Although many western New England students returned to classrooms in late August. WGBY’s commitment remains yearlong.
Rus Peotter, General Manager of WGBY-TV. (Photo courtesy of WGBY-TV)
All summer, our Education Department staff(thanks to the many Valley Gives donations we received last May), was able to visit the YMCA of Greater Springfield, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start Inc., and New North Citizens’ Council classrooms to help stem learning loss (known as the “summer slide”). Staff encouraged summer learning by distributing and reading books, playing interactive games via WGBY’s mobile media lab, and interacting with other hands-on activities.
As a public television and PBS member station, it should go without saying that our production team kept busy, too. In fact, we spent the summer gathering background about the region’s biggest event: Eastern States Exposition. The Big E takes place from Sept. 16 to Oct. 2 and is celebrating its centennial. Our crews will head to West Springfield to capture this season for a special documentary, 100 Years on the Avenue: The Story of the Big E, which will premiere on Monday, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. Watch the trailer at wgby.org/bige.
To be a part of local community efforts and to help promote our bilingual public TV show Presencia, WGBY will show Puerto Rican pride at this year’s parade. Our very own Vanessa Pabón-Hernandez, WGBY’s Director of Community Engagement & Education, has been bestowed with the honor of Grand Marshal during the Sept. 18 parade for her work in community education and as executive producer of Presencia.
We will also be in Great Barrington this month recording the third annual BerkshireSPEAKS at the Hevreh. This year’s speakers include such longtime WGBY partners as John Downing of SOLDIER ON and public media journalist John Hockenberry.
Finally, this is also the month when the campaign season really winds up. Frontline’s “The Choice” and PBS Newshour Debates: A Special Report will be featured. Plus, you can get the local facts with WGBY’s Connecting Point series, which has curated ballot question-related videos for you at wgby.org/vote.
Yes, it’s been a busy summer and will be an even busier fall for this public television station — and it’s all possible because of public support it receives.
Russell J. Peotter
General Manager, WGBY
Public Television for Western New England
