Newsletter
781-777-1115 www.ACMI.tv 85 Park Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
Executive Director, Norman McLeod Outreach Coordinator, Walter Locke
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Volume 6, Number 2
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April-August 2012
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Summer Garden
Reading the Plants in ACMi's Award-winning Summer Garden
ACMi's landscaping now sports
labels so you know what's what.
In 2011 ACMi was awarded a blue ribbon by the Arlington Garden Club for its front yard plantings by Sally Naish of
Light & Shade Landscaping.
After receiving this welcome notoriety, we thought it only
fair to label our prized plants
so passersby could properly identify them.
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ACMi Public News
Sara Alfaro-Franco, ACMi News Director, will produce ACMi's new hyper-local news program. ACMi Executive Director Norman J. McLeod has announced that plans are underway to create a bi-weekly news program by the Arlington community access cable station, Arlington Community Media Inc. ACMi has recently named Sara Alfaro-Franco, former Government Access Coordinator for the station, as its News Director. Alfaro-Franco is currently recruiting Arlington citizen journalists as volunteers for the ACMi news team. Interested individuals may contact Sara@acmi.tv. (Read more.) ____________________________ |
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Winners' Circle
On June 22nd, ACMi held is second biennial Awards ceremony for work produced during the previous two years by ACMi members. See the list of Award nominees and winners. |
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ACMi Member
Authors 3rd Book
Begabati Lennihan, shown here receiving a 2012 ACMi Award for
her TV series, A Healer in Every Home, recently published her 3rd book on natural health.
The book, entitled Your Natural Medicine Cabinet, is a practical guide to drug-free remedies for
common ailments and is now available in Barnes & Noble stores, local book stores, and online. For the book, she's using her middle name, Burke, as her first name.
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Nicole's Review
- Second Season -
Producer-Host, Nicole Sammarco
Nicole Sammarco's interview
series, Nicole's Review, debuts its
second season at ACMi with guest
Gene Corbin of Harvard University.
Nicole's Review brings together
leaders from our community and
the wider world in conversation
about ideas and current events
that impact our lives.
The first episode of the second
season, entitled Public Service
Work Movement: Decision-making
and Leadership in the Public Sector, features Gene A. Corbin of Harvard University.
Corbin is Assistant Dean of Harvard
College for Public Service.
He provides coordination and strategic planning for the robust array of public service opportunities at Harvard College. He also serves on several community Boards and committees, including the Harvard Kennedy School of New England Alumni Association (of which he is the current President); the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter Corporation; and the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust.
Coming next from Nicole's Review an interview with State Senator Ken Donnelly about the recent storm relief for Arlington and a new bill to protect veterans and their families called the Valor Act.
(Read more about Nicole at the bottom of the column at right.)
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ACMI's Studio B
Soon its signage will be visible from the front doors of Arlington High. By mid September Arlington students will be piling into ACMI's satellite production center at 892 Mass Ave to learn video and TV production skills and create local programming for Arlington and the world.
Folks from the Senior Center
at Maple and Academy streets
will also find Studio B accessible for projects of interest to them.
We hope seniors will join us this fall for video production and computer graphics training, and
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N.E.J. Wins Big
NEJ Producer Adam Dusenberry holding his 2012 ACMi Award
Monthly regional news magazine program, New England Journal (NEJ), received both a 2012 Communicator Award of Distinction and a 2012 Telly Award earlier this year. Both are national awards with competitors from professional production houses and networks. Producer Adam Dusenberry is very proud of the NEJ team for all the hard work and effort they put into the program. His most recent award, for Best Director, was presented at the 2012 ACMi Awards in Arlington's Town Hall on June 22nd. New England Journal is produced at ACMi's Park Avenue studio in Arlington Heights. More info at: www.newenglandjournal.tv. |
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Peter Gordon Honored
Peter Gordon is congratulated by ACMi Exec. Director Norm McLeod on the installation of a plaque honoring Gordon's art. In April ACMi expressed its gratitude to Peter Gordon for the indefinite loan of many of his paintings and collages which grace the walls of our media production center at 85 Park Avenue in Arlington Heights. These canvases have brought an artful and thought provoking ambiance to the ACMi environment and his work was officially honored recently at ACMi by the placement and dedication of a plaque about the artist in the ACMi lobby area. Gordon, an Arlington artist, playwright, and videoist, has been making art for 70 years. He developed his craft at institutions such as Belmont Hill School, Swarthmore, Harvard, the de Cordova Museum, and the Boston MFA. He has been influenced by Georgia O'Keeffe, William Shakespeare, Jackson Pollock, and Rothko, spiced with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, & Mahler. Gordon chronicles his life journey this way, in his own words: "My development has been an often blind, uncharted pro-gression deliberately ignoring such manias as 'fame' and 'wealth management', a sort of happy and childish stumbling which nonetheless lead inexorably, like a divine comedy, to ACMi and the summation of a life." |
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My MassTV Update
ACMi believes it is vitally important to keep our members up-to-date on the community access media agenda and activities in our state. (more)
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NEW ACMI Hours of Operation
(September 1 - June 30)
10am - 8pm Mon-Thurs 10am - 6pm Friday Saturday by appointmentClosed on Sunday
Equipment Office Hours
(equipment pick-up/return)
M - F 10am-1pm
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May Flowers, August Showers
and Other Stories
Spring sprang, almost cold compared to winter, then mild, then wet. The summer solstice came
and went and we watched the fireworks in the
July sky. August is winding down with its humid air and warmth. Soon the schools will reopen and our summer schedule at ACMi will give way to our revised schedule for the ten months until next July. We invite you to visit us from 10am to 8pm Monday through Thursday and from 10am to 6pm on Fridays.
