herdinsider.com
Bob Plymale Senate
/ November 11, 2016
This page: Huntington’s grand old theatre, the Keith Albee, hosted the premiere of We Are Marshall in 2006. Photographed 10 years later in October of 2016, she still shines as bright as ever. photo by Greg Perry/HI staff
WHAT WE’VE GOT
On the cover: Photo montage from the pre-production party, movie production, and premiere of We Are Marshall in 2006. photos by Marilyn-Testerman Haye, Rick Haye, Greg Perry/HI staff, and courtesy Warner Bros. Studio
COLUMNIST
4
Matt Hayes
The executive director of Marshall University’s Alumni Association can’t believe it’s been 10 years since We Are Marshall premiered.
8
15 Keith Morehouse
Here, as well as on pages 24-25, we give you some of the best photos from the pre-production, production, and premiere of We Are Marshall way back in ‘06.
Huntington’s own favorite sportscaster played a pivotal role in We Are Marshall: he lived and personified the story.
PHOTOS
Movie Photos
555 Fifth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 523-8401
General Manager Mike Kirtner
Q&A
Publisher Greg Perry
First Subscriber: Geoff Sheils
Associate GM Reeves Kirtner
/ HERD INSIDER /
3
11.11.16 VOLUME 19 NO. 6
20 Rollercoaster,
COLUMNIST
Revisited
Mike Kirtner looks back on his 2006 experience with We Are Marshall, and the lasting friendships that resulted. Senior Editor Woody Woodrum
Printing: Printograph - Hebron, KY
Web Operations Alex Hackney All contents ©2016 Kindred Communications, Inc
4 / HERD INSIDER
/ November 11, 2016
MATT HAYES Executive Director
COLUMNIST
We Are Marshall… 10 Years Later
Marshall University Alumni Association
C
an you believe it? 10 years. 10 years!
It seems like just yesterday that Marshall University and the Huntington community received word that the story of the 1970 Marshall plane crash and subsequent tale of the Young Thundering Herd would be brought to life on the big screen. And then the pieces began to fall into place – Warner Bros. backed the project, McG would provide his vision as director and, of course, the actors. Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, Kate Mara, David Strathaim, all walking around our cozy little campus, telling the tale of Marshall’s rise from tragedy to triumph in the face of such a horrific disaster.
Weeks of filming gave way to the eyes of Hollywood descending upon Huntington for one glorious night in December. On that cool Tuesday evening green carpets and lavish parties greeted some of Hollywood’s biggest names, packing the Keith Albee Theatre as we all relived that terrible night in 1970, were inspired by the resilience of coaches Jack Lengyel and Red Dawson and were reminded what it truly means to be a son or daughter of Marshall. So with the 10-year anniversary of that wonderful night quickly approaching, what better way to celebrate the film that put Marshall University on the map for so many around the country than to once again air the film at the very place where Hollywood descended 10 years ago.
While not as glitzy as opening night on December 12, 2006, the 10 th anniversary showing of We Are Marshall is designed to honor the movie that meant so much to this campus and to this town, while also acting as a fundraiser to raise money for student scholarships. I am sure for many of you, the idea of We Are Marshall returning to the big screen for one night brings back a flood of memories from when production trailers and 1970s era clothing ruled Huntington. Maybe you were an extra. Maybe you had an opportunity to meet one of the stars. Maybe you were at the premiere. Either way, we hope you were able to re-live that night with us on November 11, 2016 at the Keith Albee. Memories of the local production of We Are Marshall in 2006 remain fresh in my mind, personally. I recall having to be out of town on business during portions of the local filming. The lasting images I have are of the Huntington Fire Department creating the look of a rain-soaked 4 th avenue in front of the Keith Albee as l with others from our community watched in amazement as scenes were shot in front of the historic theatre. continued on page 5
COLUMNIST Another special memory is the time spent filming the scenes at Spring Hill cemetery. I have been a member of the Norway Avenue Church of Christ since 1990 which is located directly across Norway Avenue from the grave site. Filmmakers used our church property as a staging area. Tractor trailers and numerous service vehicles and buses were parked in our lot while wardrobe stations could be found in many of our classrooms, sanctuary and fellowship hall. The extras were able to chill in our sanctuary. Many took naps on the pews while others grabbed a bite to eat when they had a moment. Seeing everyone in garments from that era made you feel as though you had traveled through time. With that in mind, here are just a few memories from that whirlwind few months from staff members at Marshall University’s Office of Alumni Relations. I’m sure you all