Blog · Page 7 of 17

I Am Here For A Reason

For me the recycling of digestible speeches and non-threatening quotes is patronizing.

No, it is not existential anxiety, although it could be. I skip the few hours of songs, stories and speeches intended to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Wallingford’s Town Hall which I have attended thrice since 2002. It is now 2020 and once again I decide to go elsewhere, seeking relief from the superficial ubiquity of quotes.

As I understand it, until 2002, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wallingford was on the front lines of commemorating Dr. King’s legacy since Martin Luther King Day was enacted into law in 1983 as a Federal holiday.

Anyone peripherally familiar with my town might assume my disquiet is a hangover effect from the town’s very public controversy in 2000. This controversy was seen differently by life-long residents, newcomers, city leaders, union representatives, churchgoers, and young people my son’s age including my son, Houston. Amidst the very public turmoil, I get some video footage of Jesse Jackson speaking at our Town Hall. Reverand Jackson reminds us that he was with King the afternoon of his death.

In 2018, my community television station unexpectedly expands my understanding of this historic day in the local arena.

Beth, a life-long resident, decides to contribute to a show called CommUnity Conversations that brings two people together to share a topic from their individual perspective. Her first topic is Race in Relationships. Beth brings her new friend KiKi, a person of color, to WPAA-TV for a few conversations on their experience of being friends. In the very first three minutes of the conversation with KiKi, Beth weaves together many loose ends for me and illuminates my sentiment I am here for a reason. She affirmed I am indeed doing justice work. Beth’s story, in mothballs for decades, would otherwise never have seen sunlight. I consciously use a video clip from this conversation in our 2018 Video Annual Report.

The 25-second trailer soundtrack of the 20-minute Annual Video Report is as follows:

I’d be happy to share my story.
Almost on queue you hear crash.
Erin it’s back to you.
If we didn’t see a need …
I’m always hopeful.
I asked the magic question …
You can now go on your phone and register to vote.
What would you say is the take-home lesson from our story?
I wasn’t aware that the Ku Klux Klan was in Wallingford.
Cut.

Each segment begins, “Welcome to our CommUnity Conversation,” and then the conversation continues with whatever the contributors decide to say.

“I am Beth. This is my friend KiKi and we will be talking about race in relationships today. So, for me growing up in Wallingford,” Kiki nods and affirms, “Right.” Beth searches for both her memory and courage This video will be seen in Wallingford, after all. She continues, “which was (hesitates and starts again) at the time the clan was very predominant. You’d walk down Center Street and you would see, you know, the sheets. Going to the corner store they were there. You would see the black hearses, Beth gestures as if outlining the route, coming down with the clansmen. They would go into this graveyard.” The iconic symbol of our town’s history. Again she describes the scene from her childhood before mentioning her feelings. “Umm, across from where the pizza place is AND I JUST REMEMBER STANDING THERE AND THE FEELINGS THAT IT GAVE ME. Some fear. Because no one ever really talked about it. Because nobody knew who these people were.”

KiKi asks, “And so you didn’t know,” they simultaneously say, “who they were?” Beth continues, “I didn’t know who they were. They were just these men in these sheets. It wasn’t like an open dialogue that we would have in the community. It was not like it would (casual gesturing) be like What’s up with this? It was just, you saw them. You kept quiet. You did not talk about what you felt. You did not talk about how it made you feel.”

She continues reflecting on this moment that does not come fully into view with some justification.

“And I know I was pretty sheltered and I grew up and everyone was the same color. Everyone thought the same way. The values! The morals! Everything was exactly the same! I did not have a lot of friends that were black. I never had the chance to communicate with anyone outside of my own race. I remember very distinctly there was a (she pauses and restarts) In Wallingford at the church near Archie Moore’s this being St. Paul’s Episcopal and Jesse Jackson had come in. And it had something to do with Martin Luther King Day, and (pause) what ended up happening is we had this (pause) I do not want to call it a protest but it was a march to the Town Hall. So we walked into the church and the clan was outside and they were all like lined up and they had their speaker with their microphone.