And while you are in the mood to visit us, come by our new Studio B at 892 Mass Ave. We'll show you our mini studio for students and seniors.
There's lots more to tell you, so read on.
-- The Staff at
ACMi TV
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SummerFun at ACMi
Pictured above (left to right), Studio Manager Jeff Munro, and
ACMi member Lucas Gradwohl, work with Ottoson students
Jared and Ben during the ACE-ACMi weeklong (July 23-27)
TV production workshop at ACMi.
For the third consecutive summer, a dozen middle-school youngsters appeared at ACMi's Park Avenue media production center to learn the science and art of making video and TV programs. (Read More.)
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What's Up (and On) at ACMi
Studio B
The new storefront Studio B has arrived. It is now open to ACMi members and will focus on teaching and production activities for students and seniors. Click here for a virtual tour.
ACMi Public Channel (Comcast 8, RCN 3, Verizon 31)
ACMi Spring Showcase 2012
On Saturday April, 7, at 7PM, ACMi aired its LIVE 2012 Spring Showcase on its Public channel (RCN 3, Comcast 8, and Verizon 31).The event showcased a variety of local talent and gave viewers a glimpse into what is possible as a producer-member of ACMi. (See announcement.)
Town Meeting 2012
ACMi provided LIVE coverage of Town Meeting since our last newsletter in early April. To review our coverage you may visit our Video-On-Demand (VOD page).
Nicole's Review - Second Season Underway
Nicole Sammarco's interview series is going strong and playing now is her interview with Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service, Gene Corbin. (See article on left column.)
Public Channel On Deck - Coming Soon:
Town Day 2012
It's just around the corner, Town Day 2012, heralding the early fall harvest time and the commencement of another season of learning in Arlington schools and homes. The organizations, agencies, and merchants of our town line our main thoroughfare with their booths and table of information about goods and services in a grand and festive open market atmosphere for a day of community sharing. ACMi will be there too, with its booth studio and membership forms, as well as it LIVE coverage of the day's events. Tune in Saturday morning at 10 AM on our Public Channel (RCN 3; Comcast 8; Verizon 31) to watch the Main Stage entertainment and the off-stage interviews.
ACMi Education Channel (Comcast 9, RCN 13, Verizon 24)
Ottoson News Network Has a New On-Site Studio
Special Report -- ACMi Youth Coordinator, working with Ottoson's Media Center Librarian Edith Moisand, has converted an empty room in the Media Center into a full-blown production studio, complete with green-screen special effects capabilities. As students return this fall, and as more students join ONN, they will be delighted by their new in-house production facility. Arlington viewers of the ACMi Education Channel will be interested to see ONN programs there as well (Read more.)
New Meaty and Brain-stretching Programming on ACMi
ACMi Education channel fare has been beefed up considerably recently by the addition to its playback schedule of programs like the Ted Talks, NASA Launchpad, MIT Open Courseware, and National Science Foundation programming. So tune in, parents. The Education Channel is not just for Kids.
Education Channel On Deck - Coming Soon:
AHS Sports
Dan Black and Lakis Koulouris are gearing up for a new fall season of student-produced AHS sports events. Several ACMi middle school and high school ACMi member producers are participating on production crews for this fall season. Tune in during the second week of September for AHS home football games and be sure to watch the Thanksgiving Day classic test
of gridiron will between Arlington's Spy Ponders and Arlington Catholic's Cougars.
ACMi Government Channel (Comcast 22, RCN 15, Verizon 26)
Town Meeting 2012
ACMi provided LIVE coverage of Town Meeting 2012 just after publishing our previous newsletter. We believe it was our best equipped and best presented Town Meeting coverage to date.
To review any of our coverage, you may visit our Video-On-Demand (VOD) archive here.
New Face' New Gov't. Access Coordinator at ACMi
With Sara Alfaro-Franco's move to News Director, her former position as ACMi Government Access Coordinator became open to a newcomer. The newcomer has come.
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Jess Barnthouse, ACMi Gov't Access Coordinator
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Her name is Jessica Barnthouse and she has a background in digital media production and in community cable access television.
A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Jessica is a 26-year-old journalist, community organizer, public media supporter, and documentarian who has a soft spot for stop-motion animation.
