The virtual online screening of the Donut Dollies Documentary begins TODAY, Friday, October 9th as part of 29th annual Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis, IN. You can purchase individual tickets for our film at https://watch.eventive.org/heartlandfilmfestival20/play/5f57bc5d24ed79008c7d4c3e to start watching it now. After viewing our film, you’ll be given the opportunity to vote for the HIFF Audience Choice Awards (5=great – 1=poor), so please take a moment to vote.
Also happening TONIGHT, Friday, October 9th at 8 PM EDT is a public Q&A session as part of the Heartland International Film Festival. The Donut Dollies has been invited to take part in the Documentary Official Selection Q&A panel, which will also include the filmmakers of 3 other documentaries.
We’re honored to have Red Cross Donut Dollie Maggie (Connor) Dutilly (first photo) join us on the panel discussion as a special guest! She served in Vietnam from 1971-72 in Danang, Quang Tri, Bien Hoa and Cam Ranh Army until evacuation during the Easter Offensive in April, 1972. Representing the Donut Dollies Documentary team will be Jess Hill (Producer – second photo) and Jim Gardner (Co-producer and Music supervisor – third photo). Follow the link below to gain free access to the public Q&A session – https://watch.eventive.org/heartlandfilmfestival20/play/5f5a85c8bebf3d006a1f1ee2/5f5a85c8bebf3d006a1f1ee5
We thank you for your continued support!
Gratefully,
Norm, Jess and Jim
Red Cross Donut Dollie Maggie (Connor) Dutilly (Vietnam 1971-72)Jess Hill – Producer of the Donut Dollies DocumentaryJim Gardner – Co-producer & Music supervisor of the Donut Dollies Documentary
In just 5 hours, The Donut Dollies will begin screening at the GI Film Festival San Diego. As you may know, we won our first award for Best Documentary Feature last year at the GI Film Fest, which was quite an honor and we are excited to be asked to screen our film for them again this year.
The screening of our film begins today, Friday, October 2nd at 7:00 PM PDT and immediately following the livestream of our film will be a Q&A session starting at 8:29 PM PDT. We’re honored to have Donut Dollies Sharon (Vander Van) Cummings (first photo) and Sandi Rhoten (second photo) join us as our special guests. Sharon served in Vietnam from 1966-67 at Cam Ranh Bay Army, then with Long Binh II Field Forces and then the 25th Division in Cu Chi. Sandi served in Vietnam from 1969-70 at Tuy Hoa, Cam Ranh and Qui Nhon.
Representing The Donut Dollies Documentary team will be Jess Hill (Producer – third photo) and Jim Gardner (Co-producer and Music supervisor – fourth photo). The moderator of the Q&A will be John Decker, the Director of Programming for KPBS. You can purchase a ticket to see The Donut Dollies Documentary and the Q&A at https://gifilmfestivalsd.org/2020/movies/the-donut-dollies-2/ We hope you’ll join us for this special event
Sharon (Vander Ven) Cummings – Donut Dollie 1966-67 VietnamSandi Rhoten – Donut Dollie 1969-70 VietnamJess Hill – Producer of the Donut Dollies DocumentaryJim Gardner – Co-producer & Music supervisor of the Donut Dollies Documentary
Please enjoy this 35-minute Q&A session that followed the screening of The Donut Dollies documentary at the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience on September 26, 2020. Featured were two Donut Dollies – Mary Tsinnajinnie Cohoe and Larry Young Hines, and the session was moderated by Michelle Souza. Mary and Larry shared some of their experiences about serving in Vietnam in 1968-69. The producer of our film, Jess Hill and co-producer & music supervisor, Jim Gardner, shared stories about filming in Vietnam, the archival photos, slides and 8mm film received from many Donut Dollies and stories of the film’s production.
We thank Mary and Larry for joining us and sharing their stories and Michelle for insightful questions and enthusiasm for the story of the Donut Dollies. Please share this video with your family, friends and any veterans you may know.
We have a second busy month of film festival screenings of the Donut Dollies Documentary coming your way in October. In addition to our virtual screening this Saturday the 26th at the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience, we have five virtual screenings taking place in California, Kansas, Indiana and two in New York (see info below).
