Highlights From This Week

Obviously, the biggest production we facilitated this week was the Greenfield High School Music Parents' Association's annual telethon on Wednesday evening. Our station manager was here before 10am to ensure that load-in could start on time and setup could begin. Parents and some students were here throughout the day creating the set, running cable, and doing soundchecks. Between 4pm and 5pm the bulk of the crew and performers arrived along with host for the evening Greenfield Town Councilor, and WHAI General Manager, Dan Guin. Once the telethon began at 6pm it was music and fundraising until 9PM. The GHS Jazz Band opened the show followed by solo performers and then the GHS Select Choir. You can see more footage from the telethon, and find out how you can add to the $7000 that was raised, when you check out the short video on our homepage.

Greenfield Middle School's Music Department also gave a performance this week that we recorded. Our staff would like to send out big thanks to volunteers Tom and Jal who took cameras over to GMS' auditorium on Thursday night to film their Spring concert. Our staff will be editing the two feeds together and we'll air it on Friday, March 11th, at 6pm.

Finally, we'd like to take a moment to update you on Greenfield's 2011 election process. Candidates were certified this week and we will begin contacting them on Monday in order to add their information to the local election page on our website. Because three people were certified to run for the At-Large seat on the town council, and given the state of the economy, there will be a special council meeting in our studio at 6pm on Monday to petition the state legislature to allow Greenfield to bypass a preliminary election and put everyone on the June ballot. We'll be putting together a short video soon letting you know who the candidates are, and their information will go live on our website one month prior to any election, so make sure to keep an eye on gctv.org.

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend.

Short But Busy Week

Once we re-opened on Tuesday, after the Presidents' Day holiday, we had producers coming and going at a hectic pace. Three crews had taken out equipment over the weekend which then needed to be checked back in, "Franklin County Matters" edited their latest show with help from our staff, one of our producers recorded the Greenfield Planning Board Meeting, and our monthly board meeting took place.

On Wednesday, local artist Brent Eaton spent the afternoon filming in our studio while the folks from "Luz en Las Tinieblas" (Light in the Darkness, formerly "Iglesia Pentecostal Luz de Salvacion) edited their weekly worship service on one of our PCs. At the end of the day, members of the Greenfield High School Music Parents Association (GHSMPA) met up with our station manager in preparation for their telethon next week. Each year the parents of GHS musicians take over our airwaves for an evening to raise money for the great programs that Paul Calcari runs. The kids entertain while the parents answer the phones and take your donations. It's a win win! This year's event will take place on Wednesday, March 2nd, from 6pm to 9pm on Cable Channel 15. Be sure to check it out and "pitch" in.

Thursday brought staff and volunteers from both the Greenfield YMCA and Baystate Franklin Medical Center ("Healthbeat") into our studio for shoots. In addition, an employee of The Body Shoppe received training on one of our Macs so that he could put together the first episode of their new series. Finally, our staff headed over to Greenfield High School in order to broadcast the Greenfield School Committee Meeting.

Today while you were hopefully reading this at home, warm and dry, the intrepid folks from "Healthbeat" ventured out into the weather to edit the show they recorded yesterday and additional phones were installed for the GHSMPA telethon. Keep an eye out on our homepage for a story about the music parents' fundraiser and next week we'll let you know how it went.

One Busy Week!

This week was a blur of candidates recording video statements for the new election resource page on our website (Don't know what I'm blogging about? Go to www.GCTV.org/Elections.) and the Greenfield Kiwanis Auction. Oh, yeah, we also covered the Greenfield High School Music Department's Spring Scholarship Concert. If you missed it, don't worry, it's on Cable Channel 15 right now and will be repeated many times. Please check our schedule for rebroadcast dates.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

The Greenfield High School Music Parents Association Telethon last night raised more than $5800. The students had a lot of fun and are grateful to everyone who called in a pledge. If you missed seeing this exhibition of talent be sure to check our homepage tomorrow evening for a short documentary.

GHS Music Parents' Telethon Hits Our Airwaves!

Tonight, from 6PM to 9PM, GCTV will be turning Cable Channel 15 over to Greenfield High School Band & Chorus members (and their parents, of course) to help them raise money for the wonderful music programs taught by Paul Calcari. When you tune in tonight you will hear all kinds of music from Jazz to Broadway, solo performances, small groups, and even an interview with Greenfield Schools Superintendent Susan Hollins. Host Dan Guin will be encouraging you to call 413-774-4300 and support these amazing young people.