820-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 9, 1988
Sight And Sound: A Dream That Keeps Growing
BY LOU ANN GOOD
MANHEIM - Sight and Sound
Auditorium is a popular family
entertainment place for both local
and out-of-state people. The
700-seat facility near Strasburg
shows weekly productions that
blends live acting, film, song and
dance with special effects and ani
mation to dramatize the Gospel.
Last year, more than 2,700 tour
buses in addition to thousands of
carloads attended the five major
shows that Sight and Sound pro
duces. Glenn Eshelman, the man
who masterminds the productions,
is often referred to as a “creative
genius”. His success is no small
feat for a man who has had no art,
theater, or photography training.
Glenn attributes his farming
background as training ground for
his productions that now attract
millions. “Everything I learned
stemmed from the things I learned
on the farm,” he said. “My daddy
was creative in making things that
were needed around the farm.”
The carpentry and mechanics that
he learned on the Mount Joy farm
have enabled him to build and
mechanize stage props and sets.
He considers the lime management
his father instilled within him as
vital importance to running his
present organization. But most
important, “I learned to love the
beauty of nature.”
In between chore time, Glenn
began capturing the beauty that
surrounded him by drawing with
crayons, pencils, pens, watercolors
and paints on scraps of paper. No
matter where Glenn was—in
church, in the bam and, later, even
on his first date—he couldn’t keep
his pencil still. Constantly, he
sketched faces, rural landscapes
and animals. His dad often said, “If
anything can be drawn on, Glenn
will find it.”
His talent did not go unnoticed.
As an eight-year-old, he won a
blue ribbon at the Mount Joy farm
show.
Although he never laid his art
work aside, he still found time to
lenn and Shirley Eshelman
From left, Bob Love, Sameck Germain, and Linda White.
be active in 4-H and FFA as presi
dent of his chapter and as state
officer.
After marrying Shirley, Glenn
worked on an Allentown dairy
farm. He recalls, “The pay was
minimal, so I went house to house,
showed them some of my art work
and got many orders.” During his
second year of marriage, Glenn
returned to the county to attend the
Manheim Farm Show where he set
up a display of his art work. In that
one week, he received enough
orders to keep him busy for a year.
Even though he painted several
farms weekly, Glenn was so
swamped with work he begged his
employer to give him two weeks
off so he could catch up on his
painting. At the end of two weeks,
he had so many more orders that he
never relumed to dairy farming.
By coincidence, Glenn’s paint
ing evolved into photography. His
method in painting farmsteads was
to go to the scene and sketch it,
then return home and paint it. But
sometimes, he forgot the color of a
mailbox or a shed and would need
to return or call the owners. To
solve that problem Glenn bought a
camera and snapped a picture of
each scene so he could refer to it
while painting. Glenn recalls, “My
creativity went wild.” His eye for
color and composition led him to
experiment with photography,
mostly farm scenes on which he
kept extensive files. He and Shir
ley branched out into portrait and
wedding photography as well.
Later, Glenn began traveling worl
dwide to capture the breathtaking
beauty of the world.
Soon he was asked to show his
slides at a local banquet hall.
Glenn was hesitant. He remem
bered too many boring missionary
slide shows where people fell
asleep. But the coordinator was
insistent. So Shirley and Glenn put
together a slide show incorporat
ing music, narrative and slides
showing the breaking waves of the
rocky coast of Maine to the tower
ing peaks of the Rockies. They
A scene from
borrowed a slide projector and
built the program on the principle
that “the art of God can lead people
to the heart of God.”
From that audience, Glenn was
booked to show a repeat at chur
ches, civic groups, and schools.
The demand for his photography
was so great that four teams
traveled across the nation showing
his slide shows under the original
title and several others like “Our
Father Planned It All” and “Where
the Mountains Reach the Sky.”
Locally, in the summer of 1974,
more than 30,000 people viewed
his show that incorporated 15 pro
jectors and an eighty-foot screen at
a local college auditorium. And
from this, Glenn got the idea to
built Sight and Sound, so that peo
ple could come to them instead of
them going to the people.
It started out as a 3-dimensional
computerized slide show that
created breathtaking panoramic
views on an 80-foot screen. Danc
ing fountains complete with col
ored lights produced a spectacular
display. Only later did the stage get
added in bits and pieces. And then
live acting and choregraphy was
added. Although Glenn had no for
mal training in theater, art or
photography, he designed and
built the props and wrote the script.
Glenn credits his wife for much
of Sight and Sound’s smooth run
ning. “Because she docs much of
the behind the scenes duties, peo
ple often do not notice her abili
ties,” Glenn said. “Although she is
not as creative, she builts upon my
ideas and makes them belter. She’s
my biggest critic. Shirley also
manages the business end.
From the beginning, the Eshel
man’s four daughters helped with
acting and other things that needed
done. Now their son-in-laws and
grandchildren arc becoming
involved. Glenn said, “Being
involved in Sight and Sound teach
es them responsibility, discipline
and how to work just like farm
work taught me."
He sketches his ideas and the
staff makes the props and animated
figures from foam and casts them
in a hard mold. “I’m most effective
at the drawing board,” Glen
explained so he tries to keep that
foremost as the organization grows
and he relics more and more on his
Throughout the years, art has remained at the heart of
Glenn Eshelman’s productions.
staff. Several seamtresses stitch
the hundreds of costumes used for
the shows.
Of his employees that number as
many as 80 during the peak season,
Glenn said, “They’re a great team.
Once they have an idea they can
run with it.” Glenn said he has
learned to release his ideas, trust
his staff and check in on them
occasionally rather than hover
over them. He finds it exciting to
see people come into the team and
use their abilities in a creative way.
Most thrilling to him is watching
and hearing people’s responses to
the shows.
With the success comes a lot of
decision-making and problems.
He mentioned, “If I’m not careful,
the everyday problems can knock
the cutting edge off my creativity.
And it takes faith to trust that my
decisions are the right ones.”
Looking back over his life and
seeing how things progress still
amazes Glenn, but he shrugs off
his success by saying, “It’s the
grace of God. We do everything
through prayer.”
He added, “The Bible says,
“You have not because you ask
ndt. So we pray about everything. I
realize that if the next show
depends upon Glenn Eshelman, it
will be a flop.” He pauses then
adds, “Shirley and 1 started out
poor as paupers in part of a rented
farmhouse with an outdoor toliet.
We built on the dream God gave us
and this is only the beginning ot
what we expect to see. God just
keeps giving us more ideas.”
Glenn stresses, “Our shows are
not just a performance, but a tool to
challenge others to discover God."
Scheduled shows
Happiness is Easter Time
shown March 15 through May 14.
waltzing Easter eggs, dancing
flowers, Easter rabbits, an 80 ft
screen show and live stage perfor
mance portraying the agony of
Gethsemane, suffering of Christ
on the Cross, the triumphant resur
rection and the meeting of Mary
and Jesus at the empty tomb.
Behold the Lamb - shown June 18
through August 20. Scenes unfold
in panorama as the life of Christ is
portrayed with startling reality.
Cast requires 70 people.
Glory of Autumn - shown Sep
tember 10 through October 1. A
harvest celebration, animated veg
etable garden, and falltime
activities.
Joys of Christmas - Christmas
dreams come true with dynamic
toy soldiers, parade of toys com
bined with waltzing Christmas
trees, fountain and light shows. All
live nativity including live ani
mals, flying angels.
For limes and reservations, con
tact Sight and Sound at their mail
ing address: 630 Pcnryn Road,
Manheim, PA 17545. 717
665-6633.
.‘SUS.