BASED on a TRUE STORY Marc: I invited ten strangers to my grandfather's farm. All I needed was-permission. Reid: I don't know.

I'll check! Jessica: There are strangers at college too. James: Mom, can't I just take your car? Jill: Hey, Dad, can I ask you something? Isabel: Daddy, please! Stella: 3-day-weekend, so... Monday. Taylor: Dad says it builds character. Jacob: Hector invited me to the lake this weekend, can I go? Grant: Dad, there's this thing. Patrick: Then I'll call you twice a day. Marc: And I promise I'll do all the chores. Reid: Yeah, his grandpa's gonna be there. Jessica:Im a grown up i can fly by myself James: I drove to New York last year, too. Jill: But Dad said I could go! Isabel: It's just like Moms farm! Stella: $100 should cover it. Taylor: I'm 18! Jacob: 50 bucks will do. Patrick: And it's only for the weekend

Marc: T-shirt. Reid: Socks. Jessica: bathingsuit James: Backpack. Jill: Suitcase Isabel: Jeans, Shorts... Stella: Oh! Underwear! Taylor: Purse. Jacob: Lighter Grant: Hat. Patrick: Sunscreen Marc: Sleeping bag. Reid: Phone!

Jessica:bug spray James: Toothbrush. Jill: Blue shirt. Isabel: Camera Stella: Dreamcatcher Taylor: Water bottle. Jacob: Stash. Grant: Snacks. Patrick: Two books. Marc: And my assignment. Reid: Mom, I don't need shampoo! Jessica: Oh, there's my other shoe. James: Charger. Jill: No, I am not taking my teddy bear. Isabel: Flashlight. Stella: Aaaand... it fits! Taylor: Jacob: Do I smell OK? Grant: Found it. Patrick: Teddy bear!

Scene I MARC: Happy Birthday! April 15th 1992. Is this your birthday? It's my birthday too, yeah! No, but seriously, I have a project for my Human Studies class to find people all across America who were born on the same day and the same year that I was, and that's you. I know this sounds incredibly sketchy, but I need a verification that April 15th is really your birthday. Please attach a picture of your birth certificate so I know you're being honest. Anyways, the assignment is for you guys to send in your stories, and I'll send you mine. Imagine if all these babies were sent out to America on the same day. We must be on a mission. I mean, our nurture made us somewhat different, but we must have a lot in common by nature. Tell me anything you think is interesting about you. In case you want to know, I am Marc Tell. I'm a senior from Kenmore West High School in Buffalo, New York, and this project is from Mr. Studebaker's Human Studies class.

Thanks a ton! Marc Tell

Scene II Stella: My name is Stella Foster Jacob Rowe Jill Carmichael Marc Tell James Gripper Taylor Young Isabel Cabrala Reid Stewart Jessica Woodward Patrick Turner Grant: I live inMarc:Buffalo, New York Taylor: Wrentham, Mass Stella: Hibbing, MN. Jill:My favorite movie is Reid: The Departed Patrick: Indiana Jones Isabel:Cool hand Luke James: My biggest fear is death. Jill: uncertainty Stella: Ending up like my parents Jacob:The Fuzz Jessica: Failure Taylor:My friends think I'mGrant: Kind of quiet Reid:A Chill dude James:Deep in my closet is..... Marc:The "I Have a Dream" speech. Isabel: Boxes and boxes of dance shoes Patrick: Tons of legos Jessica: Blue

Jacob: Red Jill: My mom Grant: Genghis Khan Reid: I play wiffleball with my dog! Taylor: Catcher in the Rye Patrick: Ants on a log Marc: I take long walks. It helps. Stella: Well, I mean... it's been almost two years Isabel: Not sure James: I hadn't thought of that before. Jill: Dunno yet Jessica: Can we ever know? Marc: I hope we can find out.

Scene III Hey Birthday Buddies, I know a bunch of you have met each other this year, and that's really awesome. I was hoping all of us could get together this summer and have a "birthday party". We can stay at my grandfather's farm at 6894 Marrowback Road, Springwater, New York. It will be a week of a lot of fun for people who can make it. I have another challenge for the people who can make it. Look up your family history and find an ancestor who has affected who you are today. Really look around because the deeper you dig, the more you find. My mom always said, "Your family catches up to you whether you know them or not." Let me know if you can make it! Marc

P.S. It's right by Lake Hemlock, so bring a bathing suit!