Let Me Interrupt with My Distraction
My phone buzzes. Its screen fills with Twitter news posted by the local paper. I am immediately jolted back to the present, 2020. I pause the video I am watching to ingest the news In Wallingford, technology eliminates need for police couriers. This breaking news is about the use of email to conduct the town’s essential business. It reports a new development that is only news because of our Mayor’s disregard for technology One of my pet peeves. The tweet reports on the absurd delay in the use of email replacing use of police couriers Email was created about the time of King’s assassination after all. The police will no longer be Town Council Meeting document couriers. For years, the Wallingford Police Dept. reported staff shortages in several budget workshops but continued to lose hundreds of man-hours each year to be used as postal couriers getting documents to Town Councilors in preparation for their meetings. Documents that could have been distributed via email decades ago. Notably, the distribution will be from one of the few email addresses associated to the town government to the personal emails of the councilors.

My personal Twitter feed describes me as a “community media frontline volunteer: discovering, capturing, producing & sharing stories to keep the engines of service & democracy going in my town #W06492.” From this vantage point, I re-tweet without comment and leave this distraction like so many in my day.

I Am Here
I take the video off pause to hear Beth recall, “They had their speaker with their microphone and they were yelling profanities and all types of things. And I remember walking out and standing there at the top of the steps where the church is and looking out and seeing them. And I remember shaking a little bit because they scared me.” She reiterates the awareness and the secrecy, “I knew nothing about them because it wasn’t something that we ever talked about But she wanted to talk about it now. Her friendship with KiKi emboldened her to reveal this childhood fear. KiKi picks up the conversation likely sensing the timeline was unclear. “How old were you when you first experienced the clan?” Beth replies, “I want to say as young as ten.” That would put her early experience roughly in the year that MLK Day was signed into Federal law.

This CommUnity Conversation happens in early 2018. Beth is now 45. She continues, “When we were doing that march I had to be in my mid-twenties.” When I hear this clarification I realize Beth and I were at the same event, differently. Beth would have been closer to 26 and a life-long resident of Wallingford. Me? I was here as a relative newcomer with angst about what my 14-year-old was experiencing in this town with headline news about this town in an Internet-connected world. One thing I do know is that when he traveled and performed at poetry events he referred to home as New Haven, the place he was born, not Wallingford, the place his mother bought a house.

Wallingford was the last municipality in Connecticut to close municipal offices for the Martin Luther King Federal Holiday. It was national news My AmeriKKKan town. Shamefully, it took a state law to move the pressure needle on the civil rights gauge here. There was much cloaking by the Mayor of underlying truths as he pitted poor elder taxpayers and unions against what was right In my opinion. That may be the year the voice in my head began telling me “You are put here for a reason.”

From #CitizenMediaMaven_TheLife Chapter I Am Here For A Reason

Hercules Arrived in the Neighborhood 5 Years Ago

Public Art has a whole new value in the time of Covid-19, at least in this tiger’s neighborhood. But we always knew it was a destination spot. Even Triple AAA agrees.

Ryan Christenson, a local mural artist, widely known as ARCY began touring the nation painting murals in 2015.

Finding a welcoming spot in his hometown was challenging. But today as outdoor seating at local restaurants becomes essential the tiger locals call Hercules will be watching diners at Jakes Tavern LLC. in Wallingford, CT.

What are the Responsibilities of a Board Member?

The Basics

Attend six meetings that focus on oversight and strategic direction of the organization
- One of these is the Annual Celebration of Voices. Dinner, Conversation and Look Back
Participate in at least one committee: Outreach, Building, Tech
Or, Participate in an Initiative: Information Literacy, Civics Literacy, #SocialActionArt, Community Media Day
Attend committee meetings and attend to the tasks identified by or for those committees

Preferably, commit to a three-year term to increase the potential for WPAA-TV to serve the community.

Very Helpful

Network to increase awareness of WPAA-TV
Develop connections for viewers, users, and future financial supporters

Current Needs

We always need people with roots in the community. Key functions that need support are finance and marketing. In particular, one volunteer is needed that can onboard for the Office of Treasurer. The strategic initiative is outreach to engage grassroots to discover us, view, participate and fund Freeman’s Purse. $5 a year from 4,000.

Reminder: Involvement in the production of shows is not a board function, so do not infer this to future members.

Out of the Dark: Looking at Mental Health through practiced eyes

By Garrett Amill

Mental health issues are still stigmatized. Addiction, PTSD, and more are rarely understood, let alone talked about. Out of the Dark takes a shot at addressing these complicated issues. It succeeds at shedding light on them through frank discussion.

The hosts, Jane Buckley and Joan Landino, are twins. Despite looking nearly identical, they are far from the same person. They have different takes on issues, and sound very different from each other. It is easy to tell which one is speaking, even if you can’t see them.

