Tocks Island film available at Pike Library

PIKE COUNTY, PA — “Controversy on the Delaware,” a short documentary film about the Tocks Island Dam project produced in 2006 by local students, is now available for all Pike County residents to check out on DVD at any branch of the Pike County Public Library (PCPL).

Filmmaker Ryan Balton, a Delaware Valley High School (DVHS) graduate and lifelong patron of the library, who grew up using the Children’s Room of PCPL’s Milford branch, recently donated three copies of “Controversy on the Delaware” to PCPL. Balton produced the documentary with classmates Brett Fuchs and Nick Troiano while attending DVHS.

“Controversy on the Delaware” chronicles the Federal Government’s plan to construct a dam across the Delaware River in the 1960s, which resulted in the seizure of 70,000 privately owned acres, and eliminated the entire town of Dingmans Ferry. The film highlights the local grassroots environmental movement that emerged in response to the government’s actions, resulting in the designation of the National Park Service’s Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Visit www.rbalton.com/tocks for more information.

Balton, currently a student at Syracuse University, will be honored as the 2008 Pike County Public Library Volunteer of the Year during a Community Awards Dinner hosted by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce on Friday, November 14 at the Riverview Inn, in Matamoras.