Scene IV

MARC: I left Buffalo and drove to Springwater, on the way to my grandpa's farm. it always amazes me how fast the city disappears into farmland. REID: Who lives out here? What do they do? Who are they? MARC: I'm driving a blue rusted 1996 Camry Wagon with 172,000 miles on it. TAYLOR: Our big weekend was finally here. STELLA: Nervous. Excited... nervous. JACOB: Usually I wouldn't do anything like this. GRANT: Strangers. A three-day weekend with strangers... weird. JESSICA: My mother wants me to call her, like, every ten minutes. MARC: How I talked my grandfather into having 11 18-year olds stay on his farm is anyone's guess. JILL: I told my dad. He said ask your mom. I said it's cool with dad. Off I went, here I am. STELLA: Road a Greyhound bus for 2 days to get to Buffalo. PATRICK: The plane ride was 3 hours and 20 minutes. JESSICA: I flew in, grabbed cab, daddy talked to the cab driver on my cell the whole ride. MARC: I been down these roads my whole life as a kid. I remember all the different landmarks along the way. TAYLOR: Crazy house with all these crazy windmills. PATRICK: Huge barns. GRANT: Sheep. ISABEL: Little baby ones. They're so cute. JACOB: Goats. I hate goats. They've got shifty eyes. STELLA: I was hoping to see a bear. Or a mountain lion, maybe. GRANT: Lotta old crap. Old houses and cars, old tractor just sittin'... PATRICK: Clotheslines full of clothes but no people... JILL: This mean looking dog on a chain... lying in a driveway. That was scary. JACOB: Grass. JAMES: Fields. ISABEL: Sky and birds. JESSICA: Peaceful. STELLA: Organic. JACOB: Creepy. Very creepy.

Scene VI

MARC: I pulled into Grandpa's driveway. I could hear the gravel under my tires. It looked exactly as it always looked. I walked up the wide steps off the kitchen to my grandfather's farm. At first, grandpa didn't recognize me. Squinting through the old screen door with questioning eyes. In them I saw my father and his sister and my uncle who now wore grandpa's hairline. "Hi grandpa, it's me, Marc." "Marc! Why hello. I didn't recognize you at first. You got so damn tall. You look just like your dad." "Uh, thanks, grandpa." We shook hands, stepping past grandpa I went back in time in the magical kitchen of my grandfather's house. Grandpa's farm was nearly as powerful in memory as in name.

Scene VII Jill: On the porch one cool night, listening to the bullfrogs, wrapped in blankets, our stories emerged.

Scene VIII MARC:My dad always said, "The Tells have their stories to tell." But I never thought I'd find history in newspaper clippings and family photos My dad was born in Canada Living right next to Lake Erie, I never thought too much of it Turns out the person he gave birth to wasnt the person he called mom It was all because of my grandfather, Dante Tell I thought I knew him Grandpa Don: the bear-hugging, wily grandfather But I didn't find out his true story In the 60s, he was a famous student protester, He started the Tell Brigade Was a draft dodger, too Even that isn't the full story Dante had dreams American dreams Dante Tell's dream was to live a simple, peaceful life But he was called to do something greater

He had American nightmares too

Dante's life was a tornado Fighting the anti-Vietnam War But he kept his eyes on his goal Destroying destruction, keeping Lady Liberty honest

Dante helped reshape America At least for a few years Pursued by Johnny Law He had to run away to Canada with his girlfriend In '77, Jimmy Carter allowed Dante full amnesty He settled down Became Professor Tell at SUNY Geneseo That's when he met my grandma She had my uncle and aunt Eventually he retired and bought a farm Now he lives the simple life of Grandpa I never knew my grandma; she died before I was born But I know Grandpa's true love was his American dream She's the best hand-me-down I ever got

Was my grandpa a bad person? No He fought for his beliefs and he fought for America That's all anybody can ask

Why do we even care about our history? We can change the world We just need motivation And to learn from the past I guess thats why my grandpa wanted us to be here Everything from the past helped form the present We need to learn from our past and hear the call to arms For my Grandpa, it was to protest What do we want to do? And more importantly, how can our family history help us decide this?

Scene IX

(Patrick and Stella are playing cards by the lake) Stella: You ready? Patrick: I guess so. (Stella closes her eyes) Stella: Three, two one. (Stella and Patrick slam their cards down in front of them) Patrick: Straight. Stella: Straight flush. Patrick: Unbelievable. Who taught you to play? Stella: My brother, Kennedy. But that was ages ago. (Patrick shakes his head in bewilderment as Jessica walks by. The two of them notice her and pretend they are way into playing cards. Stella and Jessica awkwardly share a wave) Patrick: Uh Jessica seems nice, doesn't she? Stella (preoccupied, dealing cards): Sure. Real nice. Patrick: Is something wrong between you and her? (Stella looks up at Patrick suddenly, and smiles) Stella: Youre such a great guy, Patrick, you know that? A really great guy. (Marc enters with Jessica from her exit) Marc: Hey, Stella, Patrick. You guys wanna go to the firepit with the rest of us? (Patrick looks at Stella, she breathes out slowly) Stella: Nah, were going to keep playing for a while, kay? Jessica: You sure? Patrick: Yeah, we're gonna stay here. Jessica: Okay, your loss. (Jessica and Marc exit)

