Don't Touch That Dial

It's no wonder we haven't been able to make it back to the Menomonee Falls Now Blog since November.  2009 was a banner year for Channel 14 in Menomonee Falls.  There were over 220 locally produced programs that ran on Channel 14 over the last 12 months.  In addtion to those programs there were also 60 community service and Government produced programs that were aired.  Access centers like West Allis, Milwaukee and Madison, have been providing a similar number of programs for years and Falls Cable Access is proud to join the ranks of the top access centers in the state.  What makes this even more impressive is that our budget is 1/4 of Milwaukee and Madison and 1/2 of West Allis.  We are lucky to have a great relationship with the school district that provides us space and the students access to state of the art equipment.  So Congratulations to all those involved, our producers, our Board of Directors, the School District and the Village Board for their support.

Because of the nature of community access and the number of shows last year,  Falls Cable Access has contracted with the Village of Menomonee Falls, SDMF, and the Hamilton school district to run Channel 13 Educational Access channel in Menomonee Falls.  This will allow for more programming by the school districts, access to addtional resourses by the Hamilton district, more state and federal programs and open up space on Channel 14 for PSA's, new shows in the works and longer Community Bulletin Board/RSS feeds.  We are still working out bugs but eventually both Channels should offer great choices and useful information.

Basketball, Basketball, Basketball.  For those regular viewers, you may have noticed that there is a lot of basketball on this past month.  Well the Menomonee Falls boys basketball team is generating a lot of interest and the gym has been packed.  There were over 100 people turned away from the Marquette game, and a lot of disapointed Hamilton fans this last week.  Televising the games offers a little relief and a chance for everyone to see an exciting team led by sophomore J.P. Tokoto.  Knowing we were going to broadcast so many games, we parked the mobile truck for the winter and built a mobile tv production cart that gets wheeled over to the gym for each game.  Less wear and tear on the equipment and the director doesn't have to sit in the cold trailer. Last year just about every game we did was during a "6 snowfall.  This year 12 games, no storms.  Setup is still 3 hours before game time and it takes a half hour to "strike" after the game, but our crack crew is great at it.  Our broadcast crew has been stellar.  Led by Principal Bill Hintz and game announcer Jerry Mislang, John Mercure, Brent Morris and Chuck Demge have provided great game analasys and colorful insight to both the boys and girls cager squads. 

Actually the Marquette game was covered by Time Warners on demand crew as well as the Falls Cable Access team.  They arrived with 4 cameras, a large (20 ft) production truck, 2 announcers and a crew of 10.  The channel 14 crew consisted of 4, with 6 cameras and of course Bill Hintz and John Mercure.  While the Channel 32 cameras are of higher resolution, our announcers offered more insight and excitment and the eventual programs were not that different. Yeah we had more mistakes but with 6 less people, I have to say I am very proud of our ammateur crew.  A special thanks to all of our volunteers for putting on a great show.  Our streaming video website http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/ has been using bandwidth at a rate 5 time normal over the last few months.  Holiday shows, Community Christmas Card and high school basketball are driving this surge but our website shows a lot of returning users, which means people are not only flipping through channels but looking for their favorite shows on our website and streaming site.  There were over 1700 hits on the Germantown game and the Marquette game, even though it is going to be available on demand on Time Warner, is approaching 800 views.

A quick story.  We do get complaints at Channel 14, but most are suggestions and often are good ideas. To me it means people are watching.  Recently I received a message from an elderly viewer who was mad that we had too many Catholic masses on in a row on our Sunday/Tuesday TV Ministry.  I returned her call and explained that the volunteer who drops off the DVD's was unexpectedly called out to the West Coast for a family issue and we weren't aware of it.  She seemed content with our reason and so I decided to ask her about the other programming she may be watching.  Well she just lit up over the high school sports.  She said she enjoyed it so much and watched everything she could.  I politely asked how old she was since she was obviously a watching the Church Services as a shut in.  She informed me she was 83 years young. 

The INCREDIBLE TRIVIA CONTEST for the Scholarship Foundation will be held on Channel 14 on March 27th,  This will be the regular annual slot for the event.  Based on the response from the September teaser contest, we are looking to have at least 50 teams competeing this year.  Based on the Stevens Point World's Largest Trivia Contest on WSP radio, we will be running highlights from the September contest for the next six weeks.  Everyone involved found the contest infectious, from our hosts and crew, to the telephone operators and competing teams.  Some rivalries have already been formed.  This should prove to be a great community event and provide addtional funds for the Menomonee Falls Scholarship Foundation in theri quest to provide assistance to graduating seniors in Menomonee Falls.

The contest will start on March 27th at 4:00 pm sharp and run till 9:00 pm live on Time Warner Channel 14 in the Falls LIVE.  Registration forms are available at www.fallscableaccess.com . Watch the replays to get a sense of how the contest works and join us on the 27th.  Guaranteed fun for all.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children....Real life Shuttle Astronaut, Dr. Sandra Magnus visited the scholl district this past week and she graciously sat down with Beth Harwood for a bevy of questions you won't want to miss.

Reel Movie Talk....The Top Ten Movies of the Year are discussed in the Forum as a lead in to the OSCARS on March 7th.  The Boys will once again do the OSCAR show live that evening and a studio audience is invited to join them in the studio.  By the way, chekc out their new set on the this episode.

Village Voices....Although the Patio Players run of "Where there is a will, there's a relative" will have ended by this posting, the episode will run another week to promote the local troupe.  also this week, 2 village employees give insight and information into the 2010 Census and several other village events this spring.

What's Cookin' with KC... More nutritional and health information with our favorite chef as she prepares a "healthy pizza" for some special studio guests.

 AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

There is certainly a lot of buzzing around town as the Menomonee Falls High School Football team readies for their trip to Madison and a shot at the most coveted of all State titles.  High school football has long been the center of community pride all over the country.  Tales of legendary match ups between hated arch rivals will continue to be passed from generation to generation as new story lines develop.  The final state championship game has been the focus of many novels, films and even songs.  While I highly recommend making the trip on Friday to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison to be part of that experience, not all of us can stay away from our work.  Luckily for those people FSN Wisconsin will be carrying all the finals in each division starting on Thursday.   For Time Warner customers in the Falls you can find them on Channel 31 or on the HD tier Channel 1309.  Don't think they are carrying game in HD, but you never know.  So set your DVR's or DVD recorders and get ready for what could become an "Instant Classic" when the Menomonee Falls Indians take on the Conference Rival Marquette Hilltoppers for the WIAA Division I Football Championship.

While we are on high school football, many have asked why Falls Cable Access Channel 14 didn't cover the playoff games that were hosted in the Falls and why no one covered the Semi--final game versus Appleton North in Oshkosh last Saturday.  The reason is that the WIAA has worked a deal out with a video production compnay that gives exclusive rights to that company for WIAA playoff games in all sports.  Originally they were going to cover the games and offer tapes for sale to the public.  Well it didn't take long for them to realize that there was no way to cover all the games, in all the sports, in all the divisions.  So they decided to rely on the local access channels and college TV stations to televise the games but retain the rights to the media.  As part of the original deal, a local access station was to pay a fee to be part of the association and then turn over not only the current game being taped but all previous programming involving WIAA sports.  All of these programs then would be offered for sale by the production company with part of the sale going to the high school, part to the WIAA and the rest to the production company.  Nothing was going to the entity that did the taping.  Sweet deal eh?  Essentially, volunteers were standing in the cold taping their sons or neighbors football games, putting it  on the access channel for all to enjoy, including our shut-ins and people in nursing homes and hospitals, while someone else is sitting at a computer, collecting games and lining their pockets for this service.  Technically, the Grandpa that takes his camcorder to his Grandsons game and then asks the cable access channel to put it on the air would be in violation of the WIAA rules.  Never mind that he is a taxpayer at a public event and that his first amendment rights are being violated by not allowing him to express his work on the local access channel.  The WIAA in a law suit with the Appleton-Post Crescent says that they are protecting the student athletes. From Grandpa? From the Access Volunteers?  I was in the business of selling programming for many years and religious programming sells at about 35% of those interested in an event or speaker.  Grade school children and dance groups come in 2nd at 30%. High school sports and graduations come in a distant 3rd at 15%.  High schools are not making much on the resale of sports programming.  The production company on the other hand is selling thousands and thousands of tapes or DVD's because they have contracts with 4 states and several associations.  I'm all for supply and demand, but not a monopoly.  This exclusive rights contract needs to be challenged and it needs to be challenged by the parents of our athletes.  It was a great game versus Appleton North and Falls Cable Access would have gladly hauled the mobile trailer up to document the game with graphics, commentary and replays.  Instead the only video available is from a small camcorder up in the coaches booth.  This won't end with the Final game on Friday.

One more thing on the high school sports.  Big thank you to all those involved in taping 15 games or matches this past year.  Our video crew has captured some great moments and our broadcast team of Bill Hintz, Chuck Demge, Brent Morris and Jerry Mislang have really made the games enjoyable and informative.  The instant replay equipment has performed perfectly and we are looking forward to a busy 2nd semester in 2010.  If you are interested in being part of the live production team, we would be glad to have you.  Contact Harry at info@fallscableaccess.com  for more information.

The Community Christmas Card will be taping local groups on December 8th & 9th at the high school studio.  If your service group or non-profit group would like to be part of this years program please contact us by email at info@fallscableaccess.com .  We have limited space in the program so don't wait to sign up.

