SENECA — A master storyteller from Minnesota has accepted the challenge of packing the rich history and heritage of Oconee County into a dramatic video that promoters of the project hope could be used to showcase the local area to a broader audience.

The Greater Seneca Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring and producing the video, but once it is available on DVD later this year, the entire county will benefit from the production.

Seneca Chamber Executive Director Patrick Lee said the vision is to present Oconee’s unique story in a way that has never been done before. Once completed, the video would also be put in the hands of the Walhalla and Westminster chambers, the school system, the start-up convention and visitors bureau, welcome centers, and used as a recruitment tool to attract industries and businesses to the county.

Award-winning writer and audiovisual producer Steve Hall spent much of the week visiting the lakes and mountains of Oconee. He also listened to people who love the county’s history and desire to preserve it.

Hall returns home to Fort Snelling, Minn., armed with maps, notes and documents that he’ll use to weave a script that depicts the county’s past, present and future.

To grab and hold onto an audience, Hall plans to bring an historical figure to life that can personally guide the viewer through different eras. For Hall, it is a tried and true method of storytelling.

Hall used that approach in one of the first projects he worked on together with cameraman Gene Borman, who’ll also be collaborating on the Oconee project. In the lighthouse project, Hall told the story through the man who had designed and built Split Rock Lighthouse, which is one of the more picturesque in the country and most visited in Minnesota.

“We made him the historical narrator,” Hall said. “Dramatically, we scripted an inspection of a lighthouse by the man who designed and built it. He wanted to see if they were maintaining and keeping it up. By personalizing the story you make it more dramatic and entertaining.”

Borman, who moved to Seneca three years ago and is a member of the local chamber, was instrumental in pitching the project and getting Hall involved.

Hall’s credits include writing and producing audiovisual programs for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Gerald Ford Presidential Library & Museum, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, the Robert Dole Institute, George McGovern Library and the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library.

Will there be dramatics in the production of Oconee’s history? Hall wouldn’t have it any other way. He said there is always drama with change.

“There are still Cherokee Indians living in the county,” said Hall. “Adaptation to change is both happy and sad.”

“Same with the lakes,” he added. “When the dams came in the ’60s, people who lived in those valleys had to move out. But then again, we wouldn’t have the place we have today without those lakes.”

It’s not certain yet which historical character will be used to present the history of the county. Lee said the name of Andrew Pickens has come up during discussions, as well as that of his son.

Lee said he hopes to have a draft of the script ready for review by June and a finished video by the fall.

Hall is not worried about getting writer’s block.

“When you get to know the story, whether it’s a president or a local farmer, there are stories of courage involved in working through change,” Hall said. “It’s basically the same story we are facing today. What’s the future going to be like? How do we get there? I think there’s dramatic power there to bring out, if we can capture it right.”