If you are interested in viewing one of the virtual online screening at one of these festivals, we suggest that you follow the links below to pre-order or purchase your tickets early, as viewing capacity is limited. We do hope that you’ll be able to see The Donut Dollies at one of these upcoming screening events.
***Albuquerque Film & Music Experience in Albuquerque, NM – virtual online screening followed by a Q&A session moderated by Michelle Souza with The Donut Dollies producer, Jess Hill, and Co-producer and Music supervisor, Jim Gardner
Saturday, September 26 available starting at 4:30 PM PDT – The livestream of our film and the Q&A starts at 5:27 PM
***GI Film Festival San Diego Virtual Showcase in San Diego, CA – virtual online screening followed by a Q&A session with The Donut Dollies producer, Jess Hill, and Co-producer and Music supervisor, Jim Gardner
Friday, October 2nd – The livestream of our film and the Q&A starts at 7:00 PM
As you’ll see, each festival has their own ticketing offers, from an individual ticket for just The Donut Dollies, to an all inclusive pass to nearly all films and events. For these virtual events, each screening may be “geo-blocked” (restricted) to a specific region or state, which is put in place to avoid scheduling conflicts with other film festivals. If you are interested only in an individual ticket, please check each of those offering individual tickets, even if you live out-of-state… you may be able still make the purchase.
Please remember that you may have the opportunity to vote for audience awards, which will help us spread the word on The Donut Dollies story.
*****UPDATE – TWIN TIERS SCREENING POSTPONED – SEE NEW DATES BELOW*****
Welcome to September, the busiest and most exciting month of 2020 for the The Donut Dollies Documentary. In addition to these 5 film festivals, we are proud to announce that our director, Norm Anderson, has been nominated for the Best Director Feature Award at the Twin Tiers International Film Festival.
Here are the upcoming film festivals that have chosen The Donut Dollies as an Official Selection, two of which will be in-person theater events. If you attend an in-person screening or watch our film online, please note that you may be able to vote for the Audience Awards. OK, now it’s time to get your advance tickets:
Orlando International Film Festival in Florida – In-person theater screening (Enzian Theater in Maitland, FL)
***POSTPONED TO NEW DATES — Twin Tiers International Film Festival in Endicott, NY – in-person theater screening (Theater 2 of the Cinema Saver Theater)
NEW DATES RESCHEDULED TO October 30th to Nov. 1st – We will provide the specific screening date when they are announced. We thank you for your understanding.***
Four Corners Film Festival in Farmington, NM – virtual online screening/festival
As you’ll see, each festival has their own ticketing offers, from an individual ticket for just The Donut Dollies, to a day pass, to an all inclusive pass to all films and events. For the virtual events, each screening will be “geo-blocked” (restricted) to a specific region or state, which is put in place to avoid scheduling conflicts with other film festivals. The screenings in a theater setting will have limited seating to provide social distancing for the health and safety of all attendees.
Please be sure to look for additional announcements on our film festival screenings on www.donutdollies.com or www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies Please spread the word on The Donut Dollies to you family, friends and veterans you may know living in the areas/states of these and other upcoming virtual and theater screenings.
As always, we thank you for your support!
Norm, Jess & Jim
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
September will be one of the busiest for film festival screenings of The Donut Dollies Documentary we’ve had so far. Each screening will be announced over the coming days and weeks, which we hope will provide you an opportunity for you to see our film either in a theater setting or virtually online.
The September list of film festival screenings include the Orlando International Film Festival in FL (theater setting), Twin Tiers International Film Festival in NY (theater setting), Catalina Film Festival in CA (virtual/online screening) and the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience in NM (virtual/online screening).
Starting next week, we’ll release the screening and ticketing information for these four events. For the virtual events, each screening will be “geo-blocked” (restricted) to a specific region or state, which is put in place to avoid scheduling conflicts with other film festivals. The screenings in a theater setting will have limited seating to provide social distancing for the health and safety of all attendees. We realize that these limitations may be frustrating to some, but please know that The Donut Dollies has been chosen as an Official Selection at 9 upcoming film festivals scheduled around the country and we hope you’ll have the opportunity to see it soon.
