The "Eddie" - Fan Appreciation Award

Williamsburg Film Festival

The "Eddie" - Fan Appreciation Award

The Williamsburg Film Festival is pleased to announce that beginning in 2004 we will recognize fans who have contributed much to our hobby. In 2003, one of our most faithful passed way. His name was Edward Wall, and, with the cooperation of his family, we are going to celebrate an outstanding fan in honor of Eddie and the legacy that he left us. We are going to call this award the "Eddie." Following is a short biography of our good friend.

Edward A. Wall, jeweler, Korean War veteran, husband, father and grandfather, loved western movies from childhood. He grew up in Elkin, N.C. The family store was in the same building as the local theater. Edward's uncle ran the theater, so the dreaming boy not only saw all the movies free but also met some of his heroes in the live stage shows, such as Ken Maynard, Wild Bill Elliott and Al "Fuzzy" St. John. Edward grew up but he held on to the old-fashioned values and fun of those films. He kept a photograph of Smiley Burnette and himself in his wallet. No surprise that he became involved with weekend showing of the westerns of which he was so fond. In 1980 he and his friend, film scholar and Radford University instructor John Rutherford, began showing Nickelodeon Films on the first Saturdays in Radford, Va. In 1988 they expanded by showing films on the third Saturdays in Christiansburg as well. "He never met a stranger," Rutherford said, "nor a western film he didn't like." Edward collected 430 of them, along with a myriad of guns, cap pistols and watches. "He loved people and people loved him," noted Rutherford.

Edward A. Wall passed away at age 75. The Williamsburg Film Festival, sponsored by the Williamsburg Classic Film Guild, Inc., wanted to honor non-entertainment people who, over a period of years, helped to perpetuate the legacy of the western film genre -- "People like Eddie."

In honor of Edward Wall, the Williamsburg Film Festival will present the "Eddie Award" annually in honor of Edward A. Wall in celebration of the things that he admired and the individuals who represent them.

Our First "Eddie" Award was presented to Collector and Film Historian John A. Rutherford at our 2004 Williamsburg Film Festival.

The recipient of the 2005 "Eddie" Award is George Coan. George heads up the "Saddle Pals", publishes "The Old Cowboy Picture Show" newsletter and promotes monthly showings of b-westerns at the Newberry Opera House in Newberry, South Carolina.

Wayne Short is the 2006 winner of "The Eddie" for his efforts in keeping the "Films of the Golden Age" alive through the Western Film Preservation Society and the Western Film Fair.

Author Bobby Copeland is the winner of the 2007 "Eddie"Award.

John Sents was awarded the "Eddie" for 2008 in recognition of his dedication and love for our hobby.

The 2009 "Eddie" was awarded to Jim Kocher for his faithful support of our hobby.

Bonnie Boyd is awarded the 2010 Eddie for her dedication and love of our hobby.

The 2011 "Eddie" is awarded to Ed O'Reilly. Ed is a long time fan, collector and supporter of most of the major film festivals regularly attending Memphis, Asheville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Knoxville, Lone Pine, Los Angeles, Williamsburg and so forth. He is a Super Fan of our Hobby.

The 2012 Eddie Award Winner is a super fan and active supporter. Nikki Ellerbe is the President of the Raleigh Chapter of the Western Film Preservation Society. He publishes a bi-monthly newsletter for his club. He is a collector of b-western memorabilia, attends most of the western film festival and is one of our hobby's best "Good Will" Ambassadors.

Our 2013 Eddie was presented to Doug Jewell in appreciation of his on-going support for our Festival. Many thanks to Doug for his great support which has aided us in maintaing our high level of achievement.

Super Fan, Festival Organizer and Collector Fred Jones was awarded the 2014 Eddie Award for his dedication in keeping our genre alive.

Harry Daniel and Tom Wyatt, long time collectors of 16mm movies and volunteers at films festivals all over the East Coast, received the 2015 "Eddie"- Fan Appreciation Award. They have spend timeless hours showing western movies at nostalgic festivals as well as sponsoring movie nights at their local library in Richmond, Va. Stalwarts over the years in our Hobby.

The recipient of the 2016 "Eddie" Award is Tony Monczewski. Tony is a long time collector and festival fan. He has attended most festivals dating back to the late 1970s. He is a recognized Movie Locations expert with a large collection of location photos. He is the Staff Photographer for the Williamsburg Film Festival and freely shares his photos with stars and fans alike. Congratulations to Tony for making our hobby stronger.