Resources for Starting a Vineyard in Vermont

• Vermont Grape & Wine Council
• What to do 2-years before planting, 1-year before planting and the year of planting
• Soil & Petiole Testing and why it’s important
• Cold Climate Grape Production resources from UVM (great set of links)
• Northeastern Vine Supply (Good supply company and  a man by the name of Andy Farmer works there and was recommended as someone to pay a little bit to come out to do a site inspection.)
• A conference that might be of interest to your father is the MN Grape Growers Association Annual Grape and Wine Conference, February 23-25, 2012, in St. Paul, MN.   The conference focuses on cold climate viticulture and wine topics. Please see the conference website for more information: http://mngrapegrowers.com/conference

Sofar DC: Sunwolf – The Dreamer from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Sunwolf – The Hunted from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Sunwolf – Cherry Crush from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Sunwolf – Hermosilla from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Sunwolf – Nothing Left To Do from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Lightfoot – Beaster from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Lightfoot – Pow Wow from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Lightfoot – City Girls from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Lightfoot – Caged Bird from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Lightfoot – 1963 from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Holger – Caribbean Nights from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Holger – No Brakes from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Holger – Let’em Shine Below from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Holger – Hey + She Dances from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Holger – Beaver from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Second String Band – Santa Fe from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Second String Band – I’m Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Second String Band – Home I Have Now from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Second String Band – Cindy from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Sofar DC: Second String Band – Gold Fleck of Paint from Nick Fitzhugh on Vimeo.

Directed by:
Chris Keener

Produced by:
Ian Fay
Nick Fitzhugh

Assistant Director:
Nick Fitzhugh
Meghan Keener

Starring:
Adam Krell
Chris Keener
with Ian Fay

Written by:
Rob Shore
Chris Keener
Nick Fitzhugh
Matt Tanski

Photography:
Nick Fitzhugh
Zach Jopling

Editors:
Matt Tanski
Chris Keener
Nick Fitzhugh

Colorists:
Zach Jopling
Nick Fitzhugh

Graphics:
Matt Tanski
Ian Fay

Sound Design:
Matt Tanski

Gaffer:
Adam Krell

Actors (in alphabetical order):
Gordy Verde – Adam Krell
Gordon Verde – Chris Keener
Bartender – Ian Fay
Henchman – Adrian Bryant
The Sheik – Danny Harris
Main Bar Fly – Meghan Keener
Clapping Bar Fly – Sheldon Scott
Red Head Fatale – Liz Young
Bar Fly – Rakhee Jethwa
Bar Fly – Kristin Wilcox
Blonde Fatale – Christina Forsting
Bar Fly – Annelies Husmann
Bus Boy – Matt Tanski

Original Music:
Aaron Thompson

Music:
“Kodachrome Earth” by Faded Paper Figures
“Float and Fall” by Meklit Hadero
“Feeling Good” by Meklit Hadero
“My Walk Downtown” by Brad Huff

Special Thanks:
The Gibson
Tesla Motors
Sally Barth
Sheldon Scott
Aaron Lasher & Elizabeth Nelson
Tinderbox

Music by April Smith and the Great Picture Show

Songs From A Room (SOFAR) is a series of global pop-up gigs supporting new music. These videos were shot at the Washington, DC premiere of Sofar. The room was packed and the music was great. Take a listen.

Race. Class. Poverty. Faith. Hope. Soccer. With soccer in township South Africa and the first ever FIFA World Cup in Africa as a lens, witness the ongoing transition from apartheid South Africa within a township largely misunderstood even by South Africans. “Soccer City” is a collection of profiles of five individuals born and raised in the oldest and most notorious of South Africa’s townships, Alexandra, locally knows as ‘Alex.’

Seventeen year-old dribbling sensation and goal-scorer Nancy “Maradona” Majola fights physical, financial and equal rights adversity of all kinds as a young woman in a sport still dominated by men. One day, she says, she will make it and play for Banyana Banyana (the women’s national team).

Soccer is super-charming, twenty-one year-old Ricardo “Rico” Kutumela’s pride and joy yet he abandoned professional aspirations to try to win a prestigious scholarship to an Afrikaans university. He succeeded. He works for a TV ad agency and flashes his incredible smile for companies like MTN. He lives and says he will always live in Alex.

One of the most famous professional soccer players in South African history, forty year-old Isaac “Shakes” Kungwane has long since retired and is all too familiar with the politics of football in South Africa but is part of a big family, is still hustling, still laughing, and still partying.

Twenty-one year-old defender Patrick Phungwayo is one of five professional footballers in Alex and something of a celebrity. A left back for BIDVest Wits, he was voted young player of the year last season, has played against national teams and may have a real shot at every kid’s dream––playing professional soccer overseas.