The two are both APRNs, or advanced practice registered nurses. This means they have more training and expertise than other nurses. This expertise lets the two discuss mental health issues from a perspective that includes more scientific knowledge. Of course, being nurses they see more cases of mental illness than the average person would. That on the street experience gives them further perspective on the issues.

The hosts’ experiences work to provide more information than otherwise. However, their discussion never gets too technical. Everything they say can be understood without a background in medicine.

The mental health challenges they chose to discuss are relevant. Dementia care, addiction, and marijuana especially provide good opportunities for interesting takes from the hosts. There are also a few less controversial episodes. The episode on DNA guided medicine is a particular standout. If you haven’t heard of that concept, definitely check it out to learn something new and fascinating.

A frank look at mental health issues is rare, but Out of the Dark provides it, bringing light to these often ignored issues.

Citizen Mike: a service to the town and a lot of fun

By Garrett Amill

The most important part of government can be smaller than you think. Local politics often have just as much of an impact on life in a town as state politics do, or even federal. There can be a dearth of information about local politics, however.

Citizen Mike acts to fill a gap in Wallingford, providing a place for debate and discussion of goings-on in the government of Wallingford and beyond. Citizen Mike hosts government officials and employees. The show also features people with opinions on aspects of the town, like a teacher to talk about Wallingford schools.

Besides providing a service, the show is compelling to listen to. Much of that comes from the skill of host Mike Brodinsky. Brodinsky has an understated charm to him. He could easily be the center of attention on the show, but instead, he lets the guests shine.

Brodinsky asks questions well, getting the information from guests that he knows listeners will want. At the same time, he keeps the guests from rambling too much. Brodinsky also has a good knowledge of what will get too technical for the audience. He asks guests to clarify what they mean whenever they use jargon or reference things the audience won’t know.

Citizen Mike is a very timely show. It’s been the first source for information on newly announced decisions in the past. This makes listening to older episodes less ideal, since they can be about old news. However, some of the show’s episodes have a longer shelf life.

Citizen Mike provides a service to the town of Wallingford while being interesting to watch. It functions as a fascinating local political news show.

Midlife Matters: Cozy, yet full of wit

By Garrett Amill
I never thought I’d care about the art of Ukrainian egg dying. Hearing it discussed on Midlife Matters, however, my attention was nowhere else. Midlife Matters manages to make topics I’d never heard of interesting.
The host, Georgian Lussier, brings a calming presence to each show. From the owl sounds that play at the start of the episode to her voice throughout, there is a contemplative tone.
The guests are all women, and all over 40. These women provide unique perspectives. An episode featuring a teacher from an automotive trade school is made better by that teacher being female. The fact that a woman can teach in a male-dominated industry is empowering.
None of the episodes are truly run of the mill. Even the ones that seem that way at first turn out to be worth listening to. One episode on a grief support program has an especially interesting guest, who clearly has a life full of stories to tell. Lussier is capable of letting her guests tell their stories while making sure those stories stay interesting.
The start of shows can drag a little as Lussier finds her footing with the guests. Once she does, however, the conversation flows. It’s worth listening to get to the fascinating discussion.
Midlife matters provides a contemplative look at what is fascinating in the lives of women in the area. It’s a good show to watch while drinking a cup of tea and taking in a unique world.

Ten-Year Journey Ends With the Signing of a Check: WPAA-TV Reaches Major Milestone

Contributed by Garrett Amil

WPAA-TV reached the end of a ten-year journey that wouldn’t have been possible without community support. On Feb. 24, Nelson Ford, the oldest volunteer, and former board member, excitedly signed the final check to pay off the building, located at 28 So Orchard Street.

The building was paid off two years in advance of the expected 2022 date. The refinancing was made possible through Key Bank, saving WPAA-TV $7,000.

“We’ve owned it for a year thanks to pro bono help from attorney Lars Edeen,” said Susan Huizenga, WPAA-TV’s executive director. “We just haven’t had it paid off until this week.” Fundraising last May raised money from 200 members of the community.

It’s rare for community TV stations to own their building, according to Huizenga. However, owning the building reduces its operating costs. In 2008, WPAA-TV formed a building committee. In 2010, WPAA-TV faced a 60% rent increase. This motivated the nonprofit leadership to continue looking for a new location. “We wanted something on a bus line and in town in terms of walkability,” said Huizenga. “When celebrations were happening in town, in that last space all they had to do is open their doors, set up a booth outside and they were part of a community event.”

