Simsbury Hosts World Premiere of PBS Documentary on Life of Conservative Pioneer Gifford Pinchot

The Simsbury Sycamore. Photos courtesy of Dornenburg Group

Gala Dinner, Film Screening at The Riverview will benefit Simsbury Free Library, Simsbury Land Trust, Simsbury Main Street Partnership and the Pinchot Sycamore Preservation Fund

Simsbury will host the world premiere of a new documentary film on the life of town native Gifford Pinchot that was produced by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

The event on Sept. 6 will be held at The Riverview, 10 Winslow Place, and will include a gala dinner and presentation by Tom Tidwell, Chief of the US Forest Service. Event proceeds will benefit several Simsbury community organizations, including the Simsbury Free Library, Simsbury Land Trust, Simsbury Main Street Partnership and the Pinchot Sycamore Preservation Fund.

Simsbury is the birthplace of Gifford Pinchot (1865 – 1946), one of America’s pioneers in the conservation of natural resources. The Pinchot Sycamore, named in his honor on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1965, also stands in Simsbury. It remains the largest living tree in Connecticut and is estimated to be between two and three centuries old.

Gifford Pinchot is recognized for reforming the development and management of forests in the United States by advocating for the conservation of land reserves through planned use and renewal. He called it "the art of producing from the forest whatever it can yield for the service of man." Pinchot served as the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1905 to 1910.  He was also the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1923 to 1927 and again from 1931 to 1935.

Gifford Pinchot

The new documentary film, titled "Seeking the Greatest Good: The Conservation Legacy of Gifford Pinchot," highlights Pinchot’s philosophy of natural resource conservation through sustainable use. Nearly 50 years after its founding, the Pinchot Institute for Conservation continues the work of its namesake and is an international leader in the conservation community for environmental education and studies in natural resource policy. Working in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the Institute is located at Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, PA.

The idea for the Pinchot Institute took shape in 1961 when Gifford Pinchot’s son, Dr. Gifford Bryce Pinchot, proposed to donate the Pinchot family estate at Grey Towers to the American people as the home of a new center for conservation research, policy and practice. On September 24, 1963, President John F. Kennedy dedicated the Pinchot Institute for Conservation Studies as “a living memorial” to Gifford Pinchot’s “practical idealism” in developing “a professional approach to the management of our nation’s resources.”

Event Details
"Seeking the Greatest Good"
A PBS Documentary Film World Premiere honoring Simsbury native Gifford Pinchot on the 50th Anniversary of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation
Thursday, Sept. 6
5 to 9 pm
The Riverview
10 Winslow Place
Simsbury, CT 06089

Event Schedule
5:00 p.m. – Red carpet opens
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. – Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 p.m. – Sit-down dinner
7:45 p.m. – Welcome remarks
8:00 p.m. – World premiere of documentary
9:00 p.m. – Closing credits

Ticket Information
Tables of 12: $1,200
Individual Tickets: $100
Sponsorship opportunities are also available.
For ticket reservations and information, please emailsimmainst@sbcglobal.net , call 860-651-8577 or visitwww.shopsimsbury.com/pinchot.