have your own stories and you can share them online using the hashtag #WeAreMarshall10. Rob Ellis, Associate Director: One of my favorite memories actually came from working the We Are Marshall movie premiere in 2006. I was given the opportunity to earn extra credit for a class but had no idea it would turn into what it did. I was placed at the beginning of the Green Carpet to usher the distinguished guests out of their vehicles. I was also able to watch the movie with everyone and sit through the director’s comments. Following the premiere, we walked over to the gala at the Civic Center, where I ended up escorting Matthew McConaughey to and from his VIP section. After having a little trouble getting through the crowd, I was later assisted by Matthew Fox. Once he was seated, I was able to chat with Matthew Fox, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Mara and Anthony Mackie for a few moments. It was truly some of the best extra credit I ever received. If you are wondering….I passed the class too! Larry Crum, Associate Director: I have two distinct memories from the filming. First, while I had already graduated from Marshall the year before, my soon-to- be wife was finishing up her degree that year. One night, while walking her back to her dorm, we accidentally stumbled onto a set right outside of the Campus Christian Center and were promptly met with a hurried “we are in the middle of filming” cue from some very important-looking folks. While we didn’t make it into any scenes, at least we got a few seconds of screen time on
film somewhere in the vast archives at Warner Bros. My second memory came during the Green and White game in the spring of 2006. Here I was, in the stands, while McG, Matthew McConaughey, Chad Pennington and Randy Moss paraded the sidelines after a raucous chant of “We Are Marshall” led by the director (see photo on page 9). After about 15 minutes of game-watching and paparazzi filming, my friend reminded me that in my bag I carried my press pass as an –at the time– acting sports writer for the Point Pleasant Register. While not there on
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
5
official duty, I broke out my pass, made my way to the field, and proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon chatting it up with four pretty big celebrities. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. Matt Hayes is the Executive Director of the Marshall University Alumni Association. He can be reached at alumni@marshall.edu
8 / HERD INSIDER
/ November 11, 2016
/ November 11, 2016
photographs by Marilyn Testerman-Haye, Rick Haye, Greg Perry, and Warner Bros.
/ HERD INSIDER /
9
12 / HERD INSIDER
/ November 11, 2016
“It Told This Story To The Masses” We Are Marshall is a lot of things to a lot of people. To Huntington’s own Keith Morehouse, however, it was a personal message to the masses of a story that he not only lived, but also carried to others any time he had the chance. Keith Morehouse is a Huntington fixture, widely known for his broadcasts on WSAZ channel 3 over the last few decades. It is also widely known that Morehouse’s father, Gene, perished in the plane crash on November 14, 1970 as Marshall’s sports information director. Keith was nine years old at the time. Since then, he has gone on to follow in his father’s footsteps as a broadcaster, a reporter, and valuable member of the Huntington community. The movie We Are Marshall included Morehouse —first portrayed by a young actor, then later in the movie with real-life footage of Keith broadcasting from the Joan C. Edwards Stadium pressbox. While the movie is about so many people in the Huntington community, Morehouse is often the face and voice of all those who suffered loss. Herd Insider publisher Greg Perry sat down with Keith Morehouse in the WSAZ offices on Fifth Avenue on Friday October 28, 2016 for this interview. HI: The movie coming out obviously affected your life. What did it mean to you as a family member, a Marshall fan, a WSAZ broadcaster, as a Huntington guy? KM: When I think back on it, it was how it all came together. At that time, Keith Spears was the vice president of administration at Marshall, he called one day and he said, “I’ve got a guy from Warner Brothers over here, would you mind meeting with them?” I said, “No, I don’t.” I guess the one thing going into it was there was a little bit of skepticism, because we’d all heard these pitches before. At one point earlier, some man from New Jersey drove to Huntington, and talked to me for an hour and a half. He left his family in the car, pitching a movie. The first thing you’re thinking is, “What are their motives? Are they going to do it right?” The best part about that early process was that they were talking to us. Not just me, but Red Dawson, Ernie Salvatore, and a bunch of people that were connected. I remember saying this to Basil [Iwanyk, We Are Marshall producer]: “If you make a good movie, that’s great. If you make a bad movie, you go back to