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Date: 4/13/2022
CHESTERFIELD – For the past 15 years, broadcasting weekly on Valley Free Radio, the Hilltown Family Variety Show has delivered local families a commercial-free alternative to Saturday morning cartoons.
Sometimes educational and always entertaining, the program started as a half-hour evening show, co-hosted by Sienna Wildfield and her four-year-old daughter. It has since evolved into a variety show with guest DJs from around the world that talk about music, history, science and nature, or focus on social-emotional themes such as kindness, sharing and acceptance, through storytelling and song.
“In the beginning years, my daughter and I co-hosted the show. The show has since evolved into a variety show with guest DJs worldwide, from Grammy Award-winning musicians and storytellers to international and local artists,” said Wildfield.
The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. on ValleyFreeRadio.org at 103.3 FM and streamed live on Hilltownfamilies.org, where people can also listen anytime to over 300 archived episodes. Wildfield said most of the residents in the Hilltowns stream the show due to “spotty radio reception.”
On March 26, the show’s guest DJs were Anne Montone and Jennifer Cook from the group “Again Again,” who hosted a “Being a Good Friend” podcast. Besides talking about friendship and sharing quotes from noteworthy people in history, they played songs on the theme – it turns out there are a lot of them – from Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” to Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” to their own songs.
Wildfield said the radio show is an audio component of what Hilltown Families produces. In a TED talk in 2007, Wildfield described Hilltown Families as an online grassroots communication network that highlights community-based educational opportunities, and an online tool that parents can use to further the education of their children.
In addition to the podcast, Hilltown Families offers a website, newsletters, information on social media outlets, and local television segments; all ways to get the word out about free activities and cultural itineraries for families to follow their own interests.
“There are a lot of ways that Hilltown Families reaches families,” Wildfield said.
“I live in West Chesterfield. Seventeen years ago, when Hilltown Families was started, no one had high-speed internet. Hilltown Families came out of a need to connect with one another as the network was built, and one of those needs was commercial-free family programming.”
Wildfield said during the coronavirus pandemic, these services became more essential than ever. “Oh, my goodness. As soon as the schools closed down, all eyes were on Hilltown Families to give them the information they needed on how to support their children’s education. I was working 24-7. It was a scary time, and I really wanted to make sure people had the resources and could connect with each other in a way that was safe,” she said.
She said during the shutdown, people became isolated, and a focus on nature-based learning and the seasons became one way to get people out in the community to engage in seasonal activities.
Another pivot for Hilltown Families has been to support self-directed and lifelong learning for all ages as an intergenerational resource.
“It’s not just for little kids or kids,” she said. “There is a strong focus on them, but also to support lifelong learners and self-directed teens in their learning.”
Asked what the best way is to take advantage of all the resources provided by Hilltown Families, Wildfield said to visit Hilltownfamilies.org, where a screen will pop up to subscribe, or to click on the subscribe button, and sign up to get the weekly newsletter listing of activities in the area.
“I invite them to check it out. It’s a community resource that can support people’s interest and connection to their community, and it’s important for people to get involved if they’re feeling inclined to do so,” Wildfield said.