Louisvillian will be spotlighted
in upcoming movie premier

Chilton won several medals in Senior Games

By Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ron Chilton admits he has not always been concerned with physical fitness, although he has tried to maintain a reasonably healthy lifestyle. When contemplating retirement 15 years ago, he changed his way of thinking and made a life altering decision by making fitness a priority.

Photo provided Louisvillian Ron Chilton narrates a new film about Senior Olympics. The film will be shown at the upcoming festival.

Chilton, 74 years young, has been a serious competitor in the Senior Olympics since 1997. “I was a jogger in my late 40s and 50s, but as I approached my 60th birthday, I began to get serious about physical fitness,” said the Douglass Hills resident.
Chilton said he spent 40 years in the profession of broadcasting before “hanging up the headphones in 1999.”
By that time, he had begun working out, watching his diet and training on weights. Chilton cut out all red meat, incorporated more fruits and vegetables into his diet, gave up soft drinks, reduced his sugar and salt intake and ate four or five smaller meals each day instead of three large ones.
“I joined a health club, started lifting weights and working out on the elliptical machines five times a week, plus running and jogging at least a mile each day,” he said. His dedication to fitness has paid off. Chilton has won more than 250 medals in the Senior Olympics.
His success culminated last October at the Kentucky Senior Olympic Games in Paducah, Ky., where he competed in 12 events and earned a record 12 medals. He won Gold Medals in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,500 meters, 1,500-meter RaceWalk, Long Jump, High Jump, Triple Jump and Javelin. Chilton won a Silver Medal in the Shot Put and a Bronze Medal in the Discus.
This Danville, Ky., native is the subject of a new film, “Meeting the Challenge: Senior Athletes Join in Olympic Competition.” The film will make its world premiere screening at the second annual Derby City Film Festival, which runs Feb. 19-21 at the Clifton Center in Louisville.
The film spotlights Chilton’s participation in the Paducah games and he is the narrator of the film as well. “I hope that people – especially seniors – will draw inspiration from the film,” said Chilton, “and learn that it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the “life” in your years.”

The movie’s producer and director, Dorothy Fadiman, decided to make a movie about Chilton because she was “inspired by his personal commitment to become increasingly active as the years went by, rather than succumb to ‘age’.”
The festival includes 46 films representing more than 12 countries, including six films from Kentucky. The festival selected 15 submissions by Kentucky filmmakers out of a total of 300 submissions, said festival organizer Kris Rommel. Other films were submitted by filmmakers from Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee, “So there is a great representation of the region as a whole at the festival.”
Films have also been submitted from Norway, Germany, Israel, Spain and Italy. The films cover all genres, from short feature documentary films from two minutes to 120 minutes in length, to comedy, horror, drama, experimental, international with and without subtitles, family films and faith films. “We really do have something for everyone.” Rommel said.
Rommel said he was happy with the festival’s turnout last year – 1,000 attendees spread over a five-day period. One of the only complaints received was that there were no workshops.
“The festival isn’t just for filmmakers,” Rommel said, “but also for people who love film and want to know more about making a film.”
He said the workshops provide a great opportunity for giving attendees insight into aspects of filmmaking they may not know about or fully understand. This is also true for filmmakers, said Rommel.
Festival passes and tickets can be purchased through www.DerbyCityFilmFest.com and will be available at the box office during the festival. One dollar of each ticket sale will be donated to Bellewood Youth Homes, a non-profit agency in Anchorage, Ky., that serves abused, at-risk and homeless youth throughout Kentucky. An awards presentation will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the North End Café on Frankfort Avenue in Louisville.

• For more information, visit: www.DerbyCityFilmFest.com or contact Kris Rommel at (502) 618-3192.