Editor

As this small southwest Virginia community stands in complete shock from the human devastation caused by a gun man on the University campus at Blacksburg, the small town of Town of Fries, the Tourism Department of Galax City, The Carroll County Department of Tourism, and the Drydock Film Corporation are hoping for the best for the TOP TEN FILMS IN AMERICA FESTIVAL.

The four day festival begins Thursday and will showcase 24 films including World Premiere features, shorts, documentaries, and Foreign films and two films which were made locally. A festival spokesman said "To allow this deranged person to destroy our festival along with all of the death, horror, and tragedy that he has already caused, would be an additional tragedy." Fries, Virginia has never recovered from the closing of Washington Mills, a fabric mill which was basically the life blood of the town. All of the proceeds from the festival which is to run concurrently in Fries and the City of Galax were to go to the Fries Recreation Center, a non profit place where children can swim, play basketball, and bowl. The recreation center also has programs such as cub scouts, a Seniors organization and baseball. It also houses the local public library. Directors, Producers, and the casts from films from all over the country are slated to attend the festival. Media promotion and publicity was overwhelmingly swallowed up by coverage of the shootings at Virginia Tech and a total of only five tickets have been sold so far including for the Virginia Premiere of MORNING SONG WAY, an award winning film which was made right here in the town of Fries and stars Jennifer Redbird and Glenda Bean, actresses who live in Virginia.

The Roanoke Film Festival which was scheduled for the same weekend had already been cancelled due to an illness of the festival organizer. Unless a few of the big name Hollywood stars come out here to support their fellow actors and people start making plans to come to Fries and Galax this weekend, world class films may be playing to very small audiences which would be yet another economic disaster for this small two mountain county community whose native son from Fancy Gap is the head football coach at Virginia Tech. Parents around here are still trying to account for their children at Virginia Tech as not all of the students have been heard from.