At Thursday’s meeting, Kenn Starr of Starr Hill Vineyard and Winery spoke to the Clearfield Borough Council about the upcoming production of The Fireball Run, an “adventure-rally” series that will travel through New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Starr said the series is not scripted or rehearsed and is filmed in real time as 40 teams travel along a 2,000-mile route to locate historic artifacts and “under-discovered” places.
The teams are given clues directing them to specific points of interest. When the team solves the clues, they are given the next location they must travel to and are awarded points for successfully accomplishing each activity.
Starr said areas are selected based upon economic vitality, quality of life, uniqueness, story content and audience interest. He said Starr Hill Vineyard and Winery had been a sponsor of the show for several years.
He said the producers of the show were searching for east-coast locations for this year’s race and went to the Visit Clearfield County Web site. They were very interested in what they saw about the area and when they learned that Starr Hill Vineyard and Winery was located here, they contacted Starr and started talking about filming Fireball Run in Clearfield County.
Starr said in addition to the competition, each team is assigned a child who has been reported missing from their hometown through the Child Rescue Network.
As the teams travel, they hand out flyers containing information about the missing child, in hopes that someone may have information regarding that child’s whereabouts. According to www.fireballrun.com, the Fireball Run media campaign has resulted in the successful recovery of 47 missing children.
Starr said the show will be filmed from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1. He said the competitors will be at Starr Hill Vineyard and Winery Sept. 25 and filming will begin in Clearfield on Sept. 26. Residents are advised that a portion of Market Street, including the bridge, will be closed from 6-10 a.m. on Sept. 26.
According to its Web site, the name “Fireball Run” was inspired by NASCAR legend Glenn “Fireball” Roberts. The series began in 2007, and this year marks its 10th anniversary. The series is streamed in the United States and is televised in India, Africa, Latin America, Europe and will soon be coming to Australia.
The series is designed to educate the contestants as well as the audience about unique points of interest within the United States. For more information, visit www.fireballrun.com.