Hollywood and we live here.” Their attention to detail and willingness to talk about it, ask questions. I don’t deal with Hollywood all that much, but my guess is they don’t do that all that often. They get in their mind what they want to do, and they do it. But Warner Brothers, McG, all of them were so very thorough about making sure that they did it the right way. Still, having to put together a movie —not a documentary—still having it appeal to a national audience. With all those things in mind, they went to work and put together We Are Marshall. HI: What do you remember from the time during production, when Huntington was transformed literally overnight? KM: It was neat from a lot of standpoints, just because I think it engaged so many people. McG had to push Warner Brothers to come here and shoot on location. It costs money, you know, to shoot on location. They could have done it on a sound stage, they didn’t need Marshall’s permission. But, he thought Huntington was part of the story. In retrospect, continued on page 29
photograph by Greg Perry/HI staff
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
13
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
We Are Marshall: Movie Facts And Trivia
compiled by Woody Woodrum Herd Insider senior editor The premiere for the film was held at Huntington’s historic Keith-Albee Performance Center (opened in 1928) on December 12, 2006. The movie was released nationwide on December 22, 2006. Several aspects of the film were changed for dramatic purposes, although the gist of the story was retained. Annie Cantrell was not a real person but a composite of women who were cheerleaders at Marshall. Paul Griffin was based on a father of one of the players lost on the plane, as well as some locals in Huntington. Dr. Dedmon was gone when Marshall hired a new athletic director in Joe McMullen and a new coach in Jack Lengyel, as Dr. John G. Barker was hired in March of 1971, and Dedmon went to Radford in 1972. The “We are...Marshall” was a cheer that came along in the 1980s, not in the 1970-71 era. “Boone’s” is not a real restaurant in Huntington, and was based on Jim’s — an eatery on Fifth Avenue— by writer Jamie Linden. Many long-time Herd fans, however, felt it was more along the line of
• •
• •
15
Wiggins, which was at 16th Street and Fourth Avenue, right across from Old Main and Marshall, until it burned down in the 1980s. Coach Lengyel’s home was shown with fans passing it on the way to the Xavier game, but was filmed in the East end of town in the Highlawn neighborhood, a walk of a few miles to Fairfield Stadium, which was actually AstroTurf by 1970, not grass as shown in the movie. The character playing Herald-Dispatch writer/editor Ernie Salvatore would not have been in the stands, as he was shown in the movie, but in the press box. The soccer player who became the Herd kicker did not come from the Marshall soccer team, as Marshall did not have soccer as a men’s sport until the late 1970s. Blake Smith was a soccer-style kicker, and was told by Lengyel to cut his long hair and beard and he had a scholarship for game two. Marshall used a lineman to kick off in game one, and went for two on its only score in that game. McConaughey’s portrayal of Jack Lengyel was not very close to the real coach, who was low-key, with a slow fuse and deep voice.
• • •
•
/ November 11, 2016
Movie Magic
We Are Marshall star Matthew McConaughey ran with both the movie 1971 Young Thundering Herd and the 2006 Marshall football team, all in the span of one year. top photo courtesy Warner Bros Studio; bottom photo by Greg Perry/HI staff
/ HERD INSIDER /
17
NAME _______________________________ ADDRESS ____________________________ CITY ________________________________ STATE __________ ZIP _________________ CREDIT CARD #:
_________________________
EXPIRATION: ___________________ EMAIL: ______________________________ PHONE: _____________________________
Mail to: Herd Insider P.O. Box 1150 Huntington, WV 25713 (304) 523-8401 or visit subscribe.herdinsider.com
to do the deed securely online!
20 / HERD INSIDER
/ November 11, 2016
MIKE KIRTNER General Manager
COLUMNIST
Rollercoaster Revisited, 10 Years After
mikek@kindredcom.net
T
he 2006 premiere of We Are Marshall marked the beginning make the movie. Hollywood had gone Huntington. of the end of a banner year for members of the Marshall Marshall’s then-president, the late Stephen Kopp, had done his community. The year was a roller coaster of emotions for homework. He spoke with adminstrators at the University of Texas-El those of us that were there then, and are here now. Paso concerning the film that had been made with their basketball My personal emotions ebbed and flowed from the moment I was program. He was told to make sure the filmmakers visited and did part sworn to secrecy concering the pending production of the movie, earliof the production in Huntington. er in 2005. I was excited for our community. I knew that the national The process of bringing