Falls Cable Access would also like to see more Holiday school programming on the air.  Tapes of Christmas concerts and plays can be dropped off at the high school during school hours and placed in the Cable Access mail box.  Label the program with school name, date of taping, length of program and name of program.  We can accept VHS or DV tape but a DVD is best.  You also need to mark if the tape needs to be returned.  Otherwise it will go into the Access Archive Vault.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children......we have 3 shows in the can right now that will air soon.  Topics will be Band Revue, Wall of Fames and the Budget.

Reel Movie Talk.....A long awaited show on Summer Blockbusters is finally ready due to some technical issues.  May not be timely but still entertaining.

I Remember Menomonee Falls.....We couldn't decide if we should run old football games or parades all day on Thanksgiving, so instead we are running the complete series of Jim Jeskewitz' popular show.

Christmas Parade... The parade will be on Sunday evening the 29th around 7:00 depending on the weather.  Hopefully this year the whites stuff comes down in small flurries instead of the dumping we took last year.

AS ALWAYS.....STAY TUNED!!!

       Although Bruce Springsteen lamented about "57 channels and nothing is on", I find it hard to believe there isn't something for him now that there are over 300 channels on most video providers.  At any time of the day you can escape through a classic old film or a recent blockbuster.  You can learn about home improvements, healthy living, what not to wear, and how to do just about anything.  You can explore the ends of the Earth and watch your local parade on community access.  Yes, television also has many evils for the masses such as home shopping networks, bride related reality shows and of course "Regis & Kelly". (kidding).  Cable television has evolved to something similar to satellite radio.  Sometimes you feel like disco and sometimes you don't! To each his own.

     With that in mind Time Warner made a major change in their digital channel lineup this week.  The new "theme based" schedule will allow people to surf through the specific type of programming they are interested in.  Here is a link that will allow you to easily select your particular subscription package and see how the new line-up is grouped. 

http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/Clu/Clu.ashx?CLUID=78&chkCLUCookie=1&Image1=&Zip=

Further more if you go to channel 411 you can watch a 10 minute video that will guide you through the changes.

      One of the best ways to get the most out of "surfing time" is to use the "favorites" button on the remote control.  There you can add all your most watched channels, so that when you push the guide button while watching one of your favorites, only the channels you are interested in will show up on screen.  If you are on a channel that is not part of your list, you will get all the channels when using the guide button.  No need to see whats on those how-to programs while searching sports and vise versa.

    You should receive a guide in your next bill if you haven't already.  Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the categories and you will find that the new lineup should be even easier than before.  It will also be easier for Time Warner to add new channel within a category.  Happy surfing!

      Because of our busiest September ever, we have gotten behind on a few housekeeping items.  First of all, the Incredible Trivia Contest was a big hit with all that were involved.  Now that everyone could actually see the contest in action, there is a lot of excitement brewing for the contest in February or March.  (Dates are being considered and will be announced soon).  The early spring contest will then be an annual event on Channel 14.

       The new "Slo-motion" abilities added to the remote trailer broadcasts were also a big hit.  The ability to watch those spectacular scoring plays over or analyze an individual performance made watching the games much more enjoyable.  Oh I should mention our crack broadcast crew.  Bill Hintz, Chuck Demge, Jerry Mislang and Brent Morris have been a surprising addition to the high school sports broadcasts.  We have received so many compliments on their abilities and after watching a recent high school football game on another network, I must say these guys could make a career out of it.  Thanks again to these valuable volunteers!

       Web streaming hit an all-time high on our Peg Central streaming web page.  More and more 1st time users are tuning in and we have received calls from all over the country from grateful ex-Falls residents who like to stay connected.  My favorite is from a Grand Pa who can't get to his Grand Son's football games.  I won't mention the community he called from, but he said their idea of a football broadcast is 1 camera and no sound.  I told him that is where we derived from and that the game would play over and over for days.  We've come a long way baby.  In addition the anniversary date for our streaming content was September 25, and at that time we had sent 218 shows to the server for playback on the streaming website.  Thanks to all the producers and volunteers who made that possible.

NOTE: As it turned out we didn't auto renew are streaming host subscription and all the shows since the 25th were on hold.  We took care of that today and I see that the shows are being sent to the server at this moment. So look for 12 new shows on the website.

      On a sad note, Falls Cable Access Corp. and myself personally would like to acknowledge the passing of one our longest serving board members, Michael Hurt.  Mike was an important part of the long history of cable access in Menomonee Falls.  Mike passed away late this summer and a Memorial Service was held at Wisconsin Memorial Park on October 8th.  Mike's many accomplishments and years of service to Menomonee Falls were all mentioned at the service.  Mike brought a certain logic to the cable access operations.  He always set the line between black and white and let the rest of us make it gray.  He personally came to the forefront during cable access' trying times and boldly took on all critics.  He was of great comfort to me and often told me when I was being stupid.  Mike will certainly be missed by all of Menomonee Falls as he made it a better place.   I would like to thank his wife Suzie and his children for sharing him with us.  Mike didn't actually have cable access, opting for a satellite dish but I know he's watching now.  Thanks Mike.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children.....Timely shows on the Swine Flu and Redistricting are currently playing on Channel 14 and new shows with the new Associate Principals and Dr. Marty will start airing this week.

High School Sports....Next weeks conference final football game will be taped and aired immediately afterward.  The September 12th Boys Soccer game along with the First two football games will continue to be in the rotation until the first "Jump Ball" in November.

What's Cookin' with KC....KC Thorson strayed from her usual format of having a guest nutritionist to prepare a complete healthy dinner in just one half hour.

I Remeber...Menomonee Falls.  After a lot of planning and many meetings, some of the co-founders of Community Memorial Hospital got together to talk with Host Jim Jeskewitz about the process of bringing a new hospital into a community.

Reel Movie Talk..The boys are back in town and ready to talk about one of the busiest summers for movie goers.

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

Well it seemed like we were just getting ready for the Memorial Day Parade and now we are trying to prepare the studio for the High School students Fall Semester.  Why is it every year, when the sun shines the longest, time goes by so fast.  Well I think the obvious answer is, we are busier.  We take on more because the weather allows it, we rise earlier and retire later, and there is nothing on TV.  Except for Cable Access that is.  As mentioned in our last post, we had an extremely busy July 2nd and 3rd.  Just to review all went well and all 3 programs were on the air for the weekend (Concert in the Park, High School Baseball and July 4th Parade.)  There was one hitch in that the boys baseball game was a thriller and after the Falls nine scored 5 runs in the last 2 innings to tie the game, it went a couple of extra innings.  We were behind schedule to get over to the parade route so our largest crew ever for a sporting event, grabbed all the cables, camera and equipment that was not being used for the parade and literally threw it into my van.  Needless to say I spent all of the morning of the Fourth, cleaning and wrapping cables, separating camera and tripods and getting everything back into it's cases.  I finished just in time for the company to arrive.  All in all, it was three very good programs made possible by the remote trailer and some great volunteers.

As summer winds down we still have much to do and much to plan for.  We are trying to get all the Thursday concerts in the park taped and that is weather dependent.  So far a little shower on the Community Band was the only delay. 

We also have a cooking show in the works, a much awaited return of I Remember...Menomonee Falls, a soccer game, Focus on Our Children has already taped a show to start the school year early with another in the works on the Scholarship Foundation Incredible Trivia Contest.  Village Voices is also going to cover the Trivia contest and give a glimpse into the cable studio itself.  The Reel Movie Talk guys have a camera checked out so I assume they will have a new show to kick off September and I understand Gordon Kirchoff of The Show has all his footage ready for a new installment.  So we will turn the corner into the new TV season at full speed.

If you happened to catch the Police and Fire Softball game taped at Village Park during Falls Fest, you may have noticed one of the most exciting editions to our mobile trailer.  The company that makes our switcher devised a new controller that allows for Slo-mo Instant Replays.  We didn't get a chance to test it before the game so it started out a little chaotic.  but as the game went on we did manage to catch a few good plays and play them back for the commentators to dissect.  It should make the football games much better.  Time Warner as inquired about renting our trailer for sports coverage, and did rent it for a parade, but they needed slo-mo replays for sports.  Well now it's available.  Of course the fee just went up.

Now would be a good time to start talking about the "IT".  as people found out during the parade and now on the community bulletin board and high school electronic sign, "IT" stands for Incredible Trivia Contest.

The contest is going to be similar to the UW - Stevens Point Radio Stations, "Worlds Largest Trivia Contest".  I have competed in that contest for 25 of the 40 years it has been run and thought it would be a great fund raiser for the scholarship foundation.  The foundation jumped at the opportunity to sponsor it and away we go.

Here is the basics of the event.  On Saturday September 19th, Channel 14 will start broadcasting "live" at 3:00 with the rules and format of the contest.  Teams will will play from a home, bar, bowling alley, athletic club, church or anywhere they can tune in Channel 14 on Time Warner in the Falls.  It is suggested that you have INTERNET available at your location or you will be at an extreme disadvantage.  If you don't need the INTERNET then call me and you can join my team for the Stevens Point contest. (Our team of teachers actually finished 20th one year when there were 530 teams and 15,000 players.)  Let's move on.

Pre-registered teams will pay a fee of $75, that will be $100 after the September 12th deadline.  It doesn't matter how many are on your team. The more the merrier.  Actually some of the questions will seem very tough but with a lot of minds working at once, it is amazing to see the process of one thought stimulating another until you have a direction and then goal where you find the answer.

