Lake Lure to honor Swayze

Twenty-years later, fans of the movie "Dirty Dancing" still make a pilgrimage to the mountain town of Lake Lure to re-live their favorite moments. Lake Lure is, to many, synonymous to the movie.

So it only makes sense that the town and community will hold a service in honor of the late actor Patrick Swayze, who died of pancreatic cancer earlier this week.

The event is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Firefly Cove development, where scenes from the film “Dirty Dancing” were shot more than 20 years ago. Swayze, who starred in the movie, died Monday of pancreatic cancer [according to the Citizen-Times]. ...

“We've had a lot of calls coming in to the community. That's why this was put together,” said Michelle Whitaker, communications manager with the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority. ...

Besides paying tribute to Swayze, the event will help promote awareness of pancreatic cancer, Whitaker said.

Speakers will include Rev. Everette Chapman, who was pastor at Fairfield Mountain Chapel in Lake Lure when the movie was made, and Peggy Keys, who's active in the Pancreatic Action Network.

Whitaker advises people who attend to bring flashlights instead of candles. Parking is somewhat limited at Firefly Cove, she said.

The iconic movie reached classic status and became part of the fabric of Lake Lure, where a great deal of the movie was filmed and where the stars stayed during the filming. ...

'Dirty Dancing' still resonates with Lake Lure

The setting for the movie was supposed to be the Catskills in New York. But 20 years later, fans of the movie "Dirty Dancing" continue to flock (make a pilgrimage?) to the actual spot(s) where the movie was filmed: the beautiful area around Lake Lure, N.C.

Yours truly wrote a couple of years ago for a trade publication about Lake Lure: there "are still fans of the movies [including "Last of the Mohicans"] that associate the setting with the films. And while those fans may be disappointed to find out that the employee cabins from 'Dirty Dancing' are nowhere to be found, they will not go away completely disappointed for Lake Lure remains an appealing, beautiful setting."

To whit: "Nearly every day, someone makes a pilgrimage to the old boys camp here where much of the movie 'Dirty Dancing' was filmed," writes the Asheville Citizen-Times.

" 'They say they just want to see the site,' said John Cloud, who is developing the property into a luxury residential community. 'I’m just stunned. It takes work on their part to find out (the locations) where the movie was shot.'"

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Lionsgate will screen a 20th anniversary edition of the movie that includes interviews with the people who made the film and why it’s made such an impact on American pop culture. The film will be shown only those two days and only in 300 theaters nationwide.

Sometimes called “the ‘Star Wars’ for girls,” the romantic movie is more popular than the two lead actors it made stars out of — Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.

Grey played innocent 17-year-old Frances “Baby” Houseman, who in the summer of 1963 vacations with her parents in the Catskills. She meets Johnny Castle (played by Swayze), the hotel dance instructor, and is mesmerized by him, as well as his dance style. She soon becomes his pupil in dance and falls in love.