It Takes a Village
By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

The recent screening of The Vicious Kind, the film that was shot in Norfolk last year,
was a wonderful show of support for the film and this publication. It was incredible
seeing our town up on the big screen. From a beautiful shot of the western slope of Route
272 South to a construction site on Sunset Ridge to the wide expanse of Laurel Way,
there was no mistaking the location of the film. One scene opened with the state sign
denoting your arrival in Norfolk and another scene even mentioned the town by name.
Numerous Norfolk residents were thanked by the producers in the closing credits,
revealing the wealth of talents and generosity of so many people in this town. Providing
places to stay, props and set locations, it took a village to make this film a reality. It is
easy to take for granted how many preparations were made for each scene when you see
the finished product take just a few minutes.
Every issue of Norfolk Now is a bit like that. It may not look like much, 16 to 20 pages
once a month, but it takes a tremendous amount of work by a small group of people.
Coming up with ideas for articles, finding writers, editing, organizing the advertisements,
making sure the subscriptions list is updated – all these tasks take several hours. These
are unpaid hours of volunteers’ free time that could otherwise be spent with family and
friends, or attending to the many other things in our lives that need attention.
There were grumblings around town the past couple weeks that Norfolk Now was
charging too much for tickets to the screening. Please know that there were expenses
associated with the screening, so the ticket price was set to ensure Norfolk Now would at
least break even on the event, and hopefully make a little profit, but Norfolk Now didn’t
host this event solely to make money. While it is a battle to cover our expenses each
month, and we are constantly hoping for more financial security, the initial idea for the
screening came from the desire to share with this community the finished result of a
project that truly took a village to make. Thanks to all of you who came and showed your
support and a big thank you to Dan Hincks and the entire staff of Infinity Hall for hosting
the event.