Fall 2001

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Around the Pond

UNDER QUABBIN Ed Klekowski's new video

EERILY PRESENT: State Police diver Scott Sawicki at the Quabbin Reservoir. Photo courtesy Ed Klekowski. THE WHITE-GLOVED HAND OF THE diver touches a tree-root, a wall, tombstone, an isolated bit of plant life. At some point, in a closeup, we see the diver isn’t wearing gloves. The whiteness is part of the haunting pallor of the world Under Quabbin. Premiered this summer on public TV stations WGBY-Springfield and WGBH-Boston, the hour-long film was produced by biology professor Ed Klekowski and his wife and colleague, Libby, with help from many UMass friends and such new part-ners as members of the State Police Underwater Recovery Team. Having secured permission to enter the restricted waters, Klekowski and colleagues went on to research and recreate the history of the Swift River valley and its drowned towns, as well as to explore the natural history of the strange, arrested underwater world that survives today. The result exceeded all expectations at WGBY, where Under Quabbin made its debut during the August fund-drive. With members of the dive team taking phone calls and a pleased and astonished-looking Klekowski taking compliments, the evening shattered the station’s fund-raising records. Similar enthusiasm greeted the production in the Boston viewing area. The Under Quabbin video is available through the Klekowskis’ www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river .

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HIGHLIGHTS: Under Quabbin - Ed Klekowski's new video

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