After facing rejection from the town regarding one location, WPAA-TV eventually found its current building, which needed significant renovation. “It did not even have plumbing on the first floor,” said Huizenga. “It was not up to code in terms of electricity. It could not be a public space without significant investment.”

WPAA-TV reached out to local skilled laborers, including plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. They agreed to donate work to the renovation project. A local benefactor who enjoyed WPAA-TV’s classic arts TV financed the down payment, and the prior owner of the building, the late Paul McNally, extended credit to the nonprofit for the purchase of the building.

Once the deal was settled, the local laborers sprang into action, renovating the building. “The equivalent of what we get in cable fees was donated by volunteers to bring the space up to code,” said Huizenga. “They aggressively worked on the building for a year and a half, and it made occupancy standards within the first six months so that we could come into the first floor.”

After thorough renovation and years of payment, WPAA-TV gets to formally call the building theirs.

Continuing Each Year

Our last video of the year, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, by Emma Richardson, is a gift upon a gift to our community.

If you have had a tour of WPAA-TV, you may have noticed the posting: We have art, ghosts, penguins, a tiger, and the stories you tell. You might hear that serendipity is ever-present in What We Do Together, the theme of last year’s nationally award-winning video annual report. Our year-end good fortune is how the very last story produced for us incorporates all the 3-Minute Movie Challenge criteria – a Wallingford person, a place, and/or a thing. It is an uplifting story of starting again. It is a retelling of a clever story about the opportunity each New Year brings. It is a story of sixteen years of delighting neighbors. It is a story about a farmer, whimsy and a street corner near one of the town’s highway entry points.

We are eager to share the charming, short film Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, by Emma Richardson, and the projects that gave it birth. It will be released on social media on January 5, 2020 at the end of the 3-Minute Movie Challenge video contest. Emma’s submission represents exactly what the video contest is about: discovering the characters and characteristics of our town in video stories.

Sneak peek: You might see Rudolph’s Shiny New Year if you are watching television today on Comcast 18/1070 in Wallingford or Frontier 6091 in Connecticut, because we want this video to qualify for festivals accepting entries based on the 2019 calendar year.

Emma Richardson discovered community TV a decade ago with her family. They shared the story about the creation of the BAWA Health Initiative (BHI) in Cameroon, West Africa with On The Parade Ground viewers. In this conversation, the family spoke of learning how the annual cost of a family cat invested in a village could change, even save lives. Their dinner guest, soon to be BHI co-founder, Blaise Donji, inspired the project embraced by the First Congregational Church of Wallingford and other producers of content for WPAA-TV. The #theAfricanDream interview of Blaise Donji, conducted in studioW a few years later, remains a video story on the organization’s about us page on www.bawahealth.org.

Emma was eleven at the time of the On The Parade Ground interview. When I noticed she had gone on to study Film, Television & Media Arts at Quinnipiac University, I sent her a text about our movie challenge. She was hesitant to commit, but by the end of the exchange, she agreed to reach out to a local farmer I had failed to get on camera a few times.

As of this writing no other filmmakers have registered in the Take Three edition of the contest. We did have workshop opportunities. One local family attended. They seemed excited to discover us but the holidays became too busy for them to make a movie. There is a rumor that a first-time filmmaker and workshop attendee is capturing video footage today. There is still time for moviemakers in this 3-Minute Movie |Take Three| 2019, as well as in the Take One, Take Two and Take Three opportunities each year.

As we gather to welcome Baby New Year 2020, let us remember it is one person and one story at a time that can change hearts. I know that Rudolph’s Shiny New Year has just that kind of potential. This Wallingford person, place or thing story is a gift upon a gift to this community.

Truth Be Told is the theme of our 2019 annual video report currently in production. Truth be told, as WPAA-TV Executive Director, I tell myself one great story will be enough to change the tide of community interest in the movie challenges as well as what we do overall which is provide a safe place for the expression of ideas. Truth be told, I needed the delightful Rudolph’s Shiny New Year message about the potential of our continuing anew each year.

P.S. Over 3,500 people viewed the Rudolph’s Shiny New Year on social media and nearly 100 people commented about their appreciation of the creativity on display at the street corner near Christmas time. Rudolph’s Shiny New Year won the Alliance for Community Media xxx for 2019.

