Skowhegan florist collects '50s bras for 'Empire Falls'
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
SKOWHEGAN — Skowhegan Flueriste is going into the brassiere collection business — at least temporarily.
Owners of the local flower business have agreed to let their Water Street business be the repository for used bras and bikini tops that are being gathered for the HBO film "Empire Falls," scheduled to be filmed in Skowhegan and Waterville this fall.
Owners Larry Charrier and Duane Burbank said the drop box was placed in the downtown shop yesterday and posters have been placed on telephone poles to announce it.
"They needed a location in Skowhegan," Charrier said. "A lot of people said they would like to donate, but they don't want to drive to Waterville. The set director came in yesterday."
The movie is based on Maine author Richard Russo's Pulitzer prize-winning book by the same name.
The bras will eventually be hung in a replica of a raucous Florida Keys bar called "Captain Tony's Saloon, the scene of a telephone conversation featuring film star and executive producer Paul Newman. The bar was a real and famous night spot in the Keys and one of the late Ernest Hemingway's haunts where women dangled their brassieres from the ceiling.
"If we get enough we are going to hang them up in our windows," Charrier said, chuckling. "This is a grand time for Skowhegan. It seems so nice to see the construction and the people going up and down the streets. We love it."
Darla L. Pickett — 474-9534, Ext. 343
dpickett@centralmaine.com