Community Cinema Vashon presents Medrora

Years ago, Medora was a booming rural community with a thriving middle class. But the factories and farms are now closed and the population has dwindled. Poverty and despair have moved in.

Medora follows the down-but-not-quite-out Medora Hornets varsity basketball team over the course of the 2011 season, capturing their stories both on and off the court. Riding a brutal losing streak when the film begins, the team’s struggle to compete bears eerie resemblance to the town’s fight for survival.  

An in-depth, deeply personal look at small town life, Medora is also a thrilling, underdog basketball story and the inspiring true tale of a community refusing to give up hope despite brutal odds stacked against them.
The Medora Hornets’ three coaches are all volunteers who hold down full-time jobs as a cop, a preacher and a stonecutter. Rusty Rogers, the six-foot five-inch center, is virtually homeless due to his mother’s problems with alcohol, and lives with point guard Zach Fish in public housing. Shooting guard Dylan McSoley agonizes over  whether he should reach out to his dad, a man he’s never met who lives in the next town over. Robby Armstrong, a farmer’s son, wants to be the first in his family to complete high school. Despite crippling poverty, addictions, arrests, and other set backs the Hornets don’t quit and are a vital part of the sputtering engine that keeps Medora going.

Ultimately, Medora is a film about America, and the thousands of small towns facing the same fight. As one resident observes, “Once we lose these small towns, we can’t get them back.”   

This Vashon sneak preview screening is open to the public and there is no charge to attend!! Tuesday, March 25 at 6pm, Vashon Theatre, !FREE!

Please invite a friend or family member in middle, junior, or high school to experience how education always leads to success if you stay the course.