The Bloom A Reflection

In the sharing, and promoting the sharing, of A thorny Journey Blooms in Story in the #MyGivingStory contest funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with Unleash Global Good LLC (dba GivingTuesday) there was much personal discovery. The premise of #MyGivingStory follows:

By sharing our stories, we can inspire others to give.

Reading the stories

There were over 2,600 submissions. I read about 25. I scanned several hundred. I encouraged others to randomly read them. The pattern I noticed in these giving stories is that they are often rooted in personal tragedy or struggle. Another is that animals seem to by far outrank concerns for fellow humans.
A part of me would love to do a qualitative analysis of this data to learn more about the inspiration to give and the true ranking of relevance and value. About a dozen people contacted me directly after reading my story. It was in those moments of connection that this journey did bloom. Most started with “Wow” and continued “Voted! That was great and thank you so much for what you do for our Wallingford community”.

About ‘community’, or maybe, lack thereof

Stories can change hearts. Networks can change systems.

My networks included 700+ LinkedIn, Freeman on FB 1,500+, Community Media Peers 1,000+, Retirees on FB, Community FB Groups 17,000+, Family & Friends. There were at least a few refreshing reconnects within each network, some new community connections and as always my son and his friends were the most generous and uplifting. The process reinforced that connections are one person at a time and those you know well enough to hug are the ones that can be counted on in real and virtual worlds.

For the record: I did write to local influencers to ask for their support in this effort to win $10,000. Subject line: “Let us do this Get out the Vote together”. The lack of response makes me even more committed to ‘sunshine’ stories’. Truth be told, if I was not the volunteer administrator of the organization tagged to get the prospective win, I would be producing such stories. Every community has them, maybe mine more than most.

What was missing when people made the effort to support was the “connecting” story. The relevance. One share did touch my heart: Support WPAA and Community Media Center!! What an amazing community that supports musicians, actors, activists, and curious citizens like me. A few comments affirmed the story had been read “Please take a moment to read Susan’s inspiring and poignant essay.”

Promoting the story ❤️?❤️?❤️?❤️??? Vote ? Share ?

What does it take to be an award-winning community TV station? Volunteers that believe in supporting their community with media, arts, story and saving an in-town building.

$10,000 for Wallingford for less than a minute of your time. If 1,000 Wallingford people give a minute a day until Dec 10th to VOTE to support #WPAATV it will add 150 hours to this gift of community in service to each other AND increase our chances to win $10,000 to do more.

If you do not know about #wpaatv There is an article in the current issue of The Wallingford Magazine ❤️?

Lessons re-learned

Engagement is one person at a time.
You can change a person’s life but that does not create a relationship.
Stories without an audience are just an archive.
When people do not know it is a gift, they will likely behave as if they are entitled.
With the humor of “Who gives a crap” you can more effectively “give a crap”
Journeying with others fosters connection, which will ultimately do more good

I am now 66 years old. The hours given to community service total 20-years. That definitely speaks to a lifestyle. But the 20+ extra pounds the last seven years of full-time service to Wallingford at #wpaatv may be more relevant. This journey has given me a measure of Wallingford as a whole that I needed to put some balance back into my life.

“What would you be doing, if not doing this?” is coming into better focus. A new connection asked me this very question during this story journey and it gave me pause.

Pause. That may be my gift to me. To be honest I may have been looking for justification for this very thing.

A Thorny Journey Blooms in Story

Sharing #MyGivingStory now seems the right choice as I may be at the halfway mark in my service journey. What does over forty thousand hours of service in one’s adult life mean beyond being a lifestyle? What if I do what I am doing now for twenty consecutive full-time years? What can I resurrect from scraps of recall that can reveal the challenges and gifts of a lifestyle of service that forgoes a paycheck?

I certainly knew 65 was old when age ten, today – not so much.

As we begin to forget more than we know, it becomes clearer that what holds us to our own meaning are the stories we choose for our narration. I have come to realize I have abandoned much of my story.

I see silence as a dance partner with evil, yet I have indulged in it often to survive. Much of my service has been a light under a basket. Oddly, I run an organization whose mission is tied to transparency and the telling of stories.

Our world is full of enigma. Many of my stories of service are not told in order to avoid public feelings of shame or stigma as they are shared stories of struggle or tragedy experienced with others. I have been the shelter, the shoulder, the coach, the mother, the underwriter, the connection, the opportunity maker, the report, the pocket change, the ride or the facilitator of dreams come true.

