Sharing Stories with Steve Galster
Since 2016, Steve Galster has been doing the hard, but important work of ending global human and wildlife trafficking from his organization’s U.S. headquarters located at Town Square. Steve’s work with Freeland Foundation keeps him on a rigorous travel schedule, from Bangkok to Washington D.C., but coming home to Green Lake offers a sense of safety and stability.
“It's a challenging world,” Steve said. “It's nice to have a nest to come back to.”
Steve founded Freeland Foundation, an international NGO that works to protect vulnerable people and wildlife from organized crime and corruption, in Washington D.C. in 1994. He decided to relocate the headquarters to his hometown of Green Lake in 2016.
“In D.C., you become part of the wallpaper after a while,” Steve said. “I thought it would be nice to have Freeland in an environment closer to its constituents which includes nature, wild animals and people from different walks of life.”
Steve knew immediately that Town Square would be the perfect place for Freeland Foundation to land.
“I've always loved this building, I remember when it was a courthouse and when they were thinking about tearing it down. I was so happy that Town Square happened and it's become a hub that supports nonprofits, small businesses and innovation. It’s perfect for us as a global organization working on making the world a better place.”
That year, Freeland held their first meetings with the Green Lake community in Town Square’s ballroom and received positive feedback on the concept of a community-wide film festival.
The first Freeland Film Festival was held in 2018 with Town Square as the headquarters and operational center. The festival featured inspirational films about people, wild animals and ecosystems facing daunting challenges and included panel discussions, live music, local food and workshops.
Of more than 1,000 films that were submitted to the first film festival, 55 were shown at various venues throughout the community.
“The film festival brought filmmakers and activists from around the world to Green Lake. We packed the rooms that year,” Steve said.
The festival grew organically and in 2019 actress Jane Seymour even made a guest appearance. The festival went virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the silver lining has been the new opportunities presented by entering the virtual space.
“Last year, Freeland had a major international event with the Vatican that we beamed live from the Town Square ballroom,” Steve said. “In addition, we have learned from the COVID period and instead of showing films one time of year, we decided to curate them and show one a month throughout the year so it's a film festival all year round.”
These monthly movie nights will take place the last Thursday of the month in Town Square’s ballroom starting July 28. Steve hopes the movies will expose people to stories that inspire hope for our planet and people as well as give the local community a platform to share their stories with an international audience.
“It's fun to see Green Lake-based people sitting side by side, physicall or virtually, with folks from around the world talking about the same things,” Steve said. “These issues are so similar everywhere.”
Green Lake’s dynamic community including farmers, second home owners, business professionals and remote workers makes it an ideal location for these conversations to take place.
“Cross-cultural understanding and communication is the key that will lead to world peace. People are facing the same challenges and want the same things,” Steve said. “Town Square is critical because this is where it could all blossom from.”