THOM 5 | Fall / Winter 2015

CONNECTOR
Brainstorming at Grassroots Coffee Company were Sharon
Maxwell-Ferguson, Didi Hoffman, and Doby Flowers, board
members at the Thomasville Community Resource Center
(TCRC). They needed a solution. How could they engage with the
community to build support for TCRC, an organization that serves
at-risk children and families in Thomasville?
Inspiration stemmed from conversation about the organization’s
founding principles. Begun in 1998 by actress Jane Fonda, then
a Thomasville resident, TCRC aimed to educate and empower
parents and their children; help members of the community
achieve holistic wellness; and provide a safe haven for those in
need.
“We have a real opportunity
to educate and enlighten
the community and to stimulate
wonderful conversation”
“Educate and empower” led to more discussion about a tie
between the organization’s mission and the film industry. Sharon,
who today remains the board chair at TCRC, said they realized
Fonda was only the first link. “The more layers of the onion we
peeled back, the more we found all these connections to the
film industry here in Thomasville,” she says.
And indeed, there are connections. Academy-Award winning
actress Joanne Woodward was born in Thomasville.
Greenwood Plantation resident Jock Whitney, a financier of
“Gone With the Wind,” held the first public screening of
the movie at Thomasville’s Melhana Plantation months
before the film’s premiere. Screenwriter Lucy Alibar,
known for her 2012 film “Beasts of the Southern Wild,”
was raised down the road in Monticello. Actress Julie
Moran, a longtime host of “Entertainment Tonight,”
was born in Thomasville.
Beyond that, Sharon said, there was no film
festival in the immediate area, and this region
stood to benefit from one. “Film festivals are
increasing in number. There are probably
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