Weekly Round Up Potpurri

Another new, locally produced, show has been added to our lineup! “Tom & Kat” will debut on Monday, at 10:30AM, with “The Velveteen Rabbit”. This fun program featuring beloved children’s stories will also air on Tuesdays at 4PM. In addition, lovers of classic literature can look forward to Shakespeare on Cable Channel 15---but we’ll share more about that in a future blog post.

Our big event this week was, of course, hosting the Greenfield Kiwanis Club’s annual auction on Wednesday and Thursday. The event was a big success and everyone involved had a lot of fun. Big thanks go out to everyone who participated.

We have another big event coming up in two weeks in which we hope you’ll also participate. On Wednesday, May 25th, the candidates running in Greenfield’s Town Election on June 14th will all meet in our studio to participate in a forum and debate produced by Barbara Tillmanns. The two candidates vying for Town Councilor At Large (Cameron Ward & Mark Wisnewski), and the three people contesting for the two available school committee seats (Maryelen Calderwood, Daryl Essensa, & Keith McCormic), will answer questions from a distinguished panel of current & former local officials. The candidates who are running unopposed have been given the opportunity to address the public during this event as well. The program is scheduled to begin at 6:30PM and you are welcome to join us in the studio or to watch from the comfort of your own home. We'll also post it online within 48 hours and you'll be able to get to it from our election webpage. That page will go live on Tuesday, May 17th and will be a great resource for all your election needs. We'll post more details about that site next week.

In other political news, Roxann Wedegartner of the Greenfield Planning board sat down with Dr. Andrew Blais on Thursday to tape an episode of "Local Bias". Following up on last week's episode, with reasonable growth proponent Al Norman, this show takes a look at the proposed development on French King Highway from the other perspective. It will begin airing on Wednesday at 5:30PM.

Finally, we'd like to share a message with you from part-time Production Assistant Otis Wheeler: "Hey, folks! I hate to say it but I'm leaving again; it wasn't an easy decision but after thinking about it long and hard, I realized that I was spreading myself too thin, so I'm choosing to concentrate my energies on my primary occupation—Operations Manager at Bernardston-Northfield Community Television—and to make time for projects that I have in the works, such as producing and directing a film set in Greenfield, and editing a documentary on the pacifism of Mohandas Gandhi. I'll miss the friendly atmosphere of GCTV, and all the friendly faces, but I'll be sure to stop by regularly!" We'll miss Otis a lot but we wish him well. His last day as a GCTV Staffer will be Thursday, May 19th.

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.

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.

New! Weekly Wrap-up

We put our heads together here, after the tempestuous time we had last week, and decided that posting a synopsis of life at GCTV each Friday wouldn't be a bad idea. (It also might be cathartic for our staff.) To that end, I bring you, (dah, dah!) the first GCTV Weekly Wrap-up:

Our week started as usual on Monday morning with a "Dukes of Sports" shoot. Producer, and co-host, of the show Russ Brown brought us a huge bag of freshly popped popcorn---for which we thanked him greatly. (Always feed the bears in our office!) The only event that marred this day was the final fallout from our technical heck week in which we found that the March 11th Greenfield School Committee Meeting's video file had been corrupted beyond saving.

Tuesday was a boisterous one around here, with about twenty students from Federal Street Elementary School in our studio to help Jonathan Mirin's Piti Theatre Company film "Salmon Falls". Piti Theatre's website describes this show as, "an interactive theatrical event where audience members ages 5 and up are invited to help us tell the Deerfield River's story with movement, song and storytelling." Tuesday evening, a different group filled our studio. The Greenfield Kiwanis Club held their monthly meeting here, and got in some camera training, ahead of their two day auction extravaganza which will be shown live on Channel 15 on May 5th & 6th.

Four shoots rounded out our production week---"Encore Body Art" & a Greenfield Town Council Meeting on Wednesday and "Local Bias" & "Healthbeat" on Thursday. The town council meeting lasted 3-1/2 hours and Alicia would like to profusely thank volunteers Jal, Donna, & Shawn for going the distance. (A belated thank you goes out to Tom Roulston who stepped in at the last minute, last week, to run a camera for two hours at the Greenfield School Committee Meeting.) Al Norman was Drew Hutchison's guest for the "Local Bias" episode that will begin airing on Wednesday and be on the lookout for April's "Healthbeat" which will focus on Advances in Obstetrics and National Volunteer Month.

So far, today is relatively quiet, though I know I shouldn't really type that. Check back next Friday for the second installment of GCTV's Weekly Wrap-up. ---Alicia

Looking for the Greenfield Mayoral Debates or the Ways & Means Meeting?

Due to the large number of shoots taking place this week, and the annual Kiwanis auction that will be televised, live, from our studio on Wednesday, May 6th, and Thursday, May 7th, from 7PM to 9PM we will be airing the events as follows:

Tonight's debate will take place at Greenfield High School beginning at 6PM. GCTV will be there filming but the debate will be televised tomorrow night, May 5th, from 5PM to 7PM and at the same time on Friday, May 8th.

Tomorrow night's debate at the Masonic Hall-Republican Lodge (215 Munson Street) will also be filmed by GCTV but not aired live. It will air this Friday, May 8th, from 7PM to 9PM.

Wednesday night's Ways & Means committee meeting will be filmed at the Greenfield Youth Center (20 Sanderson Street) at 6PM and aired on Saturday, May 9th, at 1PM.

Wednesday night's Annual Spring Music Concert at Greenfield High School will be filmed beginning at 7PM and we will post an air date as soon as we have one.

Don't forget, most of these productions will also be available on our Video On Demand service at www.gctv.org within 24-48 hours of airing.