the movie production team to Huntington awareness of Marshall would create a groundswell of positive publicity gave the visitors a new identity. By mixing and mingling with local resfor the school, the state, and the idents, Matthew McConaughey community. At the same time, and the cast became one of us. I wondered if those that weren’t Crisis, averted. here at that time would take the Our visitors met us as were time to bond with the realness of were, then and there. They were this story. able to witness firsthand who we Initially, I felt that the exhad become. citement of those wanting to be They were aware of what the extras eclipsed the memories of real people in Huntington had the family and friends of those endured, lost and survived to tell who were on board that flight. the story of Marshall University Candidly, I found myself quietly in the 1970s. They learned and resenting those who wanted to be shared our frailties. a part of the movie. I kept asking Although there are no myself, “Do they really get what statistics to confirm it, the movie happened that night? Do they producers had become aware really understand how lives were of the higher rate of alcoholism changed in the moment of time and divorce that were a result of Movie extras Kirtner (left) and Menis Ketchum shared a light moment in those early campus days. As time that a Marshall football charter costume 10 years ago during the filming of the boardroom scene. clipped the trees and impacted progressed, the production team the ground?” It was only three for the movie made phone calls seconds. and visited with people throughout our community. They got more The battles personally confronted failed to compare with those than memories; they left with feelings given to them from those of us among us who had lost immediate family members. However, it was that were here at the time. important for the Marshall community not to become enamored with Through us they saw the young faces of Cindy and Debbie Chamthe image of Hollywood at the expense of what really happened that bers, as I recalled the night that Cindy and I sang Easter Parade in night. the gymnasium at Beverly Hills Junior High School. Their father, Dr. As the filming evolved 10 years ago, I witnessed a metamorphosis. Joseph Chambers, took a picture of Cindy in her lavender dress as we Ironically, it did not come from those within the community. Rather, sang our duet that night. He would lose his life supporting the team the change had come from those who had arrived in Huntington to that his daughters would become cheerleaders for, in college.
COLUMNIST The producers would meet Keith Morehouse, who had followed his father’s footsteps, by becoming the television voice for the Thundering Herd. I would share the story of Gene giving me a sample of the Astroturf that adorned Fairfield Stadium as he mentored future broadcasters a few weeks before that fateful night. The past had collided with the present. The movie had revived old memories for me. At the same time, it had opened doors for new friendships. At the time, the movie, you see, had a shortage of “mature” males to appear as extras. I fit the role. I met two people by working in the background of the movie as an extra, that I am glad to know. Elizabeth and Kim are people that I shared a moment in time with that was not unlike that which I had spent all those years ago. Dressed in outfits reminiscient of my college
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
21
days, I found myself smiling at the memory. Then working at WSAZ, Randy Yohe interviewed me as we wrapped up the final day of filming for the movie. He asked me about my feeling concerning the entire production. I laughed and said that I thought the women were hot then, and they were hot again, now. Thank you, Kim and Elizabeth, for reminding me of the fun times in college. The most important question Randy asked me concerned what I wanted people to take home from the movie. It took very little thought for me to answer that one. I wanted people to know those that lost their lives as real people…not actors. For the first time in years, I didn’t visit the fountain ceremony that year of 2006. I preferred to visit later when I could be there alone. Didn’t want to be part of the “ceremony” with hundreds of others. And with that, my roller coaster year had returned to the platform, finally. For the first time in 35 years, I no longer dreaded the memory of Marshall in the 1970s. Keith Spears, Marshall’s liaison with the film’s producers, in an early event-planning session, tearfully said, “I know that Marshall will gain from this movie. But all of us would give this up to return those that were lost.” It was from that moment that I started to become comfortable with the events that would follow. Enjoy the anniversary showing of We Are Marshall. I know I will. And, I’ll see you on the green carpet. Once again, We Are Marshall. And once again —at least for this week— the world is Marshall.