Please be sure to look for the announcements of our film festival screenings on www.donutdollies.com or www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies Please spread the word on The Donut Dollies to you family, friends and veterans you may know living in the areas/states of these and other upcoming virtual and theater screenings.
As always, we thank you for your support!
Norm, Jess & Jim
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
Last Sunday marked a very dark day for the Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program. Aug. 16, 2020 was the 50th anniversary of the murder of Donut Dollie Virginia (Ginny) Kirsch in her room of the Red Cross billet on the Cu Chi base in Vietnam. 21-year old Ginny was in her first week of service in Vietnam and while her one year tour was cut short, her decision to become a Donut Dollie spoke to her dedication and caring for the men who served and for our country.
Below you’ll see what is known as the last photo of Ginny on a layover at the Honolulu Airport on her way to Saigon. This photo was taken by her Donut Dollie sister Susan Bradshaw McLean who explained that Ginny met a lady with a baby in the waiting area and asked to hold the infant, as she said the thing that she would miss most during her year in Vietnam was not being able to hold her brothers and sisters.
Donut Dollie Virginia “Ginny” Kirsch holding a baby in the Honolulu Airport on her way to Saigon (credit: Susan Bradshaw McLean)
Also below you’ll find a poem titled Ginny & Susan by Donut Dollie Emily Strange (provided by her sister Peggy Michel). The poem is based on the moment captured in Susan’s photo. (Click to enlarge image)
Poem titled “Ginny & Susan” by Emily Strange
Lastly is the plaque located on the grounds of the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, DC honoring the five Red Cross worker lives lost during the Vietnam War.
Plaque located on the grounds of the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, DC honoring the five Red Cross worker lives lost during the Vietnam War
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
We are happy to announce that “The Donut Dollies” will have it’s first ever drive-in screening in Lenox, Massachusetts on Thursday, August 27th at 8:15 PM. This pop-up screening is part of the Berkshire Drive-in series hosted by the Berkshire International Film Festival and Shakespeare & Company (held on their campus). Thanks go out to both organizations for providing us this opportunity, as well as to Mary Mott & Gordon Simmering for sponsoring the group of screenings in which our film will appear.
As this event is coming up next week, we suggest that you purchase your tickets soon through this link (attendance is limited) – https://bit.ly/DDDrive-inTickets
This event is very special for us, as this is the home area for Dorset Anderson (one of the Donut Dollies featured in our film – on the left in our logo below), Norm Anderson (our director and Dorset’s son), Jess Hill (our producer) and Jim Gardner (our co-producer and music supervisor). We’re also honored to feature over 40 pieces of music performed by eleven musicians and bands with ties to the Berkshires and Western Mass, they include: Adam Michael Rothberg, Amy Fairchild, Celia Miller, Ed Kohn, Eric Underwood and the Eric Underwood Band, Jim Gardner, Jim Kaminski (aka Jim K & Co), Melodrome, Norm Anderson, Sibylle Baier and Will Hill.
Dorset and Norm will be in attendance to see the drive-in audience’s response. Keep in mind claps may not be heard, but horns will.
We will be announcing upcoming film festival screenings a few weeks before each event, so please be sure to look for these announcements on www.donutdollies.com or www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies Please spread the word on The Donut Dollies to you family, friends and veterans you may know living in the areas/states of this and our other upcoming virtual screenings. As always, we thank you for your support!
#TheDonutDollies #BiffMa #ShakeAndCo
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
We are pleased to announce that “The Donut Dollies” is an Official Selection of the 2020 NHdocs Film Festival and will screen on Sunday, August 23rd! The New Haven Documentary Film Festival has a dedicated staff who decided not to cancel or postpone this year’s event and will hold their screenings virtually online. On behalf of our team, we thank them for the opportunity to show our award-winning film for the first time since January. As a viewer of our film at this and upcoming film festivals, you can take part in voting for the Audience Award. After seeing The Donut Dollies, we hope you’ll make your voice heard and vote.
