Gallia Hometown Herald

Yesterday (March 6th) our documentary project about Emma got this wonderful headline: Puffin Foundation and Ohio History Fund awards grants for Emma Gatewood documentary!  Here’s what they had to say:

Photo courtesy of Eden Valley Enterprises

Andy Verhoff, Local History Coordinator for the Ohio Historical Society, congratulates EVE’s artistic Director, Bette Lou Higgins, on the grant award.

Here is what they had to say:

By Christine Myers CozzaGALLIPOLIS – Eden Valley Enterprises announced recently that the Puffin Foundation and Ohio History Fund each awarded the organization a grant in support of their large-scale project, Grandma Gatewood: An Appalachian Tale.
In 2009, Bette Lou Higgins and Kelly Boyer Sagert of Eden Valley began researching Emma Caldwell Gatewood’s life when they learned that she had hiked the Appalachian Trail.
Gatewood was born in Mercerville, Ohio in 1887 and in 1955 she became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone – at the age of 67. It took Gatewood 145 days to hike the nearly two thousand miles. In 1957, she thru-hiked the trail again. And at the age of 76, Gatewood hiked the trail for a third time, though she completed it in sections.
Achieving national distinction, Gatewood appeared on such shows as “The Art Linkletter Show,” Groucho Marx’s “You Bet Your Life,” and “The Today Show.” Additionally, she was the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles.
Higgins and Sagert have written a storytelling program and companion e-book titled Grandma Gatewood: Ohio’s Legendary Hiker. A first-person character program and a PBS documentary of Gatewood’s life would complete An Appalachian Tale, funding being the requisite need.
The New Jersey based Puffin Foundation Ltd. provides grants to artists and art organizations and partners with institutions on special projects.
The Ohio History Fund is a matching grant program administered by the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) and is dedicated solely to history projects. It is funded by donations of Ohio income tax refunds and designated gifts to the OHS. The History Fund’s award of $15,000 must be matched by Eden Valley.
The Gallia County Charitable Foundation also granted funds toward completion of the Gatewood documentary.
Interested donors, sponsors, and readers may visit Eden Valley’s website at edenvalleyenterprises.org for additional information and upcoming events.