Scene X

When we were little, my dad would play for us a Bob Dylan song called Tangled Up In Blue He would smile into his guitar as he unraveled the notes and chords The whining words from his lips He could close his eyes and play the song, sing the whole thing backwards, upside down There was no erasing the melody from his mind, imprinted from when he was a child Born in the hills at the edge of 1960, he lived lonely, poor, his hard-working soul Bought himself a radio only when he could not stand any more silence, He turned it on The very first words his tired ears heard came twanging onto the AM waves "And every one of the words rang true and glowed like burning coals, Pouring off of every page like it was written in my soul from me to you, Tangled Up In Blue" "It was about love", he'd say, he meant His love for the melancholy voice and seasick lyrics that had him hooked The worn-out records he hid in his suitcase When he left home. Mama was born in Minneapolis she told me once That she would smoke lights and listen to the very same words On the rooftop of her apartment when no one else was home "There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air" She'd sing softly and wait for another soul Someone to dance with, she'd say That song played every summer night of 1975 Until a tired man with nowhere else to go Stumbled into the city and met a lonely girl They would dance barefoot to a sad, sandy voice Tangled up in each other My mother and father Chose no place more fitting to raise a family than Dylan's own Hometown A place where a man could play guitar for his children Singing his own life story to a familiar tune He'd say:

"Me, I'm still on the road Heading for another joint, we always did feel the same We just saw things from a different point of view-Tangled Up In Blue"

Scene XI MARC: Grandpa has a few rules. GRANT: Rule 1. Don't do nothin' stupid. MARC: Rule 2. No smoking anything anywhere especially in the barn. JILL: Rule 3. No extra-curricular activities after lights-out. GRANT: Also known as "don't do nothin' stupid". JAMES: Meaning no hook-ups. PATRICK: Or getting high. JACOB: Or both. REID: Or the boys sneaking into the girls room. STELLA: Rule 4. If you can't sleep, eat. TAYLOR: Rule 5. Pay attention.

Scene XII

I suppose the most important piece of my family history could be some dude in a war, or some women's rights actavist, but it would be hard for me to share any other story than the story of James and Kathleen Young. I know them, however, as Mom and Dad. My dad came from a long line of rich men, my mother from a line of strong women. Both of them had strong wills and high-paying jobs. I suppose fate brought them together. They always had a look of pride across their faces, but a gentle pride. You could see how much they cared about each other, about me. We felt invincible, but we knew we weren't, this became apparent when Dad's pride disappeared, two years ago today. He had lost his job, and his father's respect, but I had not lost respect for my father. Mom kept us going for about a year. When she lost her job too, her face could only show uncertainty. Yet, it's funny that she had always told me "The future IS unknown, but we must always hold on" And we're holding on. Me, my mother, my father, my family. And knowing that, smiles can return to our faces. If we stand tall in the lowest of times, there's nowhere to go but up. And pride can return to their faces, because it's not always about a job. Life is about facing the stuggles, and getting

through them. Life is about the people you trust, and the ones who trust you. And these are things we have. Maybe we needed this struggle to see it, but all I know is we've never been closer. And I know we'll get out of this, as long as we're looking up.

Scene XIII REID: Grandpa Tell was not your every day 'let's play golf' grandpa. He was this old school hippie radical kind of grandpa. MARC: My history teachers asked me if I was related to Dante Tell of the Tell Brigade. I didn't know who the Tell Brigade was. PATRICK: Dante Tell. The founding father of the Students for a Revolutionary World. JESSICA: The SRW had chapters on college campuses all over America between 1964 and 1969. ISABEL: They protested just about everything out there that needed protesting. GRANT: They protested the Vietnam War. PATRICK: They wanted to stop the industrial militarized complex. JILL: They wanted to stop unfair practices of all kinds. STELLA: They wanted to ban the bomb. MARC: Which was pretty ironic, considering that the Tell Brigade became the violent faction of the SRW, known for their bombings. JACOB: They blew up all kinds of things. REID: Mailboxes. TAYLOR: Telephone booths. JAMES: Cars. JESSICA: They even blew up a No-Parking sign. MARC: Dante Tell. STELLA: Freedom fighter. GRANT: Revolutionary. PATRICK: Chemistry major.