In light of the requirements of many film festivals across the country, when our film is shown online, it has to be “geo-blocked” (restricted) to a region or state. In the case of the NHdocs Film Festival, our film will only be available to people in Connecticut, which will be determined during the ticketing process. If you are outside of Connecticut, you will receive a message saying you can not view the film.
While this may be frustrating to many people around the country, please know that The Donut Dollies has also been chosen as an Official Selection at 7 upcoming film festivals scheduled for New England, the New York Metro area, Southern California, Northern New York, the Southeast and the Southwest. So your opportunity to see our film is coming!
We will be announcing upcoming film festival screenings a few weeks before each event, so please be sure to look for these announcements on www.donutdollies.com or www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies Please spread the word on The Donut Dollies to you family, friends and veterans you may know living in the areas/states of this and our other upcoming virtual screenings. As always, we thank you for your support!
#TheDonutDollies #NHdocs2020 #GetReelNewHaven
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
We will be taking a short vacation from posting editions of the Donut Dollie Detail, but will be back soon. If you are a Donut Dollie, we hope you’ll take part in our ongoing feature. Please enjoy this video…
We are honored to share with you the moment that we looked through the photo archives of three Red Cross Donut Dollies who served during the Vietnam War. We recently put out the call for photos from Donut Dollies who served in the Korean and/or Vietnam War, along with responses to our 10-questions list, so we could create the in-their-own-words feature that is the Donut Dollies Detail (www.donutdollies.com/category/donut-dollie-detail) and this is just some of what we received.
We have reached the 60th edition of this feature and have been honored to share the experiences and photos of 60 women who chose to volunteer through the Red Cross to serve in Korea and/or Vietnam to provide a morale boost to the men who served. We look forward to sharing more stories of the Donut Dollies, so if you served in Korea and/or Vietnam, please reach out to us and we’ll start the process of creating your own feature to share with your family and friends, as well as for posterity (jim@donutdollies.com).
We wish to thank Lt. Col. Paula Haley (Donut Dollie Vietnam 1968-69), Diane Diggs Byrd (Donut Dollie Vietnam 1968), Emily Strange (Donut Dollie Vietnam 1969-70 – shared by her sister Peggy Michel) and the nearly five dozen women who have shared their experiences and photos with us.
Our mission is to share this little known part of our country’s and women’s history, and with your help, we can achieve that goal, so that the Donut Dollie’s caring, compassion and dedication becomes well known. We thank you for your interest in the Donut Dollies and for your support.
Here is the 10-questions list:
What prompted you to join the SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas) program and want to go to Korea/Vietnam?
When and where were you stationed in Korea/Vietnam? Did you go by a nickname?
What was a routine day like in Korea/Vietnam?
Did you ever have any “close calls” either on base or in any vehicles?
Were you ever injured while in Korea/Vietnam?
What was it like to visit the soldiers in the hospitals?
How was the transition returning home to the United States?
What would you like people to remember and understand most about the women who served?
How do you feel Veterans think of your time having served with them? Have any Veterans expressed their feelings to you directly?
What are your fondest or most interesting memories of your time serving in Korea/Vietnam?
American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION, ARCOA, , Donut Dollie Detail, BERKSHIRE, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Cu Chi, CUMMINGTON, Documentary, Donut Dollie, Donut Dollies, DONUT DOLLY, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, HELICOPTER, Huey, memories, Nha Trang, Pleiku, RED CROSS, Schertz, SRAO, Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, Tuy Hoa, veterans, Vets, VFW, vietnam, Vietnam Vet, Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam War, VVMF, donutdollys.com, donutdollies.com, thedonutdollies.com, air base, Chu Lai, Phan Rang, An Khe, Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh, Bien Hoa, Korea, Korean War, Phu Loi, Long Binh, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Quy Nhon, Lai Khe, Camp Eagle, Camp Enari, Xuan Loc, Dong Tam, Dian, Di An, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Danang, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, GI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Ancient Way Film Festival, Grand Teton Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Berkshire International Film Festival