Teams will be given a handout the week before which will contain important information, pictures that will be a question, rules for the game and a team number.  Each team must submit a name for the points tally, and it should reflect who they are although there are no restrictions. (Let's use common decency as our guideline).  There will also be a phone number provided to call in the team number and answer.

At exactly 4:00 PM we will ask on-air our first question.  The questions and hour long segments will be hosted by our local producers such as Gordon Kirchoff, Karen Nelson and KC Thomson.  After a question is asked we will either do a 2 minute interview with a local celebrity, run an old clip from the archives, a lip sync video, a performance from local talent, a music video or whatever.  After approximately 2 minutes we will ask the question again and then run another 2 or 3 minute segment.  During this time a team will call the number provided and give their answer and only their answer.  Operators will not carry on conversations or answer questions.  A team will only be allowed to call in once.  If a team calls twice they will be awarded 0 points.  At the end of the 2nd segment the host will declare "phones down". Only teams that have given their number to the operator will be allowed to continue.  The host will then give the answer to the question and  immediately ask the next question.  This process will continue so that 8 to 10 questions are asked per hour.  At about 5 minutes before the hour there will be break for an update of scores ( we will read the top 5 or 10). Some mentions of sponsors, and general housekeeping items.  Points will be awarded for correct answers.  There will be 1000 points available for each question. The actual amount awarded will be determined by the number of teams that got the answer correct.  For example: 20 teams get the question right.  1000 divided by 20 will be a 50 point question.  If it's an easy question and 75 teams get the answer right the question would be worth 15 points.  If more than 100 teams get the answer right the minimum award of 10 points will be given.  If only 1, 2 or 3 teams get the answer right they will be awarded a max of 300 points.  If one team was given 1000 points on a lucky answer the contest would be over, so that is why the 300 max.  There will be music hours and themes through out.  There will also be a road rally of sorts that will be laid out in the handout.

The contest will end with a final question at 9 PM that evening for a total of five hours of competition. ( just enough time for a cookout and cocktail party). The Stevens Point contest by the way is for 54, yes I said 54 straight hours.  My first year I played the entire 54 and was never able to do it again.  The winner and top 5 finishers will be invited to the studio to accept the trophy and acknowledge their teams.  The studio will be open at all times till 11 pm for anyone wishing to come in and join the fun.

Here is the important part...ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE MENOMONEE FALLS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION.  The foundation provides scholarships to graduating seniors for help with their continuing college or technical school education.

This is a great opportunity for your neighborhood or your community group to put together a team and show your stuff for a good cause.  Teams from the service groups (Optimist, Rotary, Kiwanis) would be a natural.  Scout teams and athletic teams could enter a team.  There are already a couple of teachers and student teams forming. How about your church forming a team.  There is no limit to the basis for a team.  How about Village staff or even better...a School Board Team

So as of now we are setting a goal of 100 teams and are looking for advertising sponsors, food sponsors, phone bank sponsors, volunteers to man the phones, people to handle the score keeping.  For more information call 262-255-4636 or call the high school during their summer hours 8 - 2:30 to register.

This contest will be the pilot for an annual contest that will take place each Spring around the end of March or April.  We will use this first contest as a way of getting people to plan ahead and tweak the format for Menomonee Falls.  The potential for a great community event is here and we need to spread the word.  Many people asked at Falls Fest if the contest would be on AT&T's U-verse. Unfortunately not at this time.  They are struggling with some access issues and quality issues in other communities so they have not contacted us recently.  We will eventually be on the system by state law but as far as the contest goes, a team playing on the U-Verse system may have a disadvantage involving latency over the network putting them possibly a minute behind teams playing on the Time Warner system.

So there "IT" is.  There will be more info coming soon and both the FOCUS and VILLAGE VOICES will do shows on the contest in the near future so be sure to watch for them.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on OUR CHILDREN... T The Menomonee Falls Boys Soccer team and Steinhaffels have teamed up again for a fundraiser on Breast Cancer Awareness and the Beth's guest will fill us in.

Concert in the Park....The Mary Davis Trio performed last week and put on a great show.  They are hoping to be an annual performance in the park and we agree.

The Show...Producer Gordon Kirchoff celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the first lunar landing with an all-in-the-air show featuring my favorite guest of all time, my daughter.

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

Before I get into the busy week planned, let me remind all that "IT" is coming.  As a matter of fact "IT" will be in the Optimist Independence Day Parade on July 3rd in the Falls.  What is "IT".  Come to the parade to find out.

It will be a busy week for the remote crew.  On Thursday night July 2nd we will be at Village Park to tape the Caribbean Eclipse Steel Band at 6:30. On Friday July 3rd we will be taping the Boys Varsity Baseball vs. Germantown game at Trenary Field at 1:00 pm.  Plenty of room, so come join us at the game.  Later that day we will of course cover the parade on Appleton ave and if all goes well the Fireworks "Live" on Channel 14.  Look for all 3 new programs on Channel 14 on the 4th and on our streaming video website Peg Central http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/ .

Speaking of the remote van, we are still looking for a parking space for the utility trailer that offers some relief from the hot summer sun and bitter cold winter temperatures.  Although the trailer is heavily insulated, the hot summer sun is not good for the equipment over time and in the winter it takes hours to warm the trailer for use without condensation forming in on equipment.  We are currently renting from U-Haul and it is pricey.  We'd rather spend that money in the Falls and have better proximity.  Door dimensions should be a minimum of 9' wide and 10' high.  Depth should be a minimum of 18'.  Call Harry at 262-251-2866 if you have a lead on such a space.

In cooperation with the Menomonee Falls Police Department & Fire Department, FCAC is producing some Public Service Announcement videos for Channel 14.  If you are interested in helping, or acting in these videos contact Harry at 262-251-2866.  Menomonee Falls residents only.  Look for the PSA's this Fall.

FCAC is always accepting board applications, but there is a position opening up this summer, so all interested should download an application from our website, fill it out and send to FCAC,  PO Box 342, Menomonee Falls, WI  53052.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

What's Cookin' with KC Thorson....KC has a visit with Village BID Manager Barb Watters who talks about the Farmers Market at North Jr High Campus.  She also provides a quick and tasty recipe for Cod.

Village Voices....The Neighborhood watch group makes an appearance to discuss the National Award they won and the many projects they are in involved in.  Trustee Dennis Farrel and longtime Watch member Don Greif are the guests.

FOCUS on Our Children....there are 4 shows that are rotating in the schedule, but one in particular involves the transition to the new 4 year high school.  This is a must see for not only new freshmen and juniors but all those attending the 2009-10 school year at the high school.

Concert in the Park... as mentioned above we will be enjoying the sounds of the Caribbean.

Boys Varsity Baseball... July 2nd game versus Germantown.

Optimist Independence Day Parade....If you can't make it on parade day or if your in the parade, we will provide full coverage with annual hosts Linda Marcou and Matt Hakes.  Everyone loves a parade!

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

Yes..."IT" is coming!  What is "IT"?  Can't tell you yet.  Watch for "IT"  "IT" will be in the 4th of July Parade.  Well enough about "IT".

It appears there will be no more delay in the Digital switch on June 12th.  This major change in signal transmission has been in the works for 6 years.  As our technology is changing ever so quickly in the last 20 years, the major changes are made so that we don't have to throw out so much old technology at one time.  High Definition and Digital signals have been around for over 20 years.  I was at the Consumer Electronic Show in Chicago in 1988 and saw a high definition demonstration of a a parade in China.  It was presented on 2 inch video tape on a machine the size of a Smart Car.  At that time they were promising that High Definition Television would be in all homes by the year 1993.  This sparked the debate over whose standard of broadcast they would use.  In Europe they were operating on 50 cycle current, where as in North America we operate on 60 cycles.  Without getting too technical, this means our TV pictures were operating on 30 frames a second and theirs were at 25 frames a second. (Their pictures were better because they were closer to film speed of 24 frames a second.)  As you can see the standards set way back in the late 1800's by Thomas Edison have effected each innovation for over a century.  So a lot of time and thought have gone into this latest major change.  There will be new technology for sure, but the cost to the consumer to upgrade should be minimal and optional.  As of Friday June 12th, all of the analog VHF and UHF frequencies will be freed up for use by emergency and enforcement agencies.  One thing they forgot was that all of us who have UHF wireless microphones will now operate them illegally. ( Shhh...let's keep that to ourselves )  On the bright side, the digital transmission will offer more channels and much better pictures to all. I have helped several people with their converter boxes and their old clunky dial tuned TV's look new again.  Who knows what the future holds for this new technology, I can't wait for the resurgence of "Smell-a-Vision".

 By the way, did I mention "IT" is coming?

Although the high school building activity will slow to a crawl over the summer, the access studio will stay busy.  In addition to the shows that are scheduled to be taped, we will be making some improvements in lighting and wiring to make things more efficient for both the access channel and the media studies program.  In addition, the mobile trailer will also be busy.  At this time the trailer was used for over 20 events since June of last year.  We are planning on covering at least one boys baseball game, the 4th of July Parade, and as many  Concerts in the Park that we can schedule.  Whenever you see the trailer out on location, don't be shy, knock on the door and say Hi. It gets lonely inside there.

In case you missed it, Journal/Sentinel writer Lisa Sink did a nice article on cable access in our area for the front page of the May 9th Waukesha section of the paper.  There were several pictures of the studio including a very large one on the front page during a Village Voices show.  I have included a link at the end of this posting for you to check it out.

