Lifelong Birder's Film To Show In La Grange

LA GRANGE, IL — “Monty and Rose,” a film that chronicles the first pair of piping plovers to nest in Chicago in 64 years, will be shown in La Grange next month. Filmmaker Bob Dolgan, a marketing consultant and lifelong birder, developed the concept for the 23-minute documentary and launched a crowdfunding effort that reached its goal of $5,000 in August. He is the brother of Ann Potter, a La Grange resident.

The documentary will show at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at the La Grange Theatre, 80 S. La Grange Road. It will include a post-screening question-and-answer session and chidlren's activities.

The documentary played to five soldout showings in Chicago in November and December, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared Nov. 18 Piping Plover Day to mark the film’s debut and the plovers’ success. Volunteers monitored the plovers’ nest from dawn to dusk nearly every day last summer, protecting the birds from threats including dogs, volleyballs and natural predators on a busy urban beach, according to a news release.

“The success of the plovers is a direct result of the vision and hard work of many in the bird conservation community who spoke up for the needs of birds,” Judy Pollock, president of Chicago Audubon Society, said in a statement.