The popular “Our Town” series carried on Penn State Public Broadcasting’s WPSX-TV 3 has announced that production will begin on Tyrone as one of the programs featured communities.
And they will need your help!
The series, running since 1996, looks to local residents to determine the content of each show. And through your camera lenses, each WPSX viewer gains a sense of the communities’ character and culture.
On Friday, Sept. 5, WPSX-TV will hold a kick off meeting at the Tyrone Chamber of Commerce offices located on Logan Avenue in downtown Tyrone. The Chamber and The Daily Herald will meet that day with representatives from the television station to discuss the launch of the Tyrone project. The show will begin post production of Tyrone in late October and will air the show sometime in December.
In the spring of 1996, WPSX was looking for an idea. The station wanted to be more directly involved with the public it serves throughout its 29-county coverage area in central and north central Pennsylvania. By adopting the concept of “a day in the life” picture books, which profiles the people, places and happenings of a specific town or area, an idea was formed, and instead of using still pictures, video would become the medium. And instead of printed captions, the people who did the videotaping would become the narrators.
According to Greg Peterson of WPSX-TV, the concept of the show has gone national to other public broadcasting stations.
“We have such a large broadcast area ranging from Olean, New York to Williamsport, Clarion and everywhere in between, that this concept with local residents shooting the video became a great way for us to be able to capture each town and what makes its tick,” he said.
Starting with the town of Bradford, PA, WPSX turned the role of program producers over to the people who volunteer their time and talents. With the freedom of blank tape, a camcorder and plenty of enthusiasm, you will hit the opportunity soon to hit the streets of Tyrone. It’s churches and celebrations and much more to uncover the towns stories and unlock secrets before the television viewer’s eyes.
Now five years later, they come to Tyrone to catch its magic as a community. The Daily Herald will have a follow up story appearing in the Saturday, September 6th edition. Details revealed will be how you can get involved in this exciting project.