FCAC on DISPLAY

The studio at the high school was a tour site for the WAPC Video conference on Friday May 1st.  Access centers from all over the state came to the conference in Waukesha that Friday and Saturday.  West Allis and Menomonee Falls provided tours to WAPC members who were interested in how we do things here.  Then later that Friday evening the WAPC Video Festival was held.  There Kathy Reed of Menomonee Falls received an Excellence Award for her tour of Lime Kiln Park video and the Scholarship Foundation received the "Significant Community Contribution" Award. Lynn Zyndl was on hand to accept that award for the Scholarship Foundation.  Gordon Kirchoff, Jim Jeskewitz, Karen Nelson, and Bet Harwood also received awards for their productions.  Congratulations to all!

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children....We have several shows that will run this summer while the show takes it's annual break.  The high school transition team of Bill Hintz, Barb Tays and Tabia Nichols discuss the change to a 4 year high school and how they will handle not only the new sophomores but the new freshman class.  Dr. Marty and School Board President Kathy Shurilla also take time to explain the final facilities plan.

Village Voices....Our much celebrated Neighborhood Watch program will be highlighted in our latest show.  They will be discussing the recent National Award they received.

I Remember...Menomonee Falls.....Host Jim Jeskewitz has been busy planning the next installment of this highly popular series.  The formation of Community Memorial Hospital will be the topic of reminiscing.

What's Cookin' with KC...KC has one new show on the air right now that looks at a new twist to the ancient Chinese Meridian Points used in acupuncture and has 2 new shows in the works.  I like all of our shows but this one is special cause the crew gets to sample the recipes after the show.

Optimist Independence Day Parade...This will be the 20th straight year that we will televise the parade, and not the first time that "IT" will be there.

Boys Summer Baseball...Plans are to tape the June 22nd baseball game at Trenary field against West Allis Hale.  Since we stream the game son the INTERNET and the opponents usually check them out it would be nice to fill the stand with fans for this broadcast.  Hope to see you all there at 5 pm.

Reel Movie Talk...has 1 remote show in the can and one in the works.  It will air just in time for all the summer blockbusters.

LISA SINK ARTICLE.... http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/44538677.html 

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED! 

It's that time again.  Friday's Brewer Home Opener signaled the start of Spring in Southeastern Wisconsin.  The kids are enjoying their Easter Break.  Teachers are driving to relatives all over the US and Falls Cable Access is running Little League Weekend again.  Why run 72 Little League Games back to back to back?  Well the first reason is there is a lot of work involved in each of those games and it seems a shame that they sit on a dark shelve in the high school collecting dust.  The second reason is that we get so many comments from our viewers about Little League Weekend.  From stories and anecdotes they want to share to tearful Thank You's from parents and Grandparents.  And the third reason...they are infectious.  Watching your long lost friends in the stands, your dentist or mail person hitting off the pitching machine, or my favorite, seeing people who are your friends now who you didn't know at the time, has a tendency to have you watch just one more to see who is next. And then another.  Maybe just one more.  And then you've either blown an afternoon you could have been working or it's 3 am and you have to usher at the 7:30 Mass.  Whatever your reason, Little League Weekend will continue to be an annual event in Menomonee Falls.  Go on, try to watch just one.  One extra note...the games will not be streamed on the website for 2 reasons. 1. The would have to be re-entered into the drives to transfer to the server. (Lots of hours) and 2. It would consume most of our allotted space on the Peg Central server.

Friday May 1st, the access studio will be buzzing with activity as we are a host site for tours of WAPC members attending the state conference in Pewaukee.  We are putting the finishing touches on the studio at this time to give the best impression and for those who are building or starting an access center, a good model to learn from.  I am planning a survey of the visitors to see what they think of Falls Cable Access and how it compares to their own studio.

Some dramatic changes will be happening for Falls Cable Access before the end of May and an announcement is forthcoming.  Improvements in programming and content are just the beginning.  You will have to stay tuned for an announcement or check this blog.

A tentative plan to launch the first FCAC Trivia contest on Channel 14 is in the works.  Modeled after other trivia contests around the Midwest, most notably the World's Largest Trivia Contest in Stevens Point, (which is actually this weekend), this should grow to be a great community event, eventually drawing hundreds of teams and thousands of players.  More details to follow. The contest will be a fundraiser for the Scholarship Foundation and they will partner with FCAC to run the contest.  Watch for our biggest promo push ever, in your newspapers, store windows and of course Channel 14.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

The Show....The much awaited episode #5 is now airing on Channel 14.  Once again producer and multi-talented host Gordon Kirchoff is gallivanting around the Falls, bringing us local personalities and talents.

FOCUS on Our Children....Dr. Keith Marty explains the facilities options, wile the Band Bunch and the recent Academic Decatholetes share their experiences.

Village Voices...The Main Street Song and Dance Troupe visit host Karen Nelson while their recent performance at Vogel Hall in Milwaukee is also running.

Reel Movie Talk... Lovable hosts Matt & Dean review 8 new movies and then conduct a can't miss battle of wits in the Forum.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

The 2009 School Board Race and the Village Board Presidents Results will be broadcast on Channel 14 again this Tuesday, April 7th.  In the race for two spots on the school board, Kathy Shurilla, David Noshay and Anthony Poth are on the ballot.   Randy Newman and Jefferson Davis are running for the spot on the Village Board currently held by Rick Rechlicz.  The 2009 Voters Forum can be found 2 ways this year.  It can be found running on Channel 14 by going to http://www.fallscableaccess.com/weekly_schedule.html for times and dates.  If that doesn't fit into your schedule you can watch the forum on-demand by viewing the streaming video at our Peg-Central link http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/.  The Forum is listed in the Village Government folder.  Remember to VOTE on Tuesday and if you can't Vote on Tuesday be sure to stop at Village Hall on Monday where you can VOTE early.

Much happening at the studio lately.  The 2009 Voters Forum was hosted by John Mercure of WTMJ-TV and was shown "LIVE" on Channel 14.  Technically running a show live on public access is fairly simple as far as routing the signal.  Hitting the scheduled time running and keeping it moving are another thing completely.  The show went off with only 2 minor glitches and they were only obvious to crew.  It helps having a professional like John in the drivers seat and our now seasoned camera people, Alyssa Demge and Gorrdon Kirchoff, were able to handle all the challenges of a live audience and unrehearsed format.  We expect to run other live programming in the future when it calls for it.  The National Association of Broadcaster Conference as proved to be a valuable source of information for FCAC and this year we will be doing further investigation on Digital trans coding and Micro-wave technology.  With the cost of microwave coming down, the technology improvements and the our remote trailer in full operation we are close to providing "LIVE" remotes of the parades, concerts and sporting events.

Also at the High School we will be hosting tours for the 2009 WAPC Spring Conference.  The Conference starts on Friday May 1st and The West Allis Community Access Center and Falls Cable Access have been chosen to give tours of their facilities to all the Conference attendees from around the state.  Both West Allis and Menomonee Falls boast two of the better Access Channels in the state and Midwest.  Friday evening, at the WAPC Video Festival, Falls Cable Access will be receiving 8 awards for programs produced in 2008.  A special mention to first time Award Winner Kathy Reed as her "Fall in Lime Kiln Park" program won the Award of Excellence.  Kathy came through our training classes, but came in with plenty of experience editing videos for Menomonee Falls Videos,com.   Also being recognized that evening is the Menomonee Falls Scholarship Foundation.  They will be receiving the "Significant Community Programming" Award for there fund raising program "Will They Remember You?"  Further Congratulations go out to Gordon Kirchoff, Karen Nelson, Beth Harwood, Jim Jeskewitz and the Channel 14 staff for their awards.

 Presently we are looking for a producer for a magazine type show for senior interests.  Topics on health care, crafts and hobbies, Social Security and other timely issues are planned for the show.  A name for the show is in the works, but rest assured "Menomonee Falls and I Can't Get Up" has been turned down.   Contact Harry at 262-251-2866 for more information.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children.... 3 shows make it into the schedule this week, Dr. Keith Marty discusses the facilities options, John Woger from the music department updates us on the Band Bunch, and the State Runner-Up Academic Decathlon teams share the secrets to success at this years competition.

Village Voices... Retiring Village Board President Rick Rechlicz shares his thoughts on the progress during his tenure and his reflects on his experience.  Also The Mainstreet Song and Dance visit the studio for the first time.

REEL MOVIE TALK...Matt and new co-host Dean Stathus review 8 new films and then offer a battle of wits in a very animated forum.

The Show...Gordon Kirchoff sends us show #5 this week and we can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

      Channel 14 will once again broadcast the election results for the Primary Election for Village Board President.  Results will appear around 8:30 pm and will be unofficial until they are certified later in the evening.  If available the results for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction will be included, although they will just represent the wards from Menomonee Falls.

     Sunday evening at 8:00 pm, Reel Movie Talk will add a twist the Academy Awards when they simulcast their movie review show during the Oscars (ABC coverage starts at 7pm but they will break in at 8pm, 3 and a half hours might be too much for our viewers).  Follow along as they watch the show, comment on everything from the commercials, to the presenters attire, or the explanation of the lame voting procedures.  You will be able to view the show in the background and toggle to the ABC broadcast when you need to see the musical numbers or the closeups of the beaded gowns.  They will also review some current releases for you and there will also be some guests on the show.  It should be very entertaining and it will be live.  Caution to parents...the show will start at 8:00 and we do not have a delay on the Reel Movie broadcast for blocking objectionable material.  The Boys will be on their best behavior, but Falls Cable Access is not responsible for the views or actions of the producers.  Falls Cable Access does not censor programming based on content and reserves the right to shift objectionable programming to late night time slots.  This should be fun!