PUBLISHER
Y
GREG PERRY
Sholten Singer/Herald-Dispatch
PUBLISHER
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
23
A Small Scrapbook Can Contain A Big Voice
gregkperry@herdinsider.com
ou hear his voice just about every day —or sometimes every week— if you’re a Marshall sports fan or attend football games. And part of what you hear in that voice comes from a nondescript scrapbook that sits on a small desk in a building on Huntington’s Fifth Avenue. With the 10-year anniversary showing of the movie We Are Marshall now in the history books, it helps to understand the impact this movie had (and continues to have) on people in the Huntington and Marshall community. Keith Morehouse’s story on pages 14-15 of this issue is prima facie evidence of that. The guy who owns that little scrapbook that sits in the desk of the building on Fifth Avenue, however, is known more for his voice than for what he looks like in person. Chances are, you’ve walked right past Bill Cornwell and never knew he was the voice. If you’ve ever sat in Joan C. Edwards Stadium for a Marshall football game, you hear his voice on every play, as Cornwell is the stadium announcer. If you listen to local radio, you hear his voice delivering news and sports updates just about every hour in the mornings. Heck, you even hear him at Marshall volleyball games in the fall. The voice, it seems, is everywhere. We Are Marshall, though, is part and parcel of what you hear behind that voice. To Bill Cornwell, the movie —the story— that it tells is one of the guiding factors in his life. That’s why he keeps the scrapbook close at hand. “I look at the scrapbook probably once every week or two,” Cornwell said. And, right there’s why We Are Marshall is more than just a movie. For people like Cornwell, it is one of those things in life that take over and leads you along the bumpy path of life’s ups and downs. If it were any other movie, we’d probably think Cornwell had gone off
the proverbial deep end of life. However, this is a real-life, see-it-every-day way of going about life for Cornwell that was reality first and foremost, a movie much later on. “I consider myself a child of the crash, as do so many my age (54) who grew up in the Tri-State,” Cornwell alluded. “I’ve lived in Kenova my entire life and I clearly remember the night of November 14th, 1970 as the crash occurred about two miles from where I was sitting that evening.” And so, there’s the scrapbook. It contains what he jokingly calls his “Fred Astaire moment”, of he and a friend dancing gleefully the night of the premiere of We Are Marshall in Huntington some 10 years ago, clad in a tuxedo. Good times that were borne out of the telling of a very sad story on the big screen. “I even own a tuxedo, and the premiere was the ultimate “glamour” event for Huntington,” he continued. “My tie-ins to Marshall and the crash story made it even more important to attend the premiere.” Which is the summation of this journey that has been Marshall’s tragic losses on the night of November 14, 1970; the rising up from the ashes over a period of decades; the subsequent vaulting to athletic and academic success known all over the world; the telling of this story to the masses via We Are Marshall. That’s a lot of details, a lot of individual stories, a lot of heartbreak and triumph – if you take time to find and listen to those stories. Too much for one person to hang on to and remember as the years tick by. However, it all fits just fine on the corner of a small desk, located in a gray-colored building on Fifth Avenue, in the form of a small scrapbook. Precisely where Bill Cornwell needs it to be. You can hear it in his voice.
24 / HERD INSIDER
/ November 11, 2016
/ November 11, 2016
photographs by Marilyn Testerman-Haye, Rick Haye, Greg Perry, and Warner Bros.
/ HERD INSIDER /
25
Keith Morehouse continued from page 12
I think that made the movie. Because if you don’t come here, you don’t learn the story from the inside out. You’re just talking about it from these surrounding viewpoints. To come here in the spring and film, I think it got Huntington fired up. I think it was a time for Huntington that, while the subject matter was very sad, the excitement for the city was neat to see. HI: Cut to the first time you saw the movie. You knew there was going to be a little kid portraying you on the screen at some point. That had to be a little unsettling. KM: Truthfully, I didn’t know that until…they were very diligent and sent a screenplay. It was a little uncomfortable, and here’s why. There’s so many people who lost friends, relatives, family, neighbors, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t my story, clearly. They began to explain how they wanted to work it, and I went ahead and did it. I talked with my family, my wife, because it was a little unsettling. I was okay with it, when I saw it. The bigger picture was to see it at an advance screening, and it was as emotional as I can get. I took five minutes to collect myself, because it was that deep and that thought-provoking. I was more captivated by the entire story, and the effect it would have on everybody that would see it. HI: Have you thought about the kid that portrayed you since then? KM: A really nice kid, I met him at the filming in Atlanta. He’s probably 20, 22 now. I often wonder now, he’s an adult. It makes you realize how quickly time goes by. His mom and dad
/ November 11, 2016
/ HERD INSIDER /
29
were at the premiere in Los Angeles, and we got to see them there. It was neat. HI: In the 10 years since, all the focus and attention, what have you learned from all this? KM: I guess what I do know is the impact the movie has. The one thing that takes me aback when I go somewhere is people say, “Hey, I saw that movie,” and it had an effect on them. I tell people it wasn’t a huge box office hit, it didn’t make hundreds of millions of dollars. It is a movie that I think has staying power. I hear people all the time say they saw it on cable, and whenever it comes on, they have to watch it. And these aren’t necessarily Marshall fans, someone who may just come up to me or Red Dawson or Jack Lengyel, and say, “that had a profound effect on me.” That part of it is the most satisfying. It told this story to the masses. We all know about it; we lived it. It’s out there forever. It told the story to people that didn’t know. In that respect, it made Marshall look good, it’s a story of survival and stick-toitiveness. That’s what we wanted, not some kind of half-baked Hollywood movie that wouldn’t have that effect. I thought it was a really moving depiction of what happened back then. And it lives to this day. That’s the best part of it: that it will always be out there.