Updates, updates

It's been pretty busy around here lately.
I posted a Director's statement on youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK68y5xW3ro which was a lot of fun to make and post.
It didn't occur to me until I began chatting about it how much Pawtucket reminds me of the small city I grew up in in upstate NY. Maybe that's why I connect with it so much. Of course, we didn't have a zoo there, or an elephant. Maybe that was a good thing.
But everyone has been great and the stories just keep flowing in. Although I'm working now on a very rough cut of the film now, there's always room for more info.
The latest great tale comes from Rachel Cresser who knew Fanny when she was a little girl (Rachel, that is- not Fanny!). She's also provided some really haunting pix of Slater Park Zoo as it is today.
We just grew our production team by 100%, too! Eclipse Neilson has joined us as Assistant Producer, and Steph Roberts is the twittermeister. Maybe she's the reason that Sundance Film Festival is now following us there...
We're running a contest for the best picture of Fanny or Slater Park Zoo when she was there.  And
More questions, comments, stories, etc? Let us know at
And, of course, we're trying to raise money to take care of some of our basic needs. Check out www.indiegogo.com/Free-Elephants to support us and get your gifts!
We've only go 24 days left to reach our goal. Please let your friends and neighbors know about us and join our efforts....
We just learned that CBS news wants around $4000 to license one minute of footage that we need, so that's a whole new campaign!
"Like" us at https://www.facebook.com/UproarInPawtucket We're aiming to hit 100 followers by the end of March!
Follow us on Twitter as UproarPawtucket.
Never lose contact with the production!

Meet us, greet us, join the contest!!!

"Uproar in Pawtucket" is going on the road!

We'll be at the Hope Artiste Village Pawtucket Indoor Winter Farmer's Market on Saturday, March 31, from 10AM-1PM for a photo contest and an opportunity to meet the director and producer of the film.

Learn more about the film, share your memories of Fanny, and get some flyers to share with your friends and family. But most importantly, bring your favorite pictures of Fanny for possible inclusion in the film and a chance to win a great prize!

First prize: A credit in the film, a copy of the finished DVD
Second prize: a copy of the DVD and some "Fanny" goodies.
Third prize: a copy of the DVD
Photos will be judged by Director Patti Cassidy and Producer Genevieve Belcher.

You can find us at 1005 Main Street Pawtucket, RI

A New Campaign!

We really need some finishing funds for this project, so have set up a new campaign on indiegogo.
We call it "Free Elephants" and are offering a helluva deal to everyone participates.
http://www.indiegogo.com/Free-Elephants
For only $25, you get your name on the big screen, a small gift, and personalized postcard thanking you for being part of the project, but for other amounts, you get more, more, more! You can even get an amazing souvenir for only $10 and updates as they're posted.
What a deal.
Come join us and be immortalized!

New discoveries and upcoming stuff

OK Guys- this is the year Fanny's story gets told on film!

I'm doing fill-in research, writing the script, adding more interviews, begging for more pix, video or visuals (including Slater Park Zoo in the mid-50's and circus pictures from 1958). If you have anything you'd like to show me, please contact me at elephantsinri@gmail.com. Thanks!

I found some great information on the results of the "Name the Animals" contest the city ran when they bought Fanny and six other animals from Ringling Brothers. She was given a very appropriate new name (it was the first of two times her name would be changed), but it obviously didn't stick!

On Sunday, 1/8/2012, I'll be interviewing Tom Keegan, who wrote the song to Fanny that opens the trailer (see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDpym4XGQSg) and his band will perform the popular tune for the camera.
I'm also ordering a copy of the archived TV show "60 Minutes" report on the zoo that was done in 1975. If I can scare up the dough (it costs around $40 just to LOOK at it!) I want to include it in the film. If you'd like to help (and buy a credit in the film along the way), please contact me!

Don't forget to check out our new website at www.rielephants.com and let others know about it!

More as things progress.....

Great news!

There's some great news this week about Elephants in Rhode Island.
We've been working for a long time to get a web presence for Elephants in Rhode Island. True, we have this blog, a facebook page, a twitter feed and our own email address, but somehow, things were falling short without our own website.
So- today- after a month or more of intense work, we are delighted to announce that Elephants in Rhode Island now has its own website with pages for our projects as we go along.
It includes ways you can get involved, the details of what the project is all about, and the latest updates from our whole world of RI elephants!
You can find us at http://rielephants.com. Please make sure to check it out and let us know how you like it as well as what features you'd like to see us add.

On another front, I just discovered that there's a trivia team in northern RI called Free Fanny. They compete in trivia nights around the state and are named after Pawtucket's sweetheart, Fanny the Elephant. Turns out they all knew and loved her, and this is the way they keep her memory alive. Way to go, gang! I hope to include them in "Uproar in Pawtucket" the next doc in the series.

More as things progress...

A New Tribute to our friend Fanny

Poet Bea Lazarus was a nurse at Pawtucket hospital when she met Fanny. She'd often stop by Slater Park in Pawtucket to visit her friend after work, when the sun was golden and Fanny was at her best.
When it was time for the elephant to leave home in 1993, Bea was moved to write a delicate and heartfelt poem to her. She's taped it for us. You can see it at
► 3:41► 3:41 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAnM1mnDnig

Ashaway and a huge surprise!.

Thursday was National Elephant Appreciation Day (for those of you who didn't know) and I celebrated by giving a talk about (what else?) Elephants in Rhode Island at the Ashaway Free Library in SW RI. The kind library staff there enthusiastically hostd the talk. They even made a batch of "Elephant Ear" cookies that disappeared from the table in minutes... The RI Council on the Humanities sponsored the program.
What fun!
We talked about the big elephant stories, I played The Ballad of Baby Roger and both adults and kiddies had some good questions. I had to do a bunch of research when I got home to send them...
Yesterday I checked the email and found an utra-exciting note from a fan who actually visited Fanny the Elephant in her final home at the sanctuary and had video of her there, as well as an interview with her keepers! I'm looking forward to meeting her and seeing what comes up. This has been a big area that I've been missing in the film- footage of her final years, and this would be perfect!
More as things develop....