"Dead Girl Walking" film screening and folk concerts

North Carolina woman, band
bring powerful tale to Vermont

Marcy Brenner was just 34 when she first found a lump in her left breast in 1997, the same year ovarian cancer took her mother’s life.

In 2000, she suffered a devastating – and enlightening – reoccurrence. After feeling an ache in her bones, she was tested for and diagnosed with advanced metastatic breast cancer in her spine, hips and a lymph node in her chest.

“Since that day, it has been my life’s work to offer a hand in the darkness of a cancer diagnosis,” says Brenner, now a survivor.

She’s done that with a powerful song turned award-winning film titled “Dead Girl Walking.” The short film by Ray and Judy Schmitt of Real Earth Productions documents Brenner’s experiences from the brink of despair to being truly alive.   

It is, by all accounts, an incredibly powerful tale of emerging from the darkness to grasp life with a truly awe-inspiring zest and confidence. 

Brenner, her husband and band, Molasses Creek, of North Carolina will visit Vermont on March 23, 24 and 25. 

March 24, 6 PM: Brenner will show the film, “Dead Girl Walking,” in the conference center of Gifford Medical Center (44 S. Main Street in Randolph) at 6 PM. Following the 45-minute video will be a talk and question and answer period. The band, which includes Brenner, will then play a song or two. A 10-minute trailer for the film is available at deadgirlwalking.net or giffordmed.org. The screening and talk are free, but donations, for those able to give, are appreciated. The proceeds will support the hospital’s Woman to Woman fund. For more information call (802) 728-2284 or log on to www.giffordmed.org.

March 25, 7 PM:  Molasses Creek will play a full concert beginning at 7 PM in Sharon at The Vermont Independent School of the Arts. Molasses Creek is a high-energy acoustic group with a captivating stage presence, elegant harmonies, blazing instrumentals and a quirky sense of humor, according to the band’s Web site. Tickets for the concert on March 25 in Sharon are $10 ($5 for children under age 10 and seniors). For more information or to buy tickets, call (802) 234-6987 or log on to www.vtisa.org. The show is sponsored by Vermont Violins and Northfield Savings Bank. 

An additional concert is slated for March 23 at the Langdon Street Café in Montpelier (www.langdonstreetcafe.com or (802)223-8667).