Small Town Cheese

Let me preface this post by mentioning that the most recent issue of People magazine contains an article on Terry Ryan, author of the book, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. I think I forgot to tell everyone about that. She's such a neat lady. I had the fortune to meet her a couple years back when she was in negotiations to sell the movie rights to her book. What a wild and amazing ride she's had the past few years!

Moving on.......
I attended a gala event to celebrate the Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio this weekend. 8 of the 10 Ryan siblings were in attendance, which was pretty cool. Most notable, of course, was Terry "Tuff" Ryan herself. On display were articles of clothing and shoes and reproductions of key items from the movie, including Evelyn's typewriter, Kelly's ukelele, Arps milk bottles as well as behind-the-scenes photos and a bunch of Dr. Pepper memorabilia. It was neat to see these items after having seen them in the movie (twice now!).

Also on display were papers written about the book & movie by Defiance High School juniors. I'm not exactly sure what that had to do with honoring the Ryan family, but it's Defiance.... we don't do this sort of stuff every day.

A couple of interesting hi-lites from the event.... Betsy Ryan (one of the siblings) was wearing the dress Julianne Moore wore in the scene where she falls and the milk bottles break all over the floor. When Betsy was introduced to the crowd, she announced that she had belatedly discovered there was still glass in the pockets of the dress! One of the other brothers was wearing the blue suit Woody Harrelson wore in one of the movie scenes. The oldest sister, Leann, wore the hat her mother received when she went to Dallas to claim her grand prize in the Dr. Pepper Time of Your Life contest.

The other really cool thing that happened is that there will now be a large sign placed at the city limits, declaring Defiance the home of Evelyn Ryan and Terry Ryan, author of the Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. When the sign was unveiled, Terry Ryan was speechless. It was announced that an extra sign had been produced so Terry could take one home to San Francisco with her. Very cool.

So there you go. For nearly a month now, it's been Prize Winner mania around Defiance, and I think the craziness is beginning to decrease a little bit. But... probably not for long..... the movie opens in wider release across the country this Friday, October 14th. The mania might just start back up!!!

If you need a souvenir, go here. All proceeds go to the Evelyn Ryan scholarship fund at Defiance College