      Congratulations to KC Thomson and her show, What's Cookin'' with KC. The show has received a lot of hits on the PEG Central website and some email asking for recipes.  People can't wait for the next show.  Healthy cooking and cost saving tips are two hot topics these days, and KC is providing great information to the community.

      For those of you who haven't checked it out, here is the link to the PEG Central website for Menomonee Falls.  http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/  There you will find all of the programs broadcast on Fall Cable Access Channel 14.   This is a great way to share our programming with your family and friends not living in Menomonee Falls.  We have heard great stories about people retired and living in warmer climates who tune in on the INTERNET to keep up with Menomonee Falls events.  Some of our sporting events have received  over a thousand views.  I am assuming that they are both parents of the opposing schools and from schools that maybe doing some scouting for future games.   They have allotted 500 hours of programming on the server for us and we are well on our way.

     Great job by the crews of the Boys Basketball games against Hamilton and Brookfield East.  Both were exciting games but the crew of volunteers did and excellent job of giving the viewers the complete story.  Jerry Mislang and Bill Hintz may have missed there professional calling as play by play and color analysts for the broadcast. The Brook East game included 2 students form the tele-production Class and they did very well.  Most people don't realize it but the games are not edited.  They go directly to tape and then on the server right after the game.  Keeping that in mind, I find it amazing that a amateur crew can provide such an impressive program to the viewers.  One more game to go, and this time it will be the girls game this Thursday.  Tune in at 10:15 or so.

     Speaking of the remote trailer, we are still locking for a storage space in the Menomonee Falls area to store the trailer between productions.  The equipment inside needs to have a more controlled climate to protect it from extreme cold and heat.  The garage would need to accommodate a single axle utility trailer, roughly 8 feet wide 10 feet high and 16 feet long.  Temperature can be between 45 degrees in winter and 80 degrees in summer.  I would rather rent from someone local than our current arrangement with the u-haul storage on Granville road in Milwaukee.  We would also need 24 hour access.  Please contact Harry at info@fallscableaccess.com if you have information on such an area.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

Reel Movie Talk...As mentioned above we will join the Oscars LIVE and then rebroadcast the show during the coming weeks.

FOCUS on Our Children...Beth Harwood visits with Dr. Keith Marty for a candid update of district events.

The Show... Gordon is at it again with Episode #4.  Don't miss it.

Girls Basketball....Thursday evening after the completion of the game, tune in to see Falls versus West Allis Hale.

Village Voices...Accompany of Kids will be in our studio to talk about upcoming events

AS ALWAYS.....STAY TUNED!

As you are reading this, we the staff and volunteers at Channel 14 hope that your Holiday Season is everything you hoped for.  Each year it manages to slip away so quickly, and I myself can remember once in the last 10 years where I was able to sit back and just look at the lights on our Christmas Tree.  Well this year it is going to be different.  Organization is the key.  Sure their is a lot to get done and and a busy schedule to attend to, but it is certainly manageable.  Efficiency is the key.  Somethings will just have to go to the bottom of the list if not off the list completely.  Prioritizing is the key.  Already I have to many keys.

Just a second to catch up on recent activity at the studio.  The Christmas Parade was a memorable one.  Thank you to all the groups and organizations who braved the blizzard conditions to walk the parade route.  Out Channel 14 mobile trailer was parked at Pop's Custard on Appleton to cover the action.  The crew of 3 had to put up a tent to cover the cameras as the snow was just too wet and would have rendered them useless. I just heard that MenoHarmonee playback music slowed down at the end of the parade due to moisture.  With the snow and wind blowing in our faces, we decided to run the cameras by remote control from inside the trailer.  A lot more cabling but, toasty and dry inside.  It was not our best work, but it keeps our streak of 20 years of covering the Christmas Parade intact.  If you haven't noticed, we have been running the 2007 Parade in addition to the White-out version of this year.

As always on the 2nd Tuesday and Wednesday of December we tape the Community Christmas Card with as many of the service groups and organizations as we can.  This year we managed to miss competing with several big Christmas Parties.  Instead we had to compete with... another snow storm.  A special thank you to all that showed up.  Some of the groups were a little smaller and 2 groups with members scattered all over the Milwaukee area did call to cancel.  All in all it proved to be a great social events for the 26 groups that were involved.  The Community Christmas Card is now finished and running throughout the schedule for the rest of the month.  Thanks again to the over 200 people and 26 groups who make up this years Community Christmas Card.

That brings us to our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Party and Awards Ceremony held at John Harbors this week during, you guessed it...another snow storm.  Some of our award winners weren't able to make it in but a great time was had by those who did.  The WAPC handed out it's awards in May last year but with the construction and remodeling at the high school we decided to hold off on our presentatuion of those awards. Although Falls Cable Access nominates the entries, they are judged by independent groups around the state based on technical and creative criteria.  Falls Cable Access hosted a judging site this year and found the process to be more difficult than expected.  Here is a list of our programs winnning awards.

MERIT AWARDS

FOCUS on Our Children (Beth Harwood, Keith Marty producers), Village Voices (Karen Nelson, Harry Stoetzel producers)  Reel Movie Talk ( Matt Grenier, Paul Unger,Harry Stoetzel Producers)  I Remember..Menomonee Falls ( Jim Jeskewitz, Harry Stoetzel producers ), A Tour of the Menomonee Falls Fire Stations ( Tom Makowski, Paul Wickesberg Producers) A Community Christmas Card ( FCAC Staff )

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The Menomonee Falls 4th of July Parade (FCAC Staff),  Building for the Future (Keith Marty Harry Stoetzel producers), Reel Movie Talk ( Matt Grennier, Nick Stoetzel, Harry Stoetzel, Paul Unger producers )

SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY PROGRAM AWARD

Falls Fest - Building a Festival ( Falls Fest, Harry Stoetzel producers)

CONGRATULATIIONS TO ALL WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THESE PROGRAMS AND THANKYOU!

Our new storage areas are nearly complete at the studio, (just plumbing at lighting left).  We now have two secure areas for archiving all of the electronic media in the village including the school district, the cable access studio and the village.  We can now consolidate all of the old tapes and films wit the current DVD collection.  Once everything is categorized and accessible, we will try to start a request Friday or Nostalgia Thursday to rerun some of the footage from Cable Access' infancy.

On that note, we are going to start an effort to document the history of Menomonee Falls in a documentary, similar to the PBS special hosted by John Gurda, The Making of Milwaukee.  We will start by organizing a committee to layout the plans.  The Historical Society has already done a great job and will be our main source of information, but we want to look further now, into the attic and garages in the area.  The church basements and the bank back closets.  If you are interested in being part of this monumental task, please contact myself or Jim Jeskewitz (host of I Remember...Menomonee Falls) at info@fallscableaccess.com Also if you have any memorabilia that would pertain to the history or making of Menomonee Falls, please send us an email.  Our plan is to quickly digitize or copy anything that is available and return it to the owners as soon as possible.  Once we feel we have the most complete collection of items and stories, we will begin the process of writing and storyboarding the documentary.  Our goal is to provide an indelible record for future generations to enjoy and marvel at. Although the program will air on Channel 14 it will be available for sale and our hope is that it will make it's premier at the local Marcus Theatre, sometime in the year 2010.

If you haven't checked it out yet, go to our website to enjoy all the latest programming.  Look for the STREAMING VIDEO button in the middle of the home page.

Remember, organization, efficiency and priorities will make for an enjoyable holiday season.  Oh my God! I forgot about gifts!!!

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children.....3 new shows in the hopper about to hit the schedule.  New Student Board Member, The School Nurse, Author and Reading Expert Doug Buehl.

Community Christmas Card....Local groups and service organizations join village staff and officials to spread Holiday Cheer with video from local events and scenery.

One Achord.....The popular harmony group performs a special Christmas Concert just for the Channel 14 viewers.

St. Anthony's Choir Concert....A special Thank You concert was presented to the members of St. Anthony's Parish in November by the combined adult and youth choirs.

What's Cookin' with KC Thorson....Healthy Grannolla Bars and a nutritionist form Outpost Natural Foods.

Band Revue 2009....Barring a snowstorm

AS ALWAYS.....STAY TUNED!

The new streaming video website, PEG Central http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com , has now been in use for about a month and by all accounts is a big hit.  The School District of Menomonee Falls has a link on their website and the Village is looking at running some of their meetings.  Not only have all the comments been positive but the amount of feedback has been unexpected.

Unlike major networks and local TV stations, cable access has no barometer to judge viewership.  The Nielson ratings and Tivo are used nationwide by the media giants to set their advertising rates and evaluate programming.  Here in Menomonee Falls we rely on the "buzz". The "buzz' is basically the amount of conversation about access programming relayed to the access board and staff.  Needless to say we are delighted with the level of perceived viewership and use that information to expand our audience.  With the addition of the PEG Central website, http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/, we are now getting direct viewership information that has proved to be very enlightening.  Here are a few examples.

High School Sports - Football games were the biggest draw to start and some of that is coming from the Indian's opponents.  The loss to Brookfield Central was the most watched program for a while with the Tosa East victory a close 2nd.  However, and this is very surprising, the Soccer Playoff game vs Tosa East eventually had as many views as all 3 posted football games.

