Totowa Day Mashup Video Silk City Films The Waving Man Totowa Film

"The Waving Man" The Tale of Totowa is a historical Documentary film about the history of thew Borough of Totowa, New Jersey produced by Silk City Films ("Bloomingdale An American Small Town" 2018, "Before A Nation The Story of Pequannock" and Hills & Valleys A Journey Through Wayne, N.J." 2019) and brought to you by film sponsors The Senior Company, United Tips of America, Hanson & Ryan Insurance, North Jersey Remodelers, The Grand, Nicola's Ristorante, Pizza Mia, John Agnello Photography and United X.
We were fortunate enough to be at Totowa Day on June 8th, 2024. It was a wonderful weather day and as the sun shined, we interviewed many prominent Totowa residents and businesses. The result is this video!
In Totowa, New Jersey, the dead outnumber the living! And despite this ghoulish fact, The borough is a lively and vibrant community of 10,000 residents possessing a blue collared spirit and an unwavering work ethic.
That is what Silk City Films hopes to portray in their upcoming historical documentary film about Totowa, N.J., called, “The Waving Man”, which will be released on October 30th in Totowa.
“The Waving Man, The Tale of Totowa” is not just about Joe Cerce, the actual waving man. It is a film that covers the stories of the first settlers of our area, the Revolutionary War encampments of The Continental army, The Totowa PAL, the borough’s historic homes, Totowa’s form of government and more.
The film will be released in October via a “Red Carpet” premiere and it will be free for the residents of Totowa. The community can come, walk and interview on the red carpet and then bask in the history of their hometown as it flashes across the big screen.
Silk City Films is in the business of producing historical documentaries about cities and towns in New Jersey. The reason for producing these films comes down to a town’s desire to tell their story to the world.
“In today’s day and age, when a family is looking to move to a place, or a business is looking to set up shop or move to a place they go right to Google”, Bastante said.
And when they do, what will they find?
“We really embrace our role in highlighting the positive nature of the communities where we work and they count on us to put them in the very best light”, added the director.
As a matter of fact, you need not go any further than the residents of the community to learn a very familiar refrain. It’s the people and their idea of sticking together that really makes Totowa a great place to live.
Take Pete Murphy, owner of Murph’s Tavern in Totowa, “People in Totowa are very proud. If you go back in the history of The State of New Jersey, once you live in Totowa, you don’t leave”. Murphy continued, “we all love each other and we stick together”.
Kristin Ryan, owner of Hanson & Ryan Insurance, a nearly 150 year old company headquartered in Totowa echoed Murphy’s sentiment. “We love the people in Totowa and we love doing business here, and the thing we have here is that we are all together for each other”.
Past documentaries produced by Silk City are, “Before A Nation The Story of Pequannock”, “Hills & Valleys A Journey Through Wayne” and “Bloomingdale an American Small Town”, and currently, in addition to “The Waving Man” They are also currently shooting “Friendly Tolerable Characters” of Pompton Lakes, a town steeped in the history of the sport of boxing.
In all of the films that have been produced by The film company, there is always a moral theme that runs through the movie and serves to remind us that in life it’s always about the tiny things and the relationships between people that really make the difference.
“In Pequannock the theme was change, and how it is not always bad, in Bloomingdale it was about stopping to smell the roses”, and in Totowa?
“It is that tolerance is a virtue!”
The people of Totowa came together recently for the Fifth Annual “Totowa Day” at The Totowa PAL in what was a celebration of Totowa New Jersey and its residents and community partners.
What stood out was the effort put in by the volunteers to make the day truly special. Mark Monteyne, a fifth generation resident and recreation committee member who also served as the MC put the entire event and vibe into perspective.
“The spirit, the passion, the vitality is unbelievable, when you see over 2,000 people here, it’s great!” He said. “I’m five generations, so I’m deep in and here it’s all about family”
The historical documentary films that are produced by Silk City Films really are a unique vehicle for businesses in and around the community that would like to get their message out to the community while also becoming the catalyst for bringing a film like this to the residents of their town free of charge.
“Without our sponsors, we would not be able to accomplish the task of completing such a monumental undertaking as a documentary film” Bastante said. “We really could not do any of this were it not for them. Period!”