Dutchess County Community Television

The Revival of PANDA by Cynthia Owen Philip
I've got to be right up front about PANDA. To me it's the best thing since apple pie, living in Rhinecliff and tennis. The PANDA I'm so gung-ho about isn't the cuddly bear, although long ago some wry animal lover may have made the connection. Rather it's the acronym for Public Access Northern Dutchess Area television.

Channel 23's mission is to bring broadcasts of town and village public meetings and school events as well as talks offered by such organizations as the historical societies and libraries to residents of five municipalities — the towns of Rhinebeck and Red Hook and their three villages, including Tivoli. Equally important, it is a vehicle for residents to get their ideas and opinions before the public eye, either in the form of a self-generated program or in a public discussion set up by Panda. A full spectrum is welcome, be it hobbies or work, politics or religion, sports or dog care.

What makes me so enthusiastic about PANDA is that it enables the municipalities to understand each other without encroaching on their very different histories and characters. In practical terms, PANDA can give each a solid basis for working together on projects of mutual interest, from confronting the State Department of Transportation to merchandising local farm produce. Acting in concert, it seems to me, can only save time and taxpayer money. Besides, cooperating is a neighborly thing to do. As the saying goes: It takes two hands to clap. With four or eight or ten clapping together, there's no limit to what can be achieved.

PANDA, of course, is not a new invention. In fact, shortly after it began broadcasting in the early 1990s, it received accolades for its diverse programming. Many readers will remember that municipal meetings were augmented by such first-class entertainments as Patrick Higgins's witty interviews of local movers and shakers and Tom Daley's fascinating talks about Hudson River places, illustrated with his own and vintage photographs. Recently the programming fell off and PANDA suffered a slump. Happily, that phase is now over and done with.

Thanks to the unstinting efforts of a group of first-class television professionals who live in the community, PANDA is enjoying a renaissance that gains momentum every day. Here, for instance, is a sampling of the programs it broadcast just before AboutTown went to press: the village of Tivoli and the towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck board meetings; Rhinebeck High School football and volleyball matches; Tivoli Talks, Tom Daley's delightful historical review; and two documentaries — World's End: A Brief History of the Hudson River Highlands and the beautiful Hudson River: An American Paradise, featuring such local experts as Winty Aldrich, Barbara Bielenberg and John Cronin.

During the recent municipal election, members of the Red Hook High School's popular communications club filmed the debate of 12 Red Hook candidates for public office under the guidance of PANDA board members. Although the club of some 40 members produces Wake Up Call, a live news program, every morning school is in session (it takes up to 15 students to do it), this was the first time the students had worked with high-ranking professionals. Colin Mackey, a 10th grader who manned one of the three cameras, told me it seemed pure chaos at the beginning, but that once underway, he learned far more than he imagined possible. Alannah Gallagher, an 11th grader who also ran a camera and is planning a career in television, was excited to learn the quick ways the professionals solved the same sort of problems that confront students. Matt Bildzok was the switcher — the person who decides when to move the shooting from one camera to another. He, too, was thrilled by first-rate tutelage. For PANDA board member Mark Durand, ESPN's top developer of original entertainment, who ran the session, going back to his early days as a cameraman was a lot of fun; to him and to Robert Stone, an independent documentary producer who was also in on the session, the most satisfying thing they can do is pass their expertise on to young people. On the strength of PANDA's success with the Red Hook club, Jeff Romano, a seasoned creator of TV commercials and volunteer in virtually every aspect of PANDA's renaissance (including the packing and moving), is now working with the Rhinebeck school to expand its television capabilities. Oh how I wish I could be a high school student again!

Upcoming programming will be even more adventurous. Patrick Higgins is dreaming up a novel interview series, and Tom Daley expects to be back with new shows about other historic places in our area. John Vincent, who has been filming historical society and library talks for some time, has tapes galore that could form the basis of a fine set of programs. Long time Rhinebeck resident Sam Hall, a renowned writer of soap opera scripts (readers who go back as far as I do will remember Dark Shadows, one of his triumphs) has emerged from retirement to create a Rhinebeck soapie that, as I write, is being produced for PANDA using local sites and local actors. And who knows what that splendid raconteur Richard Biezynski, proprietor of Northwinds all-natural poultry farm, will come up with. I personally hope it will be a farm program that traces the path of local agricultural products as they make their way from good rich earth to our dinner plates.

