WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — After a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic dampened the vibrant First Friday gatherings in downtown White River Junction, the weekly celebrations are poised to come rolling back this spring, with a new addition.
“Light River Junction” — a program where films are projected on buildings and in windows throughout downtown — received a boost with an $18,000 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Better Places partners.
The four events, intended to encourage Upper Valley residents to gather downtown safely, are scheduled for May 7, June 4, July 2 and Aug. 6. The programs will start in early evening and continue as the night gets darker.
It is an expansion of a program White River Indie Films, or WRIF, hosted in December that involved more than 20 filmmakers, not to mention all the volunteers who produced the event and helped with the technical setup.
“It was done without a budget and a short time frame, but there was so much goodwill that came forward,” said Samantha Davidson Green, a member of the WRIF board of directors.
With that in mind, Davidson Green began exploring grant options and partnered with the town of Hartford, Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce, Vital Communities, CATV, the Briggs Opera House, the Center for Cartoon Studies and area businesses and artists.
“The First Friday format was just a natural because it is that place where we can blend all the arts,” Davidson Green said.
One of the buildings used will be the four-story, brick telephone building at the corner of Gates and Currier Street. People will be able to view the films from a parking lot across the street.
There will also be projections on other downtown buildings, as well as screens placed in the windows of some businesses. Grant funding will go toward improvements such as a projector, LED lights to weave through the trees and cafe tables where people can eat takeout from area restaurants, among other purchases. Funds will also be used to pay the artists involved in the project.
Hartford will lend the event its portable movie projection system.
“It’s part of recognizing that community spirit that has always been here and had to go on a bit of a hiatus and now is coming back and we’re adding more to it,” Lori Hirshfield, Hartford director of planning and development, said. “Our ability to get through COVID has been partnership.”
While people were working on the grant, Hirshfield sought ways to connect the program to economic development and highlight White River Junction’s historic buildings.
”We’re using this beautiful landscape to integrate art into the community in a way that’s not static,” Hirshfield said. “There’s a sense of movement, and that’s what we want to bring to the downtown.”
It will also provide an opportunity for attendees to take stock of the buildings they may see every dayand form a deeper connection with their surroundings.
“We don’t often walk down the street and take in what we’re seeing,” Hirshfield said. “We’re focusing on a destination.”
The collaborative spirit is one that David Briggs, owner of the Hotel Coolidge, welcomes as White River Junction continues its growth as a destination for the arts in the Upper Valley.
”It’s really been essential to White River,” Briggs said.
He also sees the program as a way to honor the late Dave Clark and other artists who have passed away this past year and who contributed to the arts scene in White River Junction.
“Dave Clark ignited First Friday,” Briggs said.
While the grant focuses on four events, Davidson Green and others see the program continuing to remain part of First Friday going forward, providing a way for new and emerging filmmakers to connect with the community.
“The spirit of cooperation and participation and partnership that is a key of this activity project … that’s when things happen in White River,” Hirshfield said.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
