Budgets, Politics, The Environment, & Shakespeare

Seven shoots took place in our studio this week beginning on Tuesday with Berkshire Middle District Register of Deeds, and former State Senator, Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. sitting down with Joe Gochinski on the set of "The Western Mass Democrat" for a lively conversation. Immediately following their taping, the studio was prepped for that evening's live Ways & Means Committee meeting. The meeting went quite late as the councilors learned all they could about the budgets for the Franklin County Technical School and the Greenfield Public School System.

The following evening the committee wrapped up their sessions, spending three hours deliberating and making recommendations to the full council. Earlier that day, the crew of "We are the Ones" took some time to record a special anti-nuclear power roundtable discussion that will air on Cable Channel 15 sometime this summer.

On Thursday and Friday, actor and director Tom Roulston played to our cameras once again in order to begin recording "Macbeth" for his new series "Reading Shakespeare". We expect Tom's performance this morning to be followed by a "The Western Mass Democrat" interview this afternoon to finish out our busy week of shoots.

Two final notes:

The Greenfield Town Council will be voting on the town's 2012 Operating Budget when they meet at 6PM on Wednesday, June 8th. You can catch up on the budget process by watching the Ways & Means Committee Budget Hearings on our Video on Demand Player, in the "Local Government" Category.

Greenfield's Town Election will be June 14th and Massachusetts' legislative re-districting process is ongoing. Find out more about both of these by checking out the stories and links on our homepage.

Announcements, Announcements, Announcements!

A new show has been added to our schedule at the request of Greenfield’s Veterans' Services Officer Charles Loven. “Sound Off” is being produced by veterans, for veterans, and about veterans at NewTV (Public Access TV for Newton, MA). It’s a great way to keep up with what our state is doing to support the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. The first half of each show will have an expert who is familiar with issues, events, and benefits that pertain to veterans and their dependents. The second half of the program will showcase a veteran and/or an individual who helps veterans. This monthly show airs at 2pm on Thursdays.

It’s budget time again in Greenfield and that means meetings, meetings, and more meetings. We’ll be recording the first Ways & Means committee budget meeting of the season at the Police Department on Wednesday night while the Kiwanis Auction is live on Cable Channel 15. Then, next week (Wed. 5/18), we’ll need some help (3 people would be great!) filming the Town Council Meeting in our studio. Please email Alicia@gctv.org if you would like to run a camera, operate the soundboard or direct. We’ll make every effort to keep you informed as the budget process moves along so check our schedule for a list of meeting dates and watch our Video on Demand Player, the “Local Government” category, for all of them.

Kiwanis Auction Wednesday & Thursday, May 11th & 12th, from 7pm to 10pm on Cable Channel 15! This great fundraiser benefits the children of Franklin County and is really easy to participate in. Watch the items get described and shown off on TV and call 413-774-2002 with your bid. To obtain an auction brochure with more information about the bidding process and the items up for bid check out the Greenfield Kiwanis' page on Facebook.

Last chance for Lost & Found! If you think you’ve left anything in our office or studio over the past six months or so, this week would be a good time to check the box behind Alicia’s desk and claim your lost property. The box is overflowing once again and will be emptied this Friday, May 13th, its contents donated to the Salvation Army.

Busy, busy, busy!

You can tell just from our list of upcoming events that this Spring is going to be very busy here at GCTV. In addition to all our volunteer opportunities, there are a lot of interesting events that will be held at GCTV starting with the Greening Greenfield Energy Committee's "Biomass 101" lecture on Tuesday April 7th. Stay tuned to this blog for more information.

Spring is also meeting season, and GCTV will be covering as many of them as we can, so our schedule is filling up. Make sure you plan well in advance to reserve any equipment, studio, staff, or computer time that you need.

New programming has also arrived: David Arfa's "Jar of Tears" (a Holocaust memorial project), a brand new "All Souls Mid-week Music" concert (featuring Laura Siersema & Gary Snedeker), "Northern Star Radio presents Musician John McHugh", and "Mayor Forgey's 2010 Budget Proposal Press Conference" have all joined our line-up so keep an eye out for them.