GENERATIONS
Great-Grandpa Moses – Fought in WWI and bought mountain property in the
Shenandoah Valley. Called his mountain farm – “The Promised Land.” He
married a local girl and had 3 children.
Pappy (John Schepis) Was raised on property with his twin sisters (Nellie and
Millie) who went to live in New York City after their mother passed away but
neither ever married. Pappy married a girl from the closest town (Blacksburg,
VA). He worked as contractor in Blacksburg and they raised 4 children. When his
Mom passed & his sisters moved to NYC, he relocated his family to the mountain
farm to care for Grandpa Moses. He and his wife lived on the mountain until they
passed. Their 4 children went away to colleges and came back only for visits after
graduating.
Pappy’s Four Children – Spent their early childhood in town (Blackburg, VA) but
moved to mountain farm when they were in their teens.
1. Michael – Uncle Mike (Peter Banks) – Oldest. Practical. Basketball fanatic –
coaches for hobby. Owns and manages retirement communities in
Tallahassee, Florida. Went to Florida state for college where he met his wife.
He resented moving to mountain farm because his old highschool had one of
the best basketball teams in the state, while the mountain school could barely
field a team. He always believed this ruined any chance of playing basketball
in college.
a. WIFE – Mary (Lizanne Passaro) – grew up in Tallahassee & was an avid
Seminoles fan. She and Peter met at a Seminoles basketball game. They
stayed in Tallahassee and have six children:
i. Oldest son, CHRIS (Landon Chesney) – basketball star in
highschool but too short to play for ACC. Turned down chance to
play basketball for private college in order to attend Florida State.
ii. Oldest daughter, SAMANTHA – goes by SAM (Sophie Behrens)
also highschool basketball star who earned a spot on Seminoles
women’s basketball team. She is one year younger than Chris,
was always a tomboy and fought to be included in B-ball pick up
games with his friend. Chris is immensely proud & protective of
her.
iii. Middle daughter EMILY (Elizabeth Bolin) goes to community
college & is engaged to her highschool sweet-heart. Her Dad
insisted she play basketball when younger but she hated the
game. She wanted to dance but Dad thought it was a waste of
time. Now her Dad won’t let her marry until she gets 2 year
degree.
iv. 2nd son, DANIEL – goes by DANNY (Joseph Banks) is bigger
basketball star at his highschool than his brother, Chris was –
whom he idolizes. He is has broken his brother’s records and is
being recruited for college teams.
v. twin girls MELISSA and MICHELLE (Rima & Roma Sheth) are in
middle school – they dance & hate basketball. They love to dress
the same so that no one can tell them apart. They are best
friends, although one’s personality is like their father and the
other one’s is like mom
2. Debra - Aunt Deb (Olivia Allen) – only daugher. Studied theater at Univ. of
Richmond. Got hired to manage a community theater program. Met her
future husband when he came to one of their productions.
a. Robert – Uncle Bob (Austin York) works in Human Resources for
Richmond government. He grew up in the city but loved whenever they
could get away to the mountain farm. They have 3 children:
i. Jimmy (John Schepis)– natural athlete who had a football
scholarship for UVA. He was the first grandchild and spent most
of his summers growing up working on Pappy’s mountain farm.
When Pappy died, Jimmy lost interest in football and enlisted in
the army. After a year’s training he did a year of active duty in
Afghanistan. He saw lots of action and lost several of his closest
buddies. Since returning he has not been able to return to school
or find a job. He has been diagnosed as having Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD)
ii.
Sarah (Rachel Flester) is studying theater arts at NYU and lives
with her great-aunts (Millie and Nellie) in Queens. Rachel and
Jimmy were inseparable before Jimmy joined the army. She is
devastated that Jimmy is not himself and has considered dropping
out of school
iii. Emma (Elyse Baile) is a mid-life child who is now 6 yr. old. She is
quiet, thoughtful and kind. She loves to read, draw, and do crafts.
She is very shy especially around the relatives because she doesn’t
remember them (she was 3 when she met them).
3. 2nd son FRANK (Drew Pedneau)– hated farm life and isolation of mountains.
He went to NYU’s Stern business school (lived with his aunts in Queens while
in school) and then went to Fordham University Law school. He loves history
and is a very practical, logical thinker. He met his wife while at NYU:
a. Wife PATRICIA – Aunt Patty (Basia Syski) was dance major at NYU. They
married after college and she postponed dance career & took an office
job to help pay for law school, but they ended up starting their family of
4 children & dance career never happened. They settled in Yonkers, NY.
i. Oldest daughter ASHLEY (Katrina O’Connell) attends Charleston
College in South Carolina. She thinks NYC is terribly rude and dirty
city. She longs to be a southern bell and is secretly hoping to get
an MRS. degree
ii. Only son, NICHOLAS (Kane Timlin) is 4.0 highschool Junior who is
trying to get into Virginia Polytech (Virginia Tech) which is in
Blackburg, VA
iii. Middle school daughter, ALEXIS (Larissa York) – loves fashion, her
ipod and her phone.
iv. Youngest daughter, GRACE (Bethany Jennings) – age 8 –loves
nature, bugs and ALL animals. She wants to be a park ranger.
4. Theodore – Uncle Ted (Chris Cymerman) – youngest son who spent the most
time living on farm. He is the favorite “Uncle Teddy” to the boys and “Teddy
Bear” to the girls. He is fun-loving peacemaker of the family. He went to
school at Virginia Tech so he could stay close to home. He works in IT field so
he could work remotely from computer. He moved back to mountain farm to
care for Pappy (his Dad) when he was failing. After his Dad died he decided to
start his own IT business because he always wanted to be his own boss.
Pappy’s Two Maiden Sisters:
Aunt Millie (Regina Hayes)– Practical & efficient- sometimes to a fault. “Get it
done now” is her motto. She can come across bossy – particularly to her sister.
She has a quick temper but she genuinely loves to help her family and is very
generous.
Aunt Nellie (Mary Beth Hayes)– She is a bit of a dreamer. She loves books and
secretly would have loved to be an actress. She tends to live in the fantasy world
of whatever book she is reading. As a result she can seem a bit spacey but she is
equally genuine in her love of family and is happy to share whatever she has.