Maine-made ‘The Home Road’ to screen at Center Theatre Friday evening

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A new documentary film by Maine filmmaker and musician Tonya Shevenell, “The Home Road,” will be screened at the Center Theatre at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 21. Shevenell and her father Ray will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion.

In 1845, 19-year-old Israel Shevenell left his home in Canada and walked nearly 200 miles to Biddeford. He found work and built a new life in an American boomtown being transformed by the Industrial Revolution and is recognized as the city’s first permanent French-Canadian settler and French voter.

In 2015 his 74-year-old great-great grandson, Ray Shevenell, retraced the pioneering journey, walking from Compton, Quebec to Biddeford.

Tonya Shevenell tells their stories in her first documentary film, an exploration of family, history, and identity — and how a journey into the unexpected inevitably leads to … home. Shevenell, bass guitarist for the Don Campbell Band, has performed at the Center Theatre many times and she looks forward to returning with her first film project.

For more information or to purchase advance tickets, visit www.centertheatre.org, find the Center Theatre on Facebook, or call the theatre at 564-8377. The Center Theatre is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the arts a part of life in the Maine Highlands.

Contributed photo
“THE HOME ROAD” — Ray Shevenell begins his trek from Quebec to Biddeford to retrace the journey of his great-great grandfather. His journey is captured in his daughter’s documentary film “The Home Road” screening at the Center Theatre on Friday, July 21 at 7 p.m.