Originally working out of the Rhinebeck Performing Arts Center, then stashed awkwardly behind curtains at the Rhinebeck Town Hall stage, PANDA at last has new quarters. Its studio occupies a red barn on Montgomery Street in Tivoli across from the Santa Fe restaurant's parking lot. (The barn was once part of the stable complex of the erstwhile hotel on the corner and was probably used to house the feathered contenders in Tivoli's famous cockfights.)

Fascinated by how the operation works, I've returned to the studio several times. On the surface it is so simple it's hard to imagine how much wings forth from it. Most of the transmitting mechanism resides in a closet. Stacked in a tall rack on shelves no more than 20 inches wide and 12 inches deep, it doesn't begin to fill the closet. Small, seemingly random blinking lights flitter over the surfaces of the boxes indicating that material is being brought in and sent out. Along with a few looping wires, that's all there is to it. As an uninitiated paper-and- pencil type, I find the process totally mesmerizing.

All the preparatory work is done in the big studio. Eventually the room will be set up to accommodate live broadcasting as well as taping. Right now, there is one monitor, one television set and two to four computers, depending on how many volunteers are working on special projects. A long, rectangular worktable and a sprinkling of comfortable and not so comfy chairs complete the furnishings. Seems peaceful, but to Bill Nieves and Kate Braun, who run the programs, it is whirring with action. They look forward to the day, fortunately soon to come, when most of the transmission process will be automated, freeing them up to tackle a long list of improvements designed to make the station better and better.

Another promising attribute of the barn is that it is set back from the road — in bygone days a parking lot for carriages and wagons, I suppose. The current plan is to use that space for a public forum where walkers-by can put on camera whatever thoughts interest them at the moment. In the cold weather it could come indoors. I've aready heard fleeting remarks about staging a discussion group there called "The Long Table." Voilà, still more participatory programs!

Right now, a number of steady viewers told me, PANDA has two faults. Fortunately both are temporary. One is that the schedule of programs, which scrolls down intermittently, is hard to read. The second is that PANDA reaches only homes and businesses with Time-Warner cable access. Those with satellite dishes or beyond the reach of the cable are out of luck. Both these problems should be solved soon, perhaps by the time you're reading this. Isabelle Burkhart who is designing PANDA's new website, tells me it should be up and running by Thanksgiving. There on any computer screen, the schedule will be presented in a clear, easily readable way, and those who do not have TimeWarner cable will have access to PANDA programs directly.

Indeed, that is only the beginning of what the website will offer. It will also present a current calendar of community events, created by Chris Garza. The calendar will be constantly updated as news of coming events are sent in and as , wonder of wonders, events that have taken place are removed. In addition, the website will offer e-mail notification of when favorites are coming up, archives of past programs, and links to the municipalities' websites and to the websites of local organizations and institutions. Meanwhile, if you can't visit the PANDA studio, here's how you can contact it: by phone at (845) 757-2632, by e-mail with stationmgr@Panda23.org, and (soon, if not immediately) on the web at PANDA23.org.

Kathy Hammer, who heads up the group, told me that their bedrock mission is to upgrade PANDA continuously as a means of communication among citizens of the five municipalities. The role of the media professionals, who are our neighbors, is to help anyone with the nitty-gritty work of filming and putting a program together — whether on sports, politics, religion, the arts, local history, birding or insect lore.

PANDA is a non-govermental organization. The municipalities originally funded PANDA's launching and from what leaders have told me will continue to do so with enthusiasm. But the municipalities cannot go the whole way. Contributions from the public in the form of volunteer work and money will be needed. Do whatever you can do when the call goes out. But whatever you do, stay tuned in to PANDA TV23. You'll be informed, entertained and amazed.