Monday, February 23, 2009

Coudesport, Pennsylvania, March 8, 2009



A celebration of International Women’s Day is planned on Sunday, March 8 at the Coudersport Public Library, highlighted by a screening of “Singing The Bones,” a full-length movie that tells the story of three generations of women brought together by a single birth.

The celebration is the brainchild of longtime childbirth educator Donna Batterson, who is the coordinator of the Healthy Beginnings Plus program for Charles Cole Memorial Hospital. She brought the idea to Freda Fultz of A Way Out and Jane Metzger, a Coudersport Library trustee, who enthusiastically agreed to collaborate on this special celebration.

“We wanted to offer a time for women of all generations to join in celebration of this special day,” says Batterson. “We envision it as a time for mothers, daughters and grandmothers to spend time together celebrating our womanhood.”

The movie will be screened at 2:00 p.m. but the doors to the library will open at 1:00 p.m. to allow participants time to view the displays and spend time together. Refreshments will be provided.

International Women’s Day on March 8 is a yearly observance marked by women’s groups around the world, commemorated at the United Nations and designated in many counties as a national holiday.

When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggles for equality, justice, peace and development.

Inspired by true stories, “Singing The Bones” enlivens debate surrounding a women’s right to control her own destiny and see the birth of a child as a personal, rather than an institutional event. “Singing the Bones” brings Canadian writer-performer Caitlin Hicks’ acclaimed one-woman stage play to film. Hicks plays three characters: Meg, a spirited midwife, Nicole, a feisty young mother pregnant with twins, and Sara, an aging obstetrician. “The interlocking tales of the three women become a single narrative that is not just a woman’s story, but an unforgettable window into the human experience,” says a reviewer from the Mill Valley Film Festival.

The celebration is provided free of charge, Donations are accepted with proceeds going to program costs, A Way Out and the Coudersport Public Library. Reservations are appreciated. Please call the library at 274-9382.