We made a movie!
On July 26, 1990, the first major fundraising event for the Jeffrey Allan Jones Memorial Scholarship was organized. “Cancer In The Forest” was a music concert held on a beautiful summer day at St. Michael’s Pavilion in Mont Clare, PA. The organizers decided to honor Jeff by asking two of his favorite local artists, The Manatees and Jim Femino, to perform. They both agreed and were the foundation of an amazing day for about 200 people that also included a headlining performance by the leading Grateful Dead cover band of the day, Living Earth. Also in attendance were Bruce Segal of the Delaware Valley Rainforest Action Network and Rebecca Taggart of the Environmental Protection Agency who both shared with the crowd facts and figures about important global issues. A portion of the proceeds from that day were donated in Jeff’s name to Bruce’s group to help fight deforestation in areas where important cancer fighting drugs are naturally found. “Cancer In The Forest” was so financially successful that the funds raised were also enough to largely support the Jeffrey Allen Jones Memorial Scholarship award for the next 24 years.
The event was videotaped for archive and those tapes remained shelved until recently when discussions came up to create a new fundraising event. Brian Miksis decided to try to edit something together that would showcase the spirit and music of that day. The project grew in scope to become a documentary film that tells the story of how a group of 20-somethings decided to honor a dear friend who was taken too soon from the planet by creating an award given in his name every year at Phoenixville Area High School.
The title of the new film, “Life Is Fair,” is taken from a quote written in Jeff’s own hand which was on his bedroom wall. He truly believed this and lived out his final year and a half battling cancer with grace surrounded by friends, family, laughs and a lot of love. This film attempts to honor Jeff’s life, his death and his memory which lives on in the form of a scholarship given to a young person who is pursuing their dream in a writing career just as Jeff would have done.
The introduction video clip on our home page was made from portions of the longer documentary. The film had a well received premier screening on December 29, 2015 at the Sellersville Theater. Originally the first screening was planned to be over Thanksgiving in 2014. It was to be shown at the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville. Just days before we signed a contract with the Colonial Theater, Jeff’s nephew Rohan was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma. We had to hold off on the screening while we focused on Rohan. It was a long road but after multiple surgeries, chemo and radiation treatments we are happy to report Rohan was released to the Survivorship Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in February of 2021. We were told it is very rare for an Uncle and Nephew to have such similar brain tumors. The doctors did genetic testing at CHOP but were unable to find any link that would explain the tumors in Jeff and Rohan. Rohan is in college today and we are so grateful for the all the doctors, nurses, and staff at CHOP!
A DVD+CD package has been created. The DVD has a few video “extras” and the CD features an hour of selected songs from the “Cancer in the Forest” benefit concert performed by The Manatees, Jim Femino and the Living Earth. The DVD/CD package is available as our gift for a donation to the scholarship fund. Information can be found on the Donations Page.
This is the cover of the DVD+CD Package:
