Come have some fun with us!

What do you think of when you think of Halloween? Scary haunted houses? Yummy candy? Great costumes? How about the annual Rag Shag Parade? This year the parade starts at 5:30PM on the common, downtown. We will be broadcasting the parade live and filming some of the additional festivities. This is a great chance to celebrate Halloween and see your favorite GCTV staff people in costume. Oh, and did I mention we'll be handing out treats? Please join us this Friday for all the Halloween fun.

P. S.---If any of you would like to help us with this shoot, please let us know. Thanks!

Tips & Tricks!

Every so often we will attempt to provide you with nifty bits of info. that can improve your productions. Today's tip of the day: always carry a flashlight in your producer's bag. Why? You never know when you may find yourself in the dark on a shoot. They are also handy for seeing dust on the camera lens. Don't know what else a producer's bag should contain? Stay tuned to this blog for more info. Have a great weekend! ---Alicia

Whew, it's been a busy day!

All four of our cameras have been checked out for the long weekend and five of our six computers were in use today. Producers have been in and out of the office all day long working on some interesting programs. Drew Hutchison interviewed Mark Maloni, of Community Action, this morning about Ballot Question #1. That interview will begin airing next week. Don't forget, if you have an idea you want to turn into a program, pick up the phone and call us or come on by. We'll teach you what you need to know to get started.

Help us to make this blog even better!

We hope you like the changes that have been made. Please let us know what you think and if there is anything you'd like added to this blog.

Also, speaking of comments, if you are one of our regular producers please fill out our survey the next time you are in our office. We want to make sure we've been doing well by you for the last 20 years and how we can keep going strong for the next 20.

In other office news, a lot of editing has been going on here this week so you can look forward to more new programming on Channel 15. "Elmer & the Elder Tree", a play for children, premiered today; a new musical comedy special featuring Drew Hutchison & Lenny Zarcone should be completed soon; and a show about district heating in Greenfield is being produced by Wendy Marsden, a volunteer for both Co-op Power and Greening Greenfield, with the kind assistance of Tom Roulston the producer of "Franklin County Matters".

One interesting thing that happened at our office.

On Thursday morning, the crews for "Local Bias" and "Last Stop, Bingville" arrived at our studio for their shoots. They were joined by Robert Tobey, host of "Bread & Roses" on Valley Free Radio down in Northampton. Robert was here to observe part of the shoots and to pick the brain of "Local Bias" host/producer, and WMCB Board member, Drew Hutchison. "Bread & Roses" will, hopefully, soon be televised on both Northampton Community Television (NCTV) & GCTV. Drew, along with our Technical Director---Scott, acted as great sources of advice and encouragement. For those of you unfamiliar with Robert Tobey, he is also a photographer and writer for the Valley Advocate. I caught him snapping some photos of us working and it made me smile. ---Alicia

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING CANCELLED

The Greenfield School Committee Meeting scheduled for this Thursday, September 25th, has been CANCELLED.

The next scheduled meeting will take place on Thursday, October 9th at 6PM.

The Greenfield Town Council Meeting will go on as scheduled tonight, September 24th at 7PM.

Change in School Committee Meeting Time

The School Committee Meeting this Thursday, September 25th, will begin at 7:30PM, not 6PM, due to the school open houses taking place that evening. Please join us in our studios for this important meeting.

Arrrrgh! It's National Talk Like A Pirate Day!

New series premieres tonight on GCTV!

"Last Stop, Bingville" is a brand new, half hour, interview series hosted by Mark Wisnewski and produced by Drew Hutchison. The inagural show, at 8PM tonight, features comedian Lenny Zarcone. Be sure to tune in, you never know what Lenny will say or do next! Future episodes will feature interviews with local personalities and include questions about local perspectives on national issues.

Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage at GCTV tonight!

This just in from Homegrown producer Travis Roy: Joel Stroetzel of Killswitch Engage will be joining Mark Schwaber and
Sara Gomes to perform an acoustic set tonight on Homegrown. We don't
get genuine rock stars in the studio that often, so please pass the
word along to any hard rock fans you may know.

Join us at 6:45PM (Homegrown goes out live at 7PM) in our studio (393 Main Street, 3rd Floor).

Greenfield Public Meeting News!

Some of you may not be aware that the Greenfield School Committee has recently joined the Greenfield Town Council, holding their meetings in our studio. This allows everyone to meet in a comfortable, climate-controlled, wheelchair accessible space that enables speakers to be heard by the audience. The school committee meets the second and fourth Thursdays (6PM), and the town council meets the third Wednesday*(7PM), of each month here at 393 Main Street, 3rd Floor, in the heart of downtown. Our studios are located in the same building as the Town Crier and the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and there is plenty of parking. On street parking is free after 6PM and the library parking lot is right across the street. If you need further information, simply call us at 413-774-4288. Please join us in person for these important meetings!

*September 24th NOT September 17th.

Franklin County Fair Parade Info.

We hope you enjoyed our live coverage of the 2008 Fair Parade on Thursday evening. If you missed it, you can catch it again today at 1:30PM, 12AM on Monday, and 6PM on Tuesday. You can also purchase a DVD copy from us ($16) to enjoy at home or come into our office to watch it for free. In addition, at 2PM on Monday you can catch the archival footage of the 1957 Franklin County Fair.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made our 2008 Fair Parade coverage possible: Camera Operators Jimmie Bailey, Shawn Cromack, & Sam Pyfrom; Hosts Russ Brown & Tom Dillon; Koch's Automotive Incorporated (413-773-9043) which donated the use of a flatbed tow truck with a driver; and all the people who did prep work or got us information we needed in the two weeks leading up to the parade.

We would also like to extend a hearty thank you to the following businesses and community members whose financial support enabled us to broadcast live from the parade route.

New Vlog Post!

Tim & Jimmie's videos are getting lonely!

Won't you please send them some friends? To submit your video, send an email to mail@gctv.org, call 413-774-4288, or drop a DVD off at our office (393 Main Street). Thanks!

In the meantime, here's another great mini-documentary from Tim.

Let's Talk!

I've enabled comments on this blog. (Hopefully you are seeing a comments button on the bottom of this post!) Please let me know what you think and if you have ideas for future posts. Thanks! ---Alicia