Our Town Foundation and the CMSgt Richard L. Etchberger Foundation teamed up on Sunday, July 20, for a private screening of ‘MURPH THE PROTECTOR’ at the Hamburg Strand Theater that benefited both foundations.
‘I want to say ‘thank you’ to Deena [Kershner] and the Our Town Foundation for pairing up with the Etchberger Foundation,’ said Cory Etchberger, of the CMSgt Richard L. Etchberger Foundation and Hamburg native. ‘When I heard that the Strand was trying to raise money to save this icon of Hamburg, I asked Deena if I could do something and this is what we came up with.’
Joining Kershner, executive director of OTF, and Etchberger was Gary Williams the co-producer of the film and author of the biography of LT Michael Murphy.
‘Thank you to the Strand for allowing us to be here today,’ said Williams. ‘It is an honor to be here. Four years after the book was released, we introduced ‘MURPH THE PROTECTOR’ and it received five Academy considerations.’
The film is a documentary of the life of United States Navy SEAL officer LT Michael Murphy who was awarded the United States military’s highest decoration the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war in Afghanistan. Murphy officially became a Navy SEAL in July 2002 and after participating in several war on terrorism missions, he was killed on June 28, 2005 after his team was compromised and surrounded by Taliban forces near Asadabad, Afghanistan.
Williams suggested to those entering the theater for the screening that they should have tissues handy. He also mentioned before the screening that the film was a natural extension of the book as more was learned about Murphy’s life and those involved, and all the music in the film was original and created by a casualty officer, former Navy SEAL and former college classmate of Murphy’s.
Available at the screening were Williams’ book, a copy of the film, information on the Etchberger Foundation and information on OTF’s Save Our Strand capital campaign. All those in attendance received a copy of Murphy’s Medal of Honor ceremony.
Our Town Foundation bought the Strand in March 2013 and has started a capital campaign to help save the theater with a total goal of $200,000. The first step was purchasing a digital projector (including a new screen and sound system) which was recently installed.
‘I’m pleased to say that two weeks ago we installed a digital projector system which cost about $60,000,’ said Kershner. ‘Unfortunately the day the projector was installed I got notification that our roof was leaking.’
The total goal for the Save Our Strand capital campaign has been broken down into increments and the roof has now become the next necessary project.
Many in the community and originally from the community have fond memories of the Strand including Etchberger who remembers seeing ‘Gone With the Wind’ at the Strand and getting in trouble because the movie ended after midnight while at the time he still had a curfew with his license.
This was just one of many fundraisers that OTF is currently holding to help save the theater. For more information on how you can help visit http://www.hamburgstrand.org/. For more information on the Etchberger Foundation visit http://www.chiefetchbergerfoundation.org/.
