Cumberland - Our Town

On Friday evening, WMHS served as the preview location for Maryland Public Television's Cumberland - Our Town.  The public debut was over the weekend on MPT as well as the WV Public Television station.  WMHS was one of a number of sponsors of the documentary with the intention of using it for recruitment and marketing purposes.  Overall, it was well done.  A little long at 68 minutes; some obvious editing is needed.  My goal is to have it reduced to about 20 minutes for our purposes. 

For the most part, Bill Macy was the narrator and he did an exceptional job.  As a Hollywood actor who also hails from Cumberland and who made his acting debut at Allegany High School, he was most generous with his time as well as his very kind remarks.  My understanding is that his time was at no charge to MPT or the sponsors and he filmed his part at the public television station in Los Angeles.  As for the documentary, it captured the essence of Cumberland as to its history, although that part could have been longer and sooner in the documentary; the friendliness of the people throughout the region and the beauty of the area.  There were some true stars in the documentary in addition to Bill Macy, they were Andy Vick, Al Feldstein, Dave Williams, Gino Giaritas and of course, our own Kathy Rogers, Dr. George Garrow and our new hospital.  All in all, it was well done and gives you a very good feeling while you watch it.