5646-R4_ML&P_TownOfBuxton_2016-2017_AnnualReport_Web

Saco River Community Television Annual Report - Town of Buxton

For nearly 20 years, Saco River Community Television has provided Buxton residents with a variety of media services. These services include cable broadcasting of three distinct local “peg” (public, education and government) channels. We also provide video production instruction including editing, camera and audio basics training along with a wide array of free equipment rentals as well. All your local channels are uniquely dedicated to the local public interest. Saco River Community Television has six-member towns and Buxton utilizes the public access channel more frequently than any other town in our consortium. The public access channel has been utilized for event promotion purposes by nearly all of Buxton’s churches and libraries as well as the Saco River Theatre, Leavitt’s Mill Health Center and the Buxton – Hollis Historical Society among others. 2017 will go down as one of SRC-TV’s most memorable years ever. We were proud and excited to help the Dorcas Society, a local charity organization, promote, record and edit what may turn out to be a once in a lifetime concert by the Ghost of Paul Revere, a “holla” folk band that has risen to national prominence with a recent appearance on late night’s Conan O’Brien show. The concert at Bev and Sandy Atkinson’s home attracted over three hundred people to the grounds of the Royal Brewster Mansion and thousands of dollars were raised for local charities as well as a Bonny Eagle Scholarship. We are always pleased to train Buxton’s citizens in video production. We currently have a volunteer from the West Buxton Library that has agreed to help us provide technical assistance to a York County Sheriff’s Conference taking place in March. One of the featured speakers will be Maine’s governor Paul LePage and his presentation will be broadcast on the towns’ public access channel in April of 2018. We have taken the first steps to provide live streaming to sites outside of the usual town hall environs and expect to have more inquiries about this service as the word gets out among the public. Our first foray into livestreaming was a legislative forum with Don Marean – a successful event livestreamed from the Salmon Falls Library. Currently, Buxton’s Selectman meetings are streamed from town hall every second and fourth month and we will be looking into how we might expand this service. Currently, viewers without cable can access meetings after they’ve taken place by visiting src-tv.org and clicking on “programs”. Buxton has nearly 400 town meetings archived on our site as of this writing. Despite the changes that have taken place throughout the years, Buxton has retained its rural character and we are pleased to help the town reach as many of its citizens as possible – on cable and online. We are always open to your ideas and believe very strongly in our mission. Our goal is to empower people at the grass roots by keeping them informed of town policies and allowing them to have a say in local debates. From the beginning, we have encouraged the citizenry to utilize our communication center to share information, promote worthy causes and discuss community-focused ideas. SRC-TV’s mission reflects a desire to promote democracy in Buxton and as always, we are pleased to offer an open-door media access policy regardless of one’s political, social or religious affiliations. Respectfully submitted,

Patrick A. Bonsant Station Director, Saco River Community Television

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