A new documentary about Alburtis is a time capsule of the western Lehigh County borough.

“Alburtis: Then & Now,” premieres 7 p.m. Nov. 7, Alburtis Lockridge Historical Society in the former Lock Ridge Church known as 1870 Memorial Presbyterian Church, 407 Franklin St., Alburtis. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

“Alburtis: Then & Now” is produced by The Media People. Scott Stoneback is executive producer and director. Greg Roth is editor and videographer. After the premiere, DVD copies of the documentary are expected to be available at Alburtis Borough Hall.

Images for the 12-minute documentary were taken from an 1893 map and 80 glass negatives of photographs taken in 1906 of the villages of Alburtis and Lock Ridge. The glass negatives were provided by Kevin Shoemaker, president of the Alburtis Lockridge Historical Society.

“We talk about how life used to be during this time,” Stoneback says of the documentary.

“We were two towns. There was Alburtis and Lock Ridge,” says Stoneback, who narrates the film. The two entities were incorporated in 1913 as the Borough of Alburtis.

The glass negatives were converted to photographs. Using what is called a parallax effect, the photographs were made to appear to move and change size. “Greg [Roth] went out and shot the same buildings,” Stoneback says. A building or site in an old photograph was dissolved into its contemporary color counterpart.

“We talk about how life used to be during this time,” says Stoneback.

“Alburtis: Then & Now” conveys the sense of what people wore, the cost of items, and events.

“Benjamin Harrison was President. The motorcar was just coming into use,” Stoneback notes, adding, “It’s not that long ago. It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come in that time.”

Lock Ridge, south of Lock Ridge Church, was named after Lock Ridge Furnace.

“The workers at the furnace had to sign a temperance pledge that they would not drink because of the hazards of working in the manufacture of iron ore,” Stoneback recalls. Anthracite coal was used in the iron furnace. The Thomas Iron Company, Catasauqua, owned and operated the furnace, in operation 1868 until the World War I era when the Bethlehem Steel Corp. eclipsed it.

This is the fifth documentary Stoneback has made about Alburtis, some of which were oral histories and two hours in length.

Stoneback has a long personal, professional and political association with Alburtis.

Stoneback was mayor of Alburtis, 1975 - ‘78 and 1986 - ‘90. He was a Lehigh County commissioner 1978 - ‘82. Stoneback was Alburtis Centennial Chairman in 2013.

He has been married for 40 years to Francee Fuller, Marketing Manager, Barry Issett & Associates, and a four-term East Penn School District school board member. He and his wife met at Temple University, where she was a journalism and film major and he was a film and television major.

Their twin sons are the fourth generation in their family to graduate from Emmaus High School. Robert Stoneback is associate editor, Opthamology Management Magazine, and a former reporter for the Danville News and East Penn Press. Ellis Stoneback is an Avid editor, Stephen David Entertainment. Both graduated from Shippensburg University.

Scott Stoneback has owned and operated The Media People, Inc., for 40 years. “We’re the oldest independent production company in the Lehigh Valley,” he says.

“I began in 1975, shooting on film.” He converted to video in 1980s. “The technology has changed so dramatically.”

The Media People has done more than 2,000 productions and received more than 60 national and international awards.

Recently, The Media People shot the inauguration of Muhlenberg College president John I. Williams Jr. for a forthcoming documentary.

Other productions include the 130th anniversary of Buckeye Partners, The Media People’s longest client (since 1982); the PPL Nuclear Power Plant, Berwick; the 100th anniversary of Dorney Park, and historic documentaries, including those about Macungie and Emmaus.

“History’s important. People don’t realize we live history every day. And it’s important to document our lives for future generations,” Stoneback says.

Where does he get his storytelling from?

“My mother was the ultimate storyteller, Jean Stoneback.” Her columns, “From My Kitchen Window” and “How Does My Garden Grow,” were published in The Press newspapers.