Scene XIV Reid: My great grandfather Jeffrey Stewart was a banker in Chicago in 1929. he was a smart and successful man. then, crash

a complete loss of control he had only one option Leave some money with his sister and head away from home he took the train south toward Nashville then west toward Sacramento but ran out of money before he got to Santa Fe my grandmother said that finding work was unimaginably hard that all he could do was walk he walked past men sleeping on benches women living out of cloth houses children starving in the streets he used to have a future and it used to have a purpose but it had all gone up in smoke. the money. the power. the prospects. the country was poor and penniless and lost it was dragged into the dirt and dust and all of the world with it caught in a downward spiral wiping away the accomplishments of the past men wandered the country, migrating in flocks, searching for a life a man had to stand in line to work for a day he had to stand in line for a meal he had to stand in line to live but it was no way to live just wandering through the wilderness with no end in sight, just people wandering searching, starving, dying My grandmother always said that anyone can live with dignity during good times it's in the face of tragedy that a man shows his true colors So what were my great grandfather's true colors? he used to be a banker Chicago. My grandmother said he wore a blue suit and he trekked through the desert to rekindle his life he and so many others deserted as they were, they pulled through if they hadn't we wouldn't be here, would we?

STELLA: The Drano bomb was an effective tool against The Man. JAMES: Dante Tell, 1968. Bought some C4 explosives from a supply sergeant at Fort Dick's. JILL: Known as the summer that started the nightmare. PATRICK: Though innocent of the crime itself, Dante created the blueprints for the bombing. PATRICK: My great grandfather A soldier from the Great War Returned from Germany and came to Brookings Oregon trying to escape Leave behind the horrible memories Of guns bombs warfare Emily lies just outside our town And there he would walk Years past his combat age It was a peaceful place Where my great grandfather could walk beneath the trees And forget his trouble One day Brookings became part of something horrible The day a bomb fell on the mountain The mountain where my great grandfather loved to walk Nobody was killed It only brought about panic and forest fires Yet my great grandfather A veteran of World War I He knew that it signified part of something bigger Something that would encompass the country In a flurry of battle The Second World War Would pull in all citizens Away from their lives jobs and families America would find the will to destroy

And America would never by the same To him, it was more than just watching a mountain burn He knew the significance of the bomb My great grandfather Henry Turner knew

JAMES: The first thing that came to mind when I got Marc's message last year was my great-grandpa who fought in World War 2. I never heard stories about him from my dad, but there's a cabinet full of old stuff from him in the attic in my house. I'd never looked through it before. I'd always imagined it to be just dusty suitcases and those photos where you don't even know what you're supposed to be looking at. But the letters that I found there weren't written in Greek or hieroglyphics, surprisingly enough. Plain english, typed. A little bit smudged. The last letter I found was from...

December 7, 1943

Dear Mother and Grace, Don't worry, I've been getting your letters. It's really good to hear from you both. Grace, thank you for reading what I write to Alice, Robert and Michael. I don't have a lot of light to see with right now, because everyone else has gone off to bed. I heard one man crying, and I think I know which man it was. He got a letter today saying that his daughter was just born back at home. I'm struggling, but not because of what's going on over here. Here, it's all just move, move! Planes! Bombs! Attack after attack, it never stops. I would be more cheerful knowing there to be a clear end in sight. My thoughts are always with my beloved family. Maybe I dream too much. But here, nothing is beautiful. Enclosed in this letter is all the love that I have. As always, please share it with the children. I will always be Yours sincerely, Stephen I can read these letters time and again, but I'll never understand how it felt to be there.

GRANT: Blood, blood, blood. American blood all. On the battlefield of Antietam they lay.

Seas of bodies. Drowning in bodies. Dead bodies. Dead cousins. Dead brothers. My great great great grandfather killed many a man that day. But one man he killed was his brother. A brother who was his enemy. Who died at his hands. Sifting through the dead masses that covered the battlefield, my ancestor, Jonathan Crawford, Saw the dead body of his younger brother, Thomas. He pulled the body from the dead masses To see the grey of his blood stained uniform. Jonathan left home and joined the Union army To fight for the dream of the founding fathers, But Thomas, always resilient to the regulations of federal government, Joined the confederate ranks to fight for his own sense of freedom. On the battlefield of Antietam, The dreams of these two brothers clashed. But when both sides fight for freedom, And both find that their freedom is not free enough, Then the American Dream has been lost. A dream of freedom for all, Of rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every man. That's what it once was, but when one man's freedom comes at the cost of anothers, then this dream may not be achieved. When the cost of union is the blood of its people, The life of my great great uncle, That cost was too high. JAMES: Grandpa Tell compared us to the Students for a Revolutionary World. GRANT: First rule: no rules. All: Yay. Reid: Blazer. James: Wastoid. Taylor: I never thought I'd be friends with the quiet one, but James is cool.

James: And she lives in New England so we could hang out. Marc: I think she might like me back. James: It doesn't matter anyway, it's only for the weekend. MARC: We decided to call ourselves ALL: "The Eleven". PATRICK: View the world with perspective. JAMES: Open your eyes.