Like everyone else, you're probably inundated with requests, solicitations and invitations at this time of year. But we hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy this holiday greeting, and forward it to anyone you know who would be interested in learning more about our film and supporting our work. We’re counting on you to keep our fundraising drive going!

A Calumet old-timer named Jack Foster once sat us down and told us five Christmas Eve stories about the Italian Hall.  Each story focused on a different character — a Calumet schoolteacher, a mother preparing a holiday meal, a miner having a few drinks at Vairo’s bar, a Calumet fireman — and followed their movements around town on that fateful Christmas Eve in 1913.

Jack was such a good storyteller that in just a few sentences he could take you inside a person’s life, help you see the world through someone else’s eyes, and understand not only what they saw but why they saw it that way. Taken together, his stories gave you multiple points of view, a kaleidoscopic perspective on the town and the disaster that struck in 1913.

Jack spent his life working for the Calumet & Hecla mining company. He would have made a great filmmaker.

We thought about Jack and about what we learned from him about the Italian Hall story as we prepared to post another scene from our film in progress for the Christmas holidays.

This one features survivors of the Italian Hall disaster telling what happened in their own words.(All survivors of the Italian Hall disaster have since passed away.)

The survivors tell a story that is at once a childhood memory and a local legend.  There are still traces in their stories of tensions and divisions that ran through Calumet in 1913 (as well as other marks, accents and accretions of the century that has passed since then.) But they were undeniably there on Christmas Eve in 1913.  

Looking for a great Christmas gift for the Woody Guthrie fan in your life? Consider The Live Wire. Woody Guthrie — live in 1949! Featuring a live version of '1913 Massacre.'

We look forward to finishing a rough cut of the whole film in 2008. To do that, of course, we have to keep raising funds. We will continue to apply for the few competitive grants and finishing funds out there. You, too, can play a part.

We are deeply grateful that so many of you generously contributed to our film after receiving our Labor Day greeting. If you have not yet contributed, or if you're just learning about our project for the first time, this is your opportunity to make a tax deductible contribution to the Center for Independent Documentary, before the end of the year. (For your records, CID's Federal Tax ID # is 04-2738458.)

Just click the red "donate now" button. Be sure to specify that you want your contribution to go to the 1913 Massacre Film Project. And don't forget to forward this greeting to all your contacts.

Above all, please accept our best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Peace on Earth,

Louis & Ken