-threatening experience. I am a woman who’s finally, finally alive.”
A 10-minute trailer for the film is available on YouTube and on deadgirlwalking.net.
The complete film can be seen at Gifford. The 6-8 p.m. March 24 filming and talk are free, but donations, for those able to give, are appreciated. The proceeds will support the hospital’s Woman to Woman fund. The fund assists low-income women with mammogram costs not covered by other assistance programs and also pays for Woman’s Touch MammoPads, a soft cushion placed on the medical center’s mammography machine to make mammograms more comfortable.
Gifford Medical Center is at 44 S. Main Street in Randolph. The film will be shown in the Conference Center. Call (802) 728-2284 to learn more.
Tickets for the concert on March 25 in Sharon are $10 ($5 for children under age 10 and seniors). Contact Smith at (802) 234-6987 to buy tickets or log on to www.vtisa.org. The show is sponsored by Vermont Violins and Northfield Savings Bank.
An additional concert is slated for March 23 at the Langdon Street Café in Montpelier.