Villager makes first nature documentary
Stefanie Boss has always had a love for birds and nature. At the age of 70, her passion reached new heights.
The Village Hacienda resident recently produced her first documentary, titled “Bluebirds of Antietam.” It tells the unique story of Mark and Jean Raabe, a couple that made great efforts to save the Eastern bluebird. “It’s awesome,” Boss said. “They did this for more than 35 years, and they should get credit for their dedication and hard work.”
Read this story and many others in Monday’s edition of the Daily Sun.
Hagerstown couple bring ‘Bluebirds of Antietam’ to the screen
It all started when she saw something a little out of the ordinary at Antietam National Battlefield.
“I noticed these boxes lining the battlefield with no information on them and it struck my curiosity,” said Stefanie Boss, 70, who moved 12 years ago to Hagerstown from Washington, D.C., with her husband Mike Reed, 75.
The couple started volunteering at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg when they moved to the area, as a way to give back while learning about their new surroundings.
Boss realized the boxes on the fenceposts were there for bluebirds to nest and find shelter. But beyond that, she says there wasn’t any information on them and that they were fairly camouflaged.
Through significant research, Boss discovered that the close to 100 boxes were in fact for bluebirds and were part of the Eastern Bluebird Trail that was started at the Battlefield by Jean and Mark Raabe in 1979.
The trail has fledged more than 10,000 birds through the years, Boss says. A bird is considered “fledged” when it has developed the muscles and feathers to fly.
Boss and her husband had the idea to investigate the boxes further after attending the Maryland International Film Festival last year.
“We thought that maybe a documentary was the way to bring this story to life,” Boss said.
They both have significant experience in community theater, with Reed acting and Boss directing productions since the 1980s.
But without film experience, Boss knew they had to find someone to help them navigate the process and bring the birds to life on the big screen.
After watching the film “Heroin’s Grip” last spring at the Maryland International Film Festival in Hagerstown, they decided to contact filmmaker Conrad Weaver to see if maybe he’d be willing to help them explore the Antietam bird boxes.
He appreciated the random call and signed up to help the couple hit the trail.
“I was excited to hear from them,” said Weaver, who received a Mid-America Regional Emmy award for his documentary “The Great American Wheat Harvest” in 2014. “It was a really nice break for me to be able to get outside and into nature and experience these amazing birds and learn about them,” he said.
Reed is narrating and Boss is producing the film, “Bluebirds of Antietam, a documentary film,” which is entering the final stages in the editing process. The team hopes to bring it to film festivals in the area starting early next year.
“Antietam Battlefield is an amazing place and I had never really visited the battlefield until working on this project,” Weaver said. “It’s fascinating to think about the fact that it has this really violent history and now there is this beautiful peaceful area that’s being used to help these birds live and flourish.”
For Boss, it’s more than a movie. She’s excited to tell the story of the volunteers behind the scenes.
“I thought that it was a great story to tell to future generations that they shouldn’t take things like this for granted,” Boss said. “Don’t assume that these beautiful birds would be here without help.”