School Board Meetings. - Back in the days when the school board meetings ran for days in a repeating VHS machine, we wondered if anyone was paying attention, especially since meeting attendance is so poor.  Well it appears a lot of people are busy on Monday nights and prefer to watch at their leisure.  The School Board meeting takes initial viewing hits of over 100 and then levels out into the 150's.  That has been true for the first 3 meetings published on the website.  We have provided the district with a link directly to the folder for district programming.

Documentaries and special interest. -  Programs that high lite a certain group or event also achieve higher ratings.  Although this is not a surprise since there is only a percentage of each group that have Time Warner Cable and can watch the program they are involved in.  Now the entire group can enjoy seeing themselves.

Series - Theses shows, including Village Voices - FOCUS on Our Children, and The Show among others tend to be time sensitive.  Shows about upcoming events or  issues tend to double the shows that are more informational than timely.

Government - The 24th Assembly voters forum was the only program listed so far and it is no surprise that it had as many views as the football games.   Because the election covered areas outside the Channel 14 viewing area, it was easy for those people to take advantage of the PEG Central streaming to make a more informed choice.

There is more information coming from the developer of the system, and it is hoped that it will give us an even clearer picture of what people want to see on the local access channel.  There are two more great things about the streaming video..1. It shows those without cable, what Channel 14 has to offer and will probably help increase Time Warners subscription numbers and 2. It shows other communities how great it is to live in the Falls.  I have received more calls from other community leaders asking how why they don't have local access in their community.

Things are getting closer to being organized in the studio.  Thee are still some wiring issues and the storage areas are not complete.  To address one of our long time viewers who leaves messages but never a name, I want to let him know that as soon as we can get the cable from the satellite located and run back into the studio we will test the dish, reprogram the receiver and hopefully have The Arts channel back in it's Thursday afternoon and late nite time slot.

The remote trailer was busy in October and will see action again in November and December.  Don't hesitate to knock on the door and say "Hi!" when you see it at the Christmas parade or at the high school for sports or Band Revue.

WHAT"S NEW ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children - 2 new shows are in the works.  Look for Dr. Patti Keller and Dr. Keith Marty as they revisit Chapter 220 and Open Enrollment.  Also this month four energetic teachers from the HS and Jr. High talk about transition training.

Village Voices - 3 interesting topics together in 1 show.  Karen Nelson introduces our newest member of the Access Family, KC Thorson who talks about her new cooking show scheduled for later this month.  Also on the show,  Trey Brooks promotes the Butler Lions Club Breakfast with Santa, and one of our own cameramen and his mother provide insight into their first presidential election, from someone from the "other side of the pond".

Army Newswatch is back on the air and we hope it provides the families of our service men and women an inside look at their surroundings and experiences.

HS Cross Country Meet - The Greater Metro Conference Meet at Rotary park was held up for a technical glitch that has now been corrected.  Look for the Boys and Girls finals and the best, in my opinion, sports parents of any sport.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

No, we didn't sign a multi-million dollar package to broadcast channel 14 to all corners of the Earth.  We are however streaming our content on the INTERNET.  What that means is that your friends and relatives who don't live in the Falls can now watch the high school football game or the Village Voices show that you appeared on.  They can watch the 4th of July Parade or even better the show you are producing.  You can stay in touch on your overseas vacation, or just watch something on your time table.

Some past shows are currently available and just about all shows in the future will be uploaded to the Peg Central server.  You can go to the site, http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/ , choose a folder for the show you are looking for and once located hit play.  No need to install anything on your computer.  Turn up the volume and away you go.  We recently announce to the Brookfield Central football crowd that the game would be available the next afternoon for viewing. By 10 pm that evening we had 118 views.  Now the Brookfield residents may be asking "Hey, how come we don't have an access channel like that?" .  That's another issue we won't get into now.

Fine tuning (no pun intended) in the cable studio is coming along.  Everything is finally dust free and all seems to be working.  I'd like to thank everyone for their patience during the construction, we had so many issues with power and access that are now under control.

TV MINISTRY

The TV Ministry is meeting to set up their new set of procedures for airing the local Church services on Sunday and Tuesday.  We will soon start the rotation so that those in the nursing homes and hospitals or just those confined to their homes can worship with everyone else.  We have had many calls about Father Jerry from St. Anthony's being on each week, but that was the only service in the server.  He has been retired for 4 months so hopefully he won't call for residuals checks.

REMOTE TRAILER

 The Cable Access mobile trailer has been busy.  Since it was put into commission in September of 2007 we have taped 3 parades, 5 football games, 2 basketball games, 1 soccer match, graduation, Veterans day at TJ, 1 concert in the park, and 1 remote taping of Reel Movie Talk.  We are still tweaking it but it is certainly making it easier and adding quality to our remote shots. It was also rented out to Time Warner for the Waukesha Christmas Parade.

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CARD

Each year we put together the popular Community Christmas Card, featuring the service groups in Menomonee Falls along with local video and Christmas Music.  If your group is interested in being part of the Card this year please email us at info@fallscableacces.com . Please contact us before Thanksgiving to reserve a spot.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children... Host Beth Harwood, Principal Bill Hintz and Construction Supervisor Mike Lamp give the final tour of the newly renovated high school.  We also visit with Athletic Director Dave Petrof on "The Code of Conduct" and on another installment we get int the recommendations of the reconfiguration committee,

Village Voices....The Patio Players visit to talk about their up-coming shows including the popular "Christmas Carol" and our village board president spends time updating us on all the new and exciting things going on in Menomonee Falls.

High School Football...All 3 games this year will be repeated for those parents looking to record their sons games.  Look for them on the Packers bye Sunday.

High School Cross Country...In an effort to cover all the sports, we manged to capture the recent Greater Metro Conference Championships at Rotary Park.  Mostly just hi-lites but fun to watch.  My personal opinion is that it is the best group of parents.  Only in cross country do the spectators cheer for every athlete. 

The Show  #3..Our irreverent host Gordon does a little political stumping in this edition.  He also visites the Art Guilds Fesitval along the river and interviews our friend at the Classic Bike Shoppe.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

Well, the construction is finished in the cable studio and a couple of shows have already been taped, although there were some minor problems.  The new area is going to provide storage for equipment available to the public and space for archiving all the video from the past 25 years.  It will also ease the stress on the technical parts of the studio, ( control room and stage).  This should make things much more efficient for the media studies class, cable access shows and the TV production classes that all originate from the studio.  We have our best base of volunteers right now but are always looking for people interested in teleproduction to join in the fun.

Broadcasting has been a nightmare this last 3 months.  The server used to store and broadcast programming had a few issues and they seemed to rotate in and out.  Fix one issue, and by the time I would get home, another issue would pop up.  Some of the problems were related to concrete dust and humidity, while others were related to new hard drives with that needed updating.  Black screens and bad or no audio were common place.  Timing is everything because the company that makes the server introduced a new version that does streaming video to the INTERNET. They are offering an upgrade so they will take the original in trade.  What will this mean to Channel 14?  Well you will have to wait for our announcement later this month.  It will prove to be a major change to communications here in our fair village. 

This Week on Channel 14

FOCUS on Our Children....Beth Harwood begins a new season by spending time with parents and educators involved in the 4-k program.  Dr. Keith Marty makes his first appearance of the year to discuss the renovation, and planning for the new year.

I Remember...Menomonee Falls.  How was the Village of Menomonee Falls established?  Well only one person from the group responsible for chartering our future is around to tell the story.  Herb Gross Sr. spends time with Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald and host Jim Jeskewitz with the fascinating series of events that led to the Village as we know today.

High School Football.  Well it appears that the Menomonee Falls boys football team knows when to pour it on.  For the 2nd time this year they ran away from their opponents in front of the Channel 14 cameras.  This week watch them take it to Tosa East from Schumann stadium.

Baseball Documentary.  Well now that the Brewers are in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, we found a documentary on baseball through the eyes of journalist and it's effect on history.  Interesting and fairly well done. 

AS ALWAYS...STAY TUNED!

Falls Cable Access sponsored 2 Voters Forums last week for the 24th Assembly seat vacated by retiring representative Sue Jeskewitz. (A lot of people would like to see her pull a Brett Favre).  With so many issues and so many candidates, it was necessary to spread it out over 2 evenings.  Karen Nelson the host of Village Voices on Channel 14 and John Mercure investigative reporter from WTMJ handled the duties of moderator and did an excellent job.

The forum went so well and gave such a good look into a group of eager candidates that we have looked into several ways to share the information with those that don't have cable in the district. ( I call them the uninformed).  Video rental stores and the Movie theater were approached to help but timing became an issue.  So we have turned to the Public Library to help spread the word.  As soon as Friday there will be copies of the forum available for 1 or 2 day check out.  With only a few days left till the election this may be the only chance to view all the candidates in action.  The public does a much better job of choosing representatives when they are provided unbiased information on all candidates, instead of just the science of yard signs and fliers.  So tune into the Voters Forum on channel 14 this week or stop in at the library and check out a DVD, so that you can make a informed choice on September 9th.  It is a primary election, but with a full ballot on the Republican side it is an important one.

You can also see bio information on the candidates at William Weavers web blog http://blogs.menomoneefallsnow.com/hunting_season/archive/2008/08/18/the-24th-assembly-district-candidates-in-their-own-words.aspx

COMING SOON!

For those of you without cable in Menomonee Falls...Time Warner has signed an agreement with the Big Ten Network.  So for those of you that made your video provider choice based on watching Badger football, you can now enjoy both the Big Ten and community television. Wow!

