Beaks here...

Actually, to be precise, that's the fifteenth anniversary of the filming of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, most of which occurred at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio.

I was finishing up my freshman year at Ohio University when some upstart writer-director named Frank Darabont brought Hollywood to my home state for an adaptation of Stephen King's beloved short story, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". While I'm still kicking myself for not chasing down even a menial gig on the production, I know a few folks who worked on the picture, and they're justifiably proud to have been a part in the shaping of what is now considered an American classic.

So good on my fellow Ohioans for organizing this three-day celebration of that magical summer. The event will run from Friday, August 29th to Sunday, August 30th, and include tours of the Reformatory, the Stephen Lumber Company's woodworking shop, the Wyandot Courthouse, and a few other locations from the movie. The chance to snoop around the skin-crawlingly creepy Reformatory is reason alone to check this out; that place makes the (now demolished) Danvers State Hospital feel like Disneyworld.

For more on the reunion, give this Cleveland Plain Dealer article a read.