We’re excited to announce that Norm Anderson, the director of the Donut Dollies Documentary will be interviewed live on WWLP channel 22’s Mass Appeal show (Springfield, MA) this Thursday, Oct. 28th, sometime between 11 AM – noon.  Mass Appeal is hosted by Patrick Berry and Alanna Flood, and focuses on stories from the Western Massachusetts area.  There may also be a special guest joining Norm, so watch for that.

The Donut Dollies Documentary began as a son’s loving tribute to his mother and the women who chose to join the Red Cross program Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO).  The mission of these women was to bring a sense of home, caring and friendship to the brave soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War.  They were lovingly referred to as Donut Dollies.  Norm will talk about this labor of love project and share what it meant to bring this little known story to the screen in honor of the women who served in a combat zone.

If you are in the Western Mass area, please tune in to WWLP channel 22 or log onto www.wwlp.com/watch-live for possible viewing outside of the local area (Eastern time zone).  

Later that evening the Donut Dollies Documentary will be screening as part of the Red Rose International Film Festival’s “Unforgetable Series” in Lancaster, PA (Thursday, October 28th @ 7 PM – see previous post for ticket details).  We’re honored to be nominated  for Best Documentary and People’s Choice awards by the RRIFF.  

As you can see, Thursday will be a busy day.  Excitement is building and we’re glad we can share it with you.

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

We’re excited to announce that The Donut Dollies Documentary will be making a return screening in Lancaster, PA on Thursday, October 28th @ 7 PM as part of the Red Rose International Film Festival’s “Unforgetable Series”.   We’re extremely honored to have been nominated for Best Documentary and People’s Choice awards, and thank Ryan and his team for bringing our film to their audience for a second time.  

Our film will be shown to an in-person audience at the Zoetropolis Cinema Still House (112 N Water St, Lancaster, PA 17603).  And for those who wish to attend, tickets are COMPLIMENTARY at https://zoetropolis.com/purchase/127119 and reservations are requested (please review ZCSH’s Covid requirements).  

A member of the Donut Dollies Documentary team will be in attendance.  We also hope that a local Donut Dollie can attend.  

We thank everyone for their support in 2021 and hope to bring home an award from the Red Rose International Film Festival, as a nice capper to our film festival run.  

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

We’re excited to share this recent article about the Donut Dollies featured on AARP’s website – www.aarp.org/home-family/voices/veterans/info-2021/donut-dollies-vietnam-war.html.  The women quoted in the article include Donut Dollies Jeanne “Sam” Christie, Linda Pelegrino and Pat Rowan, and also includes a quote from the Donut Dollies Documentary director, Norm Anderson.  

We thank all the women who served in Korea and Vietnam.  Please help spread the Donut Dollie’s story by sharing this article.  

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

We’re happy to announce that the Donut Dollies Documentary has been chosen to be shown as part of the 2021 virtual Gold Coast International Film Festival. Donut Dollies, veterans and friends from the New York and New Jersey areas will be able to watch our film from October 10 – 17, 2021. Tickets for this virtual screening are available at – bit.ly/DDDocGoldCoastTickets

We hope you’ll enjoy seeing the Donut Dollies Documentary in the comfort of your own home!

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

A Graveside Service for Mary Blanchard Bowe will be held at 10:45 AM on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery – Shelter 5, 1520 Harry Wurzbach, San Antonio, Texas 78209.  

If you wish to share your condolences with Mary’s family and friends, please visit www.schertzfuneralhome.com/obituary/mary-bowe

We were heartbroken to learn of the passing of Mary Blanchard Bowe on September 12, 2021. Mary starred in our documentary along with her lifelong friend Dorset Anderson, and the entire crew got to know and love her during the course of filming the project. We filmed with Mary in Vietnam and all around the US over the span of more than a decade. We also had the opportunity to screen the finished film with her at festivals in Santa Monica and San Diego, CA, where she got to experience applause, appreciation and love from audiences who were moved and amazed by her story, her bravery, and her love for the soldiers she went to Vietnam to support.  

We are particularly proud that Mary was able to share the stage and spotlight at the GI Film Festival as we won best documentary feature. She said it made her feel like a movie star. She was and is. She was also our very first cinematographer, as she documented her time in Vietnam with priceless 8mm film clips, which she generously let us use in the documentary.  Seeing glimpses of 22 year old Mary and Dorset in Vietnam in their powder blue dresses was one of the initial things that inspired me to make a documentary about the Donut Dollies.

Her generosity in life, and on camera, touched us all in so many ways. We truly couldn’t have made our film without her, and we will be eternally grateful for all that she did and all that she was.

Our hearts goes out to Mary’s family during this difficult time. We’ll post additional info here as it becomes available.

Norm Anderson

Director

The Donut Dollies Documentary 

Summer may be coming to a close, but there are 2 opportunities to see our award winning documentary, The Donut Dollies in September.  Our film has been nominated for Best Documentary at the Victory International Film Festival and will screen on Saturday , September 11th at 1 PM at the Victory Theatre, 600 Main St, Evansville, IN 47708.  You can purchase tickets in advance at https://filmfreeway.com/VictoryIFF/tickets  For those who can attend, please don’t forget to vote.

The second opportunity to see our film is at FLIXX FEST on Friday, September 17th at 10:15 AM at the Avery Theater, 430 Main St, Etna, CA 9602.  You can purchase tickets in advance at https://events.eventgroove.com/event/2021-Jefferson-State-Flixx-Fest-53262  

We hope you can come see the Donut Dollies Documentary on the big screen and look forward to seeing an audience filled with veterans and hopefully some Donut Dollies.

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

We’re excited to announce that The Donut Dollies has been nominated for Best Documentary at the Victory International Film Festival in Evansville, IN.  We’ll be announcing the details of our VIFF screening in the coming days, but we couldn’t wait to share this exciting news with you.  We thank the Victory International Film Festival for nominating us and for including our film in this year’s festival.

The response to our film has been has been resoundingly positive, whether through virtual screenings or on the big screen, we’ve received praise from Donut Dollies, veterans, the public, film festival staff and the media.  We undertook this project to document and preserve the story of the Donut Dollies and to add this little known part of American and women’s history into the record for posterity.  We thank all of the Donut Dollies and veterans who served, and those who have shared their stories with us online (www.donutdollies.com or www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies), who have taken part in interviews and shared their photos, film and memorabilia to help us tell the most complete story possible.  We also would like to thank the Donut Dollies, veterans, family, friends and fans who have provided the support that has allowed us to create and present this film.

We look forward to making the Donut Dollies Documentary available later this year for viewing in your own home.  Please check our future posts for updates and join our mailing list by submitting your info at www.donutdollies.com in the Email Sign Up box (see right side).  We believe the Donut Dollie’s story needs to be told as widely as possible and you can help spread the word by sharing our website and Facebook links with family, friends, veterans and fraternal organizations, and with your local community.  We thank you for helping us raise awareness of these courageous women.

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

On August 18th, a 30-minute Zoom interview was broadcast on WCPC-15 TV and WSKB 89.5 FM in Western Massachusetts featuring the Donut Dollies Documentary in the first half.  This meant a lot to us, because our director, producer and co-producer are all from the Western Mass area, as well as Dorset Anderson, who is featured in our film.  

The host is Mark Auerbach, and joining him are Donut Dollies Dorset Anderson and Cherie Rankin, along with Jess Hill (producer) and Jim Gardner (co-producer).  We were glad to have Dorset and Cherie join us for this interview to share their experiences of serving in Vietnam.   We’re sure you’ll enjoy hearing their stories in their own words.  

We thank Mark for this opportunity to share the Donut Dollie’s story with his Western Mass audience and beyond.  Following our interview, please stay tuned for a conversation with Diane Pearlman, Executive Director of the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative.  The BFMC is a non-profit organization focused on creating educational, workforce and production opportunities in the film and media industry in the Western Massachusetts region.

We had a Q&A session at the Phoenix Film Festival on August 14, 2021 and we were honored to have 3 Donut Dollies join us to share their stories.  What was most interesting was that their service in Vietnam spanned the years of 1966 – 1969, which was before, during and after the Tet Offensive, leading to very different experiences.   

Attending the screening and sharing their stories were: Mavis Larson Gaffney who served in Vietnam in 1968 at Pleiku, Qui Nhon and Blackhorse; Kitty Boots who served in Vietnam from 1966-67 at Long Binh, An Khe and Blackhorse; and Mary Tsinnajinnie Cohoe who served in Vietnam from 1968-69 at Chu Lai and Cam Ranh Air Force Base, and is the only Native American woman (Navajo) to serve a year tour.  Representing the Donut Dollies Documentary was Jim Gardner, the film’s co-producer, music supervisor and archivist. 

We wish to thank everyone who attended the screenings of our film, the entire Phoenix Film Festival staff and volunteers, the Harkins Theater team, and Barbara and Joseph Philipps for kindly sponsoring our film at these screenings.