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Don't ask.  The cable studio has dropped to the bottom of the priority list and rightfully so. Because the media studies class starts with more theory than hands on they can use the new choir room to start the semester.  Although I can't imagine what it will take to complete the massive cleanup, I have been assured by several of the crew that all will be ready for the students on September 2nd.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

School District of Menomonee Fall.... The annual meeting and budget hearing will be airing at it's regular time on Monday evenings in addition to a few other select time slots during the week.

24th Assembly Voters Forum... The two forums mentioned above will air at least once everyday until the primary.  Think of it as a warm up to the barrage of political media content heading our way for the November Presidential election.

"The Show #3"...Gordon Kirchoff has promised to have his third installment of skits and local information ready any day and FCAC will get it on the air ASAP.

"Baseball by Howard Rosenthal" a viewer has provided sponsorship for an access produced documentary on America's Pastime, and it sound very interesting. We haven't viewed it yet but it has gotten great reviews elsewhere.

Look for the Cable Access Trailer at the High School Football game this Friday.

AS ALWAYS.....STAY TUNED!

The public is invited to 2 Voters Forums this week at the Menomonee Falls Community Center.  Tuesday evening (Aug. 19th), Falls Cable Access and specifically "Village Voices" is sponsoring the first forum which includes all of the candidates for 24th Assembly position vacated by retiring Rep. Sue Jeskewitz and the candidates for Wisconsin 5th district Congressional seat.  The forum start promptly at 7:00.  Questions were chosen by an independent committee, and there will be no questions from the audience. Karen Nelson host of Village Voices will be the moderator and ask the questions.

Thursday's forum (Aug. 21st) will include just the candidates for the Assembly position.  Start time is also 7:00 at the Community Center with a similar format and different questions.  The moderator and sponsor are finalizing the forum at this time.  A third forum sponsored by the Menomonee Falls Community Chamber is in the works, more on that as it developers. 

These forums are being taped by Falls Cable Access to be shown on Channel 14 n the Falls and copies are being made for Germantown to run on their cable system also.  Those that don't have cable in the 24th district (I'm telling you, it's better and offers more interaction) are invited to see the candidates in person so they can make an informed choice come election day.

CONSTRUCTION  UPDATE

Well, school starts on the 2nd of September, and the word is that almost everything will be complete in the high school.  There will be some re-location of some of the music department classes and media studies is not a lock yet either.  But in both cases the new areas aren't essential to the first few weeks of classes and it is more important to finish them without cutting corners.  The will be ready soon enough and from what I have seen the citizens of Menomonee Falls will be very impressed with the changes and upgrades they have provided for the future of Menomonee Falls education.  As for the cable studio, the construction crew has been very accommodating, but just about once a week someone kicks out a cable or trips a breaker sending channel 14 to black.  They promised my office would be ready for re-assembling the equipment used to broadcast our signal, on Monday the 18th and we have a stack of new programs to go on the air. I will find out in an hour or so if that is true.

NEXT WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

Army Newswatch has a few new shows and we will air them all as we catch up.  Families of our service personnel are always looking to this program for inside information on the environment of their loved ones.

Reel Movie with Matt & Paul has their remote show in the can and waiting to be aired.  Although it previews summer blockbusters that have been out for a while, my guess is that once the kids are back in school that may be the time to take in a good movie.  Still don't know how the boys sat through "Sex in the City" but didn't see "Mamma Mia".

Village Voices will return to regularly scheduled programming when the studio is open, but the Voters Forum will be a special edition of the show.

 FOCUS on Our Children will be airing some re-runs of last years shows that are still pertinent to this school year including a visit with the new school board members.

I Remember...Menomonee Falls visits the 50th Reunion of the Braveland Conference Champion Basketball team from Menomonee Falls High 1958-59 season.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

So much happening these days that todays post will be a hodgepodge of issues and events.

STUDIO RENOVATION

Well it's hard to tell but things are moving along in the high school studio.  Last night I found some lights on, so I am assuming power is back to that portion of the school.  It's been almost 6 weeks of walking through a dark mine cave-in with a flashlight, just to get some shows on. Seriously..I have to put a hard hat on to get a new show on the air.  When we put the 4th of July fireworks on live, I nearly fell into a 6 foot hole in the middle of the hallway.  With a month to go until school starts, I have been told that C.G. Schmidt, the main contractor, has a great reputation for cleaning up when all the construction is done.  We are going to need it. Here are a few pictures which include the new addition and the actual server that is running on an extension cord, keeping Channel 14 on the air.

CABLE LEGISLATION

 Back in May the state senate approved a bill which took the ability of municipalities to negotiate their own cable contracts away.  Now all franchising goes through the state.  The bill was lobbied heavily by AT&T to promote more competition.  The senate bought that notion.  Time Warner and the other cable providers in the state eventually went along because they had conceeded so much.  Only 3 months later we are already starting to see the reprecussions of the bill.  Cable and other media providers have had increases in prices, some are hidden in service changes.  Channels are being realigned, taking the community access that so many people rely on and putting it on a more expensive tier of channels.  And lastly, the media giant are picking and choosing just were they are going to provide service.  Th poor guy in Spooner is never going to see a telehone company provide video service to his home, and since there is no competition his cable bill will increase and the level of quality service will no longer be regulated as they now have a lifetime franchise agreement.  Please contact your local assembly representative or state senator to express your conscerns with this poorly thought out legislation.

NEW SHOWS

We just finished the first production meeting for a new show, currently titled "What's Cooking with KC Thorson".  The show will be part cooking show and part nutritional information.  The first show should tape in mid September.  Looking forward to  KC joining the family and also some taste testing after the show.

The Cable Access Trailer was put to the test this last week, covering the Police and Fire softball game at Falls Fest.  Technical issues with power foced some comproimises, but all in all it went well.  The game will be airing throught the rest of the summer.  Thanks to all that stopped by and said hello or stuck thier head into the trailer to see what it was about.

In addition to the softball game, we did our first concert in the park (no rain this week) with the trailer and it worked perfectly for the Community Band.  New to the mix was the addition of some remote control camera heads.  Now in a pinch the trailer can be operated by one person.  We still want camera people but just like with the concert, our camera men were playing trumpet.

All of our studio shows are on hiatus but "Reel Movie Talk" managed to get out and do a remote show. Too many summer blockbusters I guess.  That show will hit the cable airwaves this week.

Gordon Kirchoff after a well received first show has produced "The Show" episode 2.  This light hearted mix of interviews, skits and music is well worth the time.

Village Voices is also going outside the studio to host the Voters Forum at the Community Center on August 19th at 7:00 pm.  Host Karen Nelson will be the moderator for the forum which will feature candidates for District 5 fo the US house of representatives and candidates for the 24th Assembly District.  The public is invited for the taping.  The show will then air up to the election in Menomonee Falls, Germantown and any other community with access facilites with-in these districts.

 Someone asked why we didn't cover the BOys State Summer Baseball tournament up in Stevens Point.  Well the WIAA has contracted with a company that does not aloow taping of playoff games.  If you do, you need to sign an agreement and relinguish all previous tapings to add to thier library and then they maintain the rights to the playoff games.  So even if the State torunament comes to Germantown next year and the Falls boys are in it again, we won't be able to cover it.  We will hwever be covering more high school sports this year with the trailer.  I would request though that we really need parents in these sports to step forward and help with production.  The access channel is here for  your use.  W provide some programming on a volunteer basis to promote the channel.  But truly if you want to see more soccer or cross country, we need volunteers.  Call or email from the Channel 14 website to volunteer or to make suggestions.  www.fallscableaccess.com or sign up for the teleproduction classes on the Rec Department website. www.fallsrec.org

TIME WARNER or U-VERSE

I'm very happy to provide information to consumers on the advantages and disadvantages of all the service providers.  Just like political candidates of late, the ads on television are loaded with fine print.  People and corporations who hit the airwaves and print media with their message, try to be very careful as not to tell lies that could get them in serious legal trouble.  Some are very careless, while others spend millions on ways to beat the competition.  The current trend is to leave out information or put it in very small print.  We have all seen the Lottery ads that have the odds of winning posted on the bottom of the commercial.  They have to post the odds so that you are completely informed of the astronimical chance of winnning.  In reality only Evelyn Woods herself can read that porint, in that size in 4 seconds. The smae is true with the media providers.  Feel free to email me questions at info@fallscableaccess.com .  Here are just few examples.  AT& T claims that you can record up to 4 shows on the DVR at one time. ( I consider myself a pro at time shifting programs to suit my schedule, but 4 shows is never an issue) They fail to let you read that that is only 4 standard definition shows.  No multiple HD recordingss.  Tme Warner allows you to record 2 HD shows at one time and watch another on playback.  Also at this time AT&T is not providing cable access.  In fairness that is not all thier fault brcause qw haven't been able to get together for a technical meeting.  However in other area were they have solved the streaming issue, there are major complaints about the 1 minute it takes to upload the link to the channel and then the quality issue caused by the compression in streaming.  This is a problem in many communities right now and they claim to be working on it.  As for now Time Warner is the only lace to view the 3 local access channels in the Falls.  Another claim is that U-verse has more HD channels.  That is true by a few, but there is an extra charge for them in the bigger packages.  Time Warner includes the HD channel in all the digital packages at no extra charge.  As for overall cost, it is hard to compare ala carte services between different providers but I think you will find that the differences amount to around $5 or less.  And don't get me started on combined services.  I think the phone compmay should stay in the phone business and the cable compnay in the cable business.  Remember those allin one stereos with turntable, 8 track and amplifier in one.   You never got a good amp, the best turntable or the best 8 track in those setups.  You went to components. You nay have paid more but you got the best of all.  So when it cmes to cable service I say, "leave with the date that brung ya".  Time Warner was committed to Menomonee Falls from the start and has service available to every last address in Menomonee Falls.

