Brasstown – Alison Chastain won the Jim Barry Productions Scholarship, which will be a $4,000 boost to help her in her senior year at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Chastain is a lifelong resident of Brasstown and 2019 graduate from Murphy High School.
Beginning her film studies during the pandemic, when classes were only held virtually, Chastain was able to create several films dedicated to the land conservation efforts in Brasstown and Cherokee County. Chastain was able to seamlessly weave in her family’s long history with ongoing land conservation in the area.
Chastain worked with Mainspring Conservation Trust on the project and visited Welch Farm in Andrews with employee Alex Jump to record a video of the work the nonprofit does in the area.
Mainspring Conservation Trust was formed in 1997 with the goal of conserving and restoring the lands and waters of the Southern Blue Ridge, and connecting people to the national treasures of the land, according to the site mainspringconserves.org. The organization serves as a trust for seven western North Carolina and northern Georgia counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties in North Carolina, and Rabun County, Ga.
Chastain also recorded sights in Brasstown such as Ridgefield Farms and her own grandparents, Phillip and Nina Chastain, who discussed how the area has changed during their lifetime.
“I began my film by introducing why land conservation in this area is so important to me- because I am from here and my family is here,” she said. “My grandparents talked about how things have changed, and I talked to Executive Director Jordan Smith of Mainspring about how the organization functioned and their goal to restore ecological and historical value to the land here.”
The film is about 10 minutes in length and was a way for Chastain to showcase her love for the area that she calls home. She hopes to finish college this year with a bachelor’s degree in communications and one day hopes to be a speech therapist.
The Jim Barry Productions Scholarship is an award given to three academically outstanding rising juniors and seniors majoring in communications studies and concentrating in media production who demonstrate sound scholastic work, according to comm.unc.edu. Chastain is the daughter of Derwin and Gail Chastain of Brasstown.