Longmeadow Community Television provides entertainment, education and more

Date: 3/23/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW -- Dave Bartlett and Bryon Kozaczka of Longmeadow Community Television (LCTV) want you to know that there's more to community television than Select Board meetings and calendar listings.

A lot more.

"We want to remind people of what a public access station is," Bartlett, the station manager, said. "I think we're underutilized. We're here for the community. We provide content and teach them [the community members] how to produce their own shows to get them on air. We provide the tools, the space and the equipment at no charge."

The staff of LCTV will teach anyone interested in creating his or her own program on any topic how to do it. They also provide production services, such as program production for businesses, at competitive rates, according to Bartlett.

"We can make DVDs of sales tapes, lectures...We do duplication, transferring VHS to DVD," he said.

He and Kozaczka invite anyone of any age to take part in community television. There is currently a group of fifth graders who create their own program -- from operating the cameras to providing the on-air talent. Their first guest was Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

"It's great," Kozaczka said. "It's fun to have the kids in."

The station also supports students with two scholarships -- the Joseph Hennessy Scholarship, named in honor of "an ardent supporter" of LCTV, according to Bartlett, awards two $500 scholarships, and the Gilbert Lefkovich Scholarship, named for the former executive director of the station, which also awards two $500 scholarships. Students need to be attending four-year colleges and majoring in communications to be eligible for either award.

LCTV airs three channels of programming: Channel 9 airs the Research Channel from midnight to 5 p.m. and the Classic Movie Showcase from 5 p.m. to midnight; Channel 12 carries all locally produced LCTV programming, including Select Board, School Committee and all other town meetings covered by LCTV, as well as the Community Calendar; and Channel 15 features the Classic Arts Showcase.

And, as of the beginning of March, town meetings are now available to be streamed on LCTV's Web site, www.longmeadowtv.org.

"Theoretically, we'll have Monday night's meeting on the Web by Tuesday at 5 p.m.," Kozaczka said.

He explained that the meetings will be opened in a separate media player and that they can be fast forwarded, rewound and paused like any other video clip. The first meeting uploaded to the Web was the water and sewer hearing that took place Feb. 11.

The Web site was launched nine months ago, according to Bartlett, and features an easy to read programming schedule for all three of LCTV's channels.

The station's charitable works were launched last year as well, with the LCTV mobile production unit setting up in the parking lot of Big Y last fall to collect donations for Lorraine's Soup Kitchen in Chicopee.

"Seventy-five pounds of food were collected without us doing any promotion," Bartlett stated. "When I went there [last fall] and I saw three boxes of pasta and one can of tuna on the shelf, I knew they needed help."

He said the station plans on hosting another food drive this summer.

LCTV provides more for the community than televised meetings, and it's provided to the town through funds from cable bills. Longmeadow Community Television does not cost the taxpayer one cent.