 AS ALWAYS .......STAY TUNED

Well it looks like Menomonee Falls is going to enjoy a beautiful Holiday weekend.  After some needed rain on Wednesday, Thursday should be beautiful for the parade and fireworks.  The Cable Access mobile trailer will once again be on the parade route to record all the festivities and then will proceed to the high school to bring live coverage of the fireworks.  Now I know sometimes it makes sense to avoid the crowd in downtown Milwaukee and watch the lakefront fireworks on TV, but Menomonee Falls fireworks?  It is a little hectic leaving the area after the show, but the real reason to bring them live is for the shut-ins.  Not only those residents who won't venture out late ( can't go to bed with the sound of fireworks going on) but those who find themselves in the hospitals or local care giving facilities.  The fireworks all look the same on TV, but they seem bigger and brighter when you share them with your neighbors and friends who are there.  So if you can, join us on the parade route, stop in and say hi if you see the black Channel 14 trailer on Appleton Ave, or if you can't tune us in and turn up the sound.  Maybe by next year we can bring the parade to you live.

On a sour note, REEL MOVIE TALK with MATT & PAUL taped their show last week from John Harbors Main St. Café in front of a LIVE audience of fans and well wishers.  I use the term taped loosely as there was no tape backup, due to the configuration, and when the computer crashed at the end of the show, 3 hours of work went bye bye.  My main fear of using digital media and hard drives to capture live footage was realized just when I started to trust it.  The boys are bouncing back with a new live version that will hit the air ways next week.

Studio update.  Well the power is still out in the high school and rummaging around in the dark to get shows on is becoming dangerous.  I have a flashlight and hard hat in the car with me at all times.  The hole in the wall to the new section in the studio is getting bigger so I am guessing they are about to start pouring the concrete flooring.  Once the wall is down we will have some major cleaning to do before we can be up and ruining.  I'm told all is on schedule.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

Reel Movie Talk...The boys are re-shooting the last show, adding two more summer movies to the lineup and roaming around the Falls to bring you their reviews.  They do have energy.

MEDIA STUDIES WEEKEND  The high school media studies class will be highlighted on Saturday and Sunday July 5th and 6th.  All the videos produced by Tom Shannon's Media I & II classes from 2006 -2008 will be shown back to back to back.  That includes documentaries, music videos, movies and Video Yearbooks.  There is some real talent coming out of the high school and this weekend will showcase it.

Optimist Club Independence Day Parade....taped on the 3rd the parade will play all day on the 4th and then will be repeated the following week.  A must see if you were in the parade.  And thanks for being in the parade by the way.

I Remember Menomonee Falls..Jim Jeskewitz along with his ace camera operator Sue Jeskewitz joined the reunion party of the 1958 high school basketball team and interviewed the squad.  Very entertaining insights into the coaches, staff and high school life in general were presented.  Too good not to bring to our channel 14 viewers.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

A couple of years ago, we were going through the archive of video tape, cleaning them up and putting them in new protective cases, when we came upon a large box of tapes labeled Little League.  Inside were over 100 tapes from 1991 to 1993 during the Menomonee Falls Little Leagues infancy.  Some were coaching tapes, others were of special events like Opening Day and the Gala's.  But most of them were the games taped during those first few seasons.  72 in all.  Seemed a shame that they were sitting there with no useful purpose.  The idea to tape the games came in the very first year.  We thought it would be fun for every player in the league to be able to see him or herself on cable TV, just like the pro's.  With over 300 players it worked out that we could tape all the teams in the league in just 12 games.

It was important to put the scores on the screen, and as long as your doing that, you may as well put the players names in, music, graphics, sponsors credits, and music videos.  The games were a big hit and were played several times at the end of the season, usually 2 games each night.  All were taped with two cameras and edited, except for T-ball (could have use 9 cameras for those games).  The following year the league had doubled to over 600 players and of course that doubled the amount of games that needed to be taped.  Couldn't leave anyone out.  So in 1992 there were 24 games taped for playing on channel 7 (later moved to channel 14).  In 1993... you guessed it, another 500 players and a total of 36 games.  The schedule became overwhelming and camera operators were scarce.  So before it turned into 50 games, we quietly retired the idea, leaving the preservation of those unforgettable plays to the parents.

Fast forward to 2006.  A few people had asked for copies of their kids games over the years, so why not just run those games on cable one weekend so they can copy them to their DVD recorders.  That June we ran the first 12 games over and over on a Saturday and Sunday.  The response was overwhelming.  People were tuning in to one game, seeing there old neighbor in the background, and then watching 4 or 5 games in a row.  Last year we ran 1992 and 1993.  This year we will be running all 72 games, selected music videos and a few opening day highlights on the weekend of the 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th of June.  The schedule will be posted on the website on Wednesday evening, with games starting on Thursday afternoon.  This is all contingent on the removable hard drive with all the games on it working of course.  The power in the studio is still out so we sill be installing it in the dark.  Get your cracker jack, and hot dogs out, set up the DVR and settle in for 72 memorable games. 

For those of you interested in live television, Reel Movie with Matt & Paul is not sitting idle during the studio remodel.  They are going on a location shoot Tuesday June 24th.  This months show will be filmed at John Harbors Main Street Coffee House at 8:00 pm.  Stop in and see our famous hosts as they review this months latest movies in front of a live audience.  Check out the fa-ire & spirits and enjoy their first attempt at live television.

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children has two new shows on the budget and some of our new administrators.

Village Voices is running an update on the Big Pig Gig scheduled for the end of September this year.

Optimist Independence Day Parade.  Once again we will be taping from Appleton Avenue on the parade route, so stop in and say hi.

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!

On Wednesday the 11th, the high school will be turned over to the construction crews for a mad 10 week dash to complete all of the remaining renovation projects. The CG Schmidt crews have done a great job working around the over 2, 000 daily occupants of the building.

The Cable studio had been operating with a temporary wall since February which is making everything a little tight.  Soon the cement floor will be in and the wall will come down.  Then the major cleanup starts.  A lot of delicate equipment is going to need some tender, loving dusting.

On the 16th of June they will be turning off the power to the old section of the buildings to upgrade the systems, electrical, security and networking.  They are providing power to the cable access server and playback units.  That way channel 14 will remain on the air during the 2 week power outage.  New shows produced in the studios will however be on hold until after the temporary wall comes down. 

Meanwhile we will pick up the slack with several community events, including the Optimist Club Independence Day parade, the summer Concerts in the Park, a high school baseball game, and some "Remote" editions of Village Voices and Reel Movie Talk.

COMING UP ON CHANNEL 14

Little League Weekend...Yes, we are going to run them again.  Back in '91, '92 and '93, in it's infancy, I went overboard and taped 72 Menomonee Falls Little League games, with 2 cameras, graphics and some with announcers.  Well a few of those players back then now have their own children in T-Ball or older divisions.  It's always fun to see your banker, doctor or child's teacher back when all they cared about was the team snack.  It's also fun to see current friends and acquaintances before you knew them.  They always spark conversation and it's sad to see them justing sitting there on the shelf.  So sit back for a marathon of little league at it's best, the weekend of June 27th thru the 29th.  Play Ball!

FOCUS on Our Children....The final shows of the school year spend time with Booster Club/Capital Campaign Committee and our 2 new School Board Members.

As Always.....STAY TUNED!

The Menomonee Falls Memorial Day parade is once again going to be taped by Falls Cable Access, and this will be the first year we're using the Mobile Trailer.  Because it's a lot easier to set up  using the trailer, we are moving to a new location, the Main St./Grand Ave. turn.  This should give a new perspective and provide commentators Robyn Turtenwald and Tom Dueppen a lot to talk about.  The Parade will run at Noon on Monday following a rerun of last years parade at 10 am.  Join us on the parade route, or if you can't be there tune us in on Channel 13.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The Wall is coming down soon. The studio expansion has taken a back seat to more important, student driven areas.  The Choir is being cleared of the cement risers at this moment. (a major task) Portable risers will be installed making the room more multi-purpose.  The they will pour the floor in the studio expansion and remove the temporary wall.  Then we can reconfigure the space for storage, sound booth, and dressing room.  Everything will be ready for the 2008-09 school year.  Can't wait!

THIS WEEK ON CHANNEL 14

FOCUS on Our Children....Superintendent Dr. Keith Marty and Dir. of Business Serv. Jeff Gross manage to explain the budget process for the school board in one of this months shows.  Meanwhile the Capital Improvement Campaign chairs Camille Morris and Tom Hartman give us an update on the new track and press box in addition to future plans.

Village Voices.. In what should be a must see for everyone in the village, Montana Anti-smoking advocate Dr. Robert Shepherd joins host Karen Nelson with some startling new information on Second Hand Smoke. This is a show to watch with your teenagers!

The Emperor's New Clothes..The St. Anthony Spring Musical is a musical adaptation of the old story of an egotistical King and loyal subjects.  No worries, it is a PG version.

Memorial Day Parade....coverage of the 2008 Parade from Main St. in the Falls

Look for some weekend specials coming up in the next month, such as Little League Weekend, Parade Weekend, and Concert Weekend..

AS ALWAYS....STAY TUNED!