As a girl born in the 1950s into a large family of laborers, I found myself taking risks with life and yielding much to serendipity. I deeply value the laborer’s sense of hands-on accomplishment and marvel at the gifts of kismet.

My steady diet of embracing service via civic engagement as a lifestyle began with my two-year enlistment in VISTA in 1978. In 2011, I retired from a paycheck to what my dad called my life’s job. I live on a poverty-level stipend which I pay myself from a short-circuited retirement savings. I run a community media center and do a bit of social service on the side.

There is an abundance of past stories in so many venues such as those connected to Criminal Justice and nineteen years collecting toys and personal hygiene products for prison chaplains; Fair Housing which included three years of weekends finding housing and furnishings for families temporarily in hotels in the 1980s; Voting Rights and Environmental Justice as President of the League of Women Voters of New Haven and other service in Arts and Humanities.

My impact is accomplished one story or project at a time: new skills, forever mates, a job, a friend, a new perspective, a place to live, a new language, a movie made, a fear overcome, a new passion discovered, a network created, a hashtag connection, a song that gets a whole room singing, a gallery of #SocialActionArt, a mural, and a blue penguin that is a metaphor for civic engagement by whoever walks in the door at WPAA-TV thereby enabling a TV station to be #MoreThanTV

The range of impact is immense. Our core service of TV connects viewers to wide-ranging ideas. Our open doors have inspired some to make life decisions. Unexpected encounters such as court-mandated community service or a get well video message have changed lives. A family said the happiest six weeks of a retired radio announcer’s life were his last, those spent with us making his show “A Face for Radio.” Several differently-abled proved themselves in ways they could not imagine. A few veterans renewed their service with us. A photographer has an exhibit and a book deployed to help the food and housing insecure. It made the news. A muralist literally explored new heights and became known as among the best in the world. A guest on a show about midlife decided to embody a transition to ‘memoir artist.’ A recovering alcoholic stabilized to become an exceptional math tutor; an actor performed on stage sober for the first time with a theater company that gave him a new start. More stories are experienced and shared each day.

Any topic is fair game, from Creation Station, a show featuring a four-year-old, to teens interviewing folks from all walks of life about first jobs. Subject matter ranges from how to raise bees, make a pumpkin martini or hummus, and the evolution of women in the trades. Among the challenging topics are guns, terror, identity, taking a knee, recovery of all kinds, stigma, faith, and commentary on local issues. As the gatekeeper for resources, trainer for the tools, a technician in the studio, set designer or just a person to work out ideas, I have influenced the creation of over 5,000 shows in the past five years and curated and processed nearly 30,000 more. My practice is to actively listen, boldly suggest and show.

My ADHD life is a good match for Community TV. I get to support literally hundreds of organizations and people of diverse interests and talents and explore #SocialActionArt which is my passion.

When people hear that I do not get paid they assume I am married to a wealthy man. That would be so if counting grandchildren is a sign of prosperity. Being his life jacket is among the thousands of stories I have experienced with a different kind of love. We live in a home too big for two, that has sheltered dozens of people in need of transitional housing. One transitioned to heaven.

My conviction is that everyone needs to be digitally literate. I strongly urge others to watch how media can be reconfigured, and remind advocates that gavel-to-gavel is great for archives but not so great for connecting with people for action. Editing is a ‘power’ tool that community media users need to get better acquainted with.

I have had and even edited, numerous conversations with individuals recently retired. Those comfortably retired love the flexibility this time of life affords. Most are looking for purposeful ways to contribute be it caring for grandchildren, stacking food donations or cleaning up the river. I have no need to look because purposeful and story-full opportunities find their way to me, daily.

I cannot tell or truly express what it is like to see someone realize they are award-winning or published, or exhibited or connected to their own story, or more importantly, survivors of their own story. Chunks of my personal journey story are shared on two blogs. ‘Glimpses Through Stained Glass‘ is under the pseudonym Adele Houston and the other is this WPAA-TV blog.

In one post I shared: I retired from a paycheck to what my dad considered my life’s job. I recall a conversation he started with his poke, “You’ve finally decided what you want to be when you grow up,” to which I replied, “Yes, a thorn.” Because I may have just a day or perhaps a few decades to be that thorn, I embrace my civic life fully.

PS: My little station won Best in the USA for its size in 2019.