Sixty-nine year-old Jacob “Babes” Bopape was one of South Africa’s first professional footballers. He has lived most of his life within the unjust system that was Apartheid South Africa and has also witnessed the country’s inspiring transition to an equal and democratic nation and he has the near photographic memory to prove it. Full of hope and faith, he is also inescapably scarred by the years of injustice and oppression.

“Comeback Kid” is the pilot episode (1 of 13) of “Soccer City” and introduces Nancy “Maradona” Majola.

redfitz productions is currently seeking U.S. distribution for “Soccer City“. To discuss licensing opportunities, use the ‘contact’ link above.

Director/Producer and Art Director:
Nick Fitzhugh

Photography:
Nick Fitzhugh
Pete Muller

Editor:
Arthur Hurley

Assistant Director:
Pete Muller

Soundtrack:
Kelela Mizanekristos

Sound Edit & Mix:
Richard Humphries

Starring:
Jacob “Babes” Bopape
Nancy “Maradona” Majola
Patrick Phunwayo
Ricardo “Rico” Kutumela
Isaac “Shakes” Kungwane

Two brothers and two sisters, their children and their extended family witness the disappearance of a century of family memories when they must sell their parents’ magically beautiful 160 year old summer home in Cape Cod. It is the end of an era for this house and the family that’s occupied it. Does it also mark the end of the multi-generational American family home?

What has come to be known as the Starboard Light was built in Chatham, Massachusetts in 1860. In those years, the concept of a summer/weekend home was almost unheard of and there was certainly no interest in Cape Cod. In fact, by 1860 its population had begun to decline. A map of Cape Cod actually indicates individual dwellings by name! But thanks to train and then car travel, it quickly became possible to trade a refreshing sea breeze for the swelter of cities in summer before AC quickly enough to make second homes viable. 

Cape Cod was a rough, undeveloped, simple and beautiful peninsula. Within striking distance of both Boston and New York by train, it became an attractive destination for those who wanted to escape city life and live simply in and around the beach and the sea. And Cape Cod farmers and sea captains were delighted to sell those Bostonians and New Yorkers what they considered to be worthless coastland for $30 an acre. The Forbes family literally bought Naushon Island. Secretary of State Richard Olney bought a place in Falmouth. And in 1890, ex-President Grover Cleveland settled in Wings Neck and others began to follow.

In 1925, William W. Fitzhugh bought what came to be known as the Starboard Light. It was built initially in 1860 along with two others on Stage Harbor by one of the founding fathers of Chatham for his three sons. Even by 1925 it was one of just three houses in eyesight.

Now there are fifteen houses and about fifty boats in view which parallels the sevenfold population increase on Cape Cod over the past hundred years. Tourists cram the towns, the beaches and the roads. Most newcomers love and embrace the old Cape Cod culture yet the many old Cape families, both blue collar and white, who established that culture, can’t afford to stay. They also can’t bear to leave. That old Cape Cod culture was about simplicity, modesty and stoicism. But with the natural fragmentation of familial wealth and the growing value of waterfront property, these families are increasingly forced to sell their multi-generational homes. New families with new money erect new homes whose size and cost emphasize a new value for luxury, excess that never before existed in Cape Cod.

And yet in the summer of 2010, the Starboard Light, at least, still remained as one of the few remaining icons of the previous century and its values and it was still owned by the Fitzhugh family. Particularly when compared to the newer and tremendously larger homes that increasingly surrounded it, the Starboard Light seemed unchanged. The evidence of age was everywhere and it was enchanting to family and guests alike. Moss-covered sea gray shingles. Impractically small beds full of bumpy springs. A permanent odor of moth balls. Yellowed and peeling wallpaper. Warped floors speckled by hand with paint. Shelves full of dusty hardcover books. Walls lined with family photographs that look as though they belong in an American History book. A wooden wheelchair. Spindly and creaky furniture. A porcelain wash basin. A workshop full of tools for a hundred years of projects. And small, storm-battered windows looking out over the harbor. As other old family homes disappeared or had such history sucked out of them in preparation for summer renters, the Starboard Light remained until 2010––the last summer as a five generation family museum and a symbol of a time gone by.

Be sure to visit the official Starboard Light website. For updates, visit the Starboard Light Facebook Page.

Director/Producer:
Nick Fitzhugh

Photography:
Nick Fitzhugh

Starring:
Brooke Andrews
Cornelia Atkins
Curtis Dozier
Deborah Ecker
Eliza Fitzhugh
Emily Dozier
Ernie Eldredge
Hoyt Ecker
Josh Fitzhugh
Joshua Fitzhugh
Laurie Andrews
Michael Westgate
Naina Fitzhugh
Nick Fitzhugh
Peter Andrews
Rebecca Andrews
Ryland Andrews