Prior to coming to ACMi, she worked as Membership Coordinator for Somerville Cable Access Television (SCAT).
Jess will now manage ACMi's coverage of Selectmen meetings and School Committee meetings, as well as other town government meetings including, of course, Town Meeting. When you see her in the corridors of Arlington town government, please welcome her as an fresh new town asset.
See our current programming schedule.
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2012 ACMi Awards
 Once again the red carpet, glittered, and lights beckoned the local volunteer member producers of Arlington Community Media to Arlington's stately Town Hall and its Robbins Memorial Auditorium for the second biennial ACMi Awards gala event. Guests mingled during the pre-program reception from 6 to 7 PM while a sextet from the Arlington High School Jazz Band provided upbeat music.  During the catered dinner that followed, a string quartet played Vivaldi, Pachelbel, and other classical selections. Kashi Elliott, a conservatory student and daughter of ACMi member producer Wu So Fai, brought together the other three musicians and joined them in presenting the evening's dinner music performance. The evening also featured two air-breathing sea creatures that roamed the auditorium high above the seated guests. 
There were good things to eat and drink, and there was a special guest speaker, John Donovan of the Alliance for Community Media. There were lots of well-deserved awards to honor the work during the past two years of ACMi member producers. (To see more photos of the event, go to www.ACMi.tv and view the Flickr Slideshow on the right-hand column.) 
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Irish Interns at ACMi
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Jeff Munro, Nick Campbell, Norman McLeod, and Ciaran Denver at the ACMi Awards. Campbell & Denver
display their ACMi Service Awards.
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ACMi completed in late June a 6-week internship with two young men from Northern Ireland who arrived under the auspices of The Irish Inter-national Immigrant Center (IIIC) and supervised by its Learning Exchange Programs Director,
Ann-Marie Byrne.
Nick Campbell and Ciaran Denver arrived at ACMI on May 23rd, following two days of orientation at IIIC. Their final assignment and send-off was their participation in ACMi's biggest event of the year -- the biennial awards ceremony held at Town Hall on June 22nd. Denver was ACMi's hand-held camera operator, while Campbell assisted as production troubleshooter. (Read More.) |
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ONN Gets New Studio at Ottoson
The growth and success over the years of student-produced programming at ACMi -- especially the longstanding and popular O.N.N. (Ottoson News Network) TV series - has led to the opening this year of a production studio at the Ottoson. ACMi Youth Coordinator, Daniel Black, in collaboration with Ottoson Media Librarian Edith Moisand, came up with a solution to the growing demand for studio space at the school and the desire to eliminate the commute to and from ACMi. Ottoson's new Principal, Timothy Ruggere, with his own background in media production, agreed to support the endeavor. As it turned out, this summer's renovation of the library yielded an underutilized room which Moisand and Ruggere agreed would serve well as a TV studio. Ottoson and ACMi staff, along with ACMi member volunteers, then went to work to clear, clean, and paint the entire space. Two of the walls were painted bright green as a background for special visual effects. The rest, including the ceiling, was painted black-box black, as are most professional studios. Town maintenance director John Flood, and town electricians Mike McCarthy and Jim Largenton, provided advice and solutions for the installation of electrical wiring and lighting. ACMi provided cameras, an audio mixer, a computer, editing software, and other production equipment. (more.) |
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Nicole's Review - Season 2 (continued)
 Nicole Sammarco, as her public service, is president of HAOSED (Haitian American Organization for Socio-Economic Develop-ment) a nonprofit organization based in Haiti and the US. Five years after appointment to the Board of the US-based HAOSED, Nicole was chosen by the new Haiti Secretary General Joel Beliziare to be his Deputy, becoming only the second woman ever to hold such a senior position in the world body. Nicole's appointment also ensured that Haiti will retain a voice at the apex of the organization following Henock Belizaire's retirement as presi-dent of HAOSED at the end of last year when Nicole assumed the helm as its new president. The new Chairman of the Board and Joel Belizaire, Haiti Secretary-General who appointed Nicole as the new president, both paid tribute to Nicole and her reputation for diligence and competence. * * * Nicole is Haitian born and moved to the US 28 years ago.
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Keeping the Free Press Free We cannot fulfill our obligation to our viewers without keeping them (you) up to date on conditions that may affect freedom of speech and the press--for that is what community media access is charged by its communities to do. In that spirit of keeping our viewers informed, we offer the following link to the alliance of community PEG media organizations like ours. Thank you for your interest in free and independent public information media. To learn more about what our national Alliance for Community Media is doing to help, visit here.
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Arlington Community Media Inc. was conceived and founded by Arlington citizens dedicated to ensuring fair and equal access to local community programming for all of Arlington's cable television viewers. ACMi undertakes this mission by providing the transmission facility, equipment, and training, for use by you, and others who live and work in Arlington, to make yourselves seen and heard town wide. You are why we're here.
We're always happy to welcome you at ACMi.
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