On Wednesday, January 9, the LaBelle Heritage Museum (LHM) presented a free, public screening of John Ford’s silent motion picture “The Iron Horse” during their monthly meeting, at the Dallas B. Townsend Agricultural Center. The Iron Horse is an American Western directed in 1924 by John Ford, depicted Irish, Italian, Chinese, and African-American immigrants who worked tirelessly on construction of the first American transcontinental railroad. The United States Library of Congress selected this historic film to be in the National Film Registry in 2011. An interesting and uniquely fun night was had by all who attended the viewing of this great, old film, though, I will refrain from giving away any spoilers here. They even handed out popcorn and some neat Florida-themed door prizes during this event. Among the prizes were a 2019 Florida Recipe calendar from the Florida Memory Project and packages of Florida grown long grain rice. Ally Perez, Julie Jeffords, Walt Feiger, Al Jensen, Susan Feiger, Jeff Lazar, and Bill Hamilton were the lucky winners. The museum plans on showing more silent films and “early talkies” regularly in the future. There are even plans to show outdoor movies at the museum’s two-story building, when their major renovations are completed. Next up is LaBelle Heritage Museum’s Special Speaker Program ”Before the Pioneers: Connecting Ancient and Contemporary South Florida” will feature Florida State University’s renowned, Andrew K. Frank, Ph. D. The Special Speaker Program has been made possible by a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. The public is invited to attend this free program at the Dallas B. Townsend Agricultural Center, 1085 Pratt Boulevard in LaBelle, on Wednesday, January 23, at 7:00 p.m.