Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

I want to introduce myself because I have been anonymous as a public person for decades and most of my days are currently the embodiment of Freeman P Quinn, 1st – Free Speech Ambassador and outreach personae for WPAA-TV.

These past few days I have been pre-occupied with winning. I really hope that WPAA-TV wins the Alliance for Community Media Overall Excellence in New England as a community TV station for 2016. The winners will be announced in the next few weeks. Then today I realized in response to a Les Brown video (It is not over until you win!), that same win in 2013 and 2014 was not a win IN WALLINGFORD.

Some of you may be at the SCOW wine-tasting tonight! Thank you for supporting this rich asset in our community. But did you know since 2013 WPAA-TV has collaborated with SCOW on a literacy initiative and in 2016 produced a DACA story?  If you do not know, WPAA-TV is not winning. Wallingford is not winning.

What I hear often from people who come to know of WPAA-TV by happenstance is: I wish this was here when I was growing up. It could have been. It had one of the most robust starts of any community in the nation. Then came 1993.

When I was new to Wallingford and asked to get involved (1995) there was literally “fear” of success. What would happen if the people tried to use the station? We are not equipped. Today we are more equipped than most but a long history of not fulfilling the potential in an environment still clouded by ‘Fear’ is challenging.

This summer I was gifted a healthy 2 ft tall Abe Lincoln tomato plant. It grew six feet tall. However, I did not put it in a pot big enough for the roots to reach out and sustain it. I failed to grow tomatoes. I do not intend to fail to grow a vibrant ‘all it can be’ TV station. That means I need you to get to know me (and the incarnation Freeman P Quinn).