 I'm tempted to do stand-up comedy when I'm out of mic. You're stuck with me, sorry. Welcome, everyone. It's such an honor to have you all here and sharing this night with us, where we are paying tribute to not only what we've done this year, but also to the League of Women Voters in Amherst. So welcome to Amherst Media. So this is partly a welcome, but it's also our year report, and we'll also have partly on video. So if you could just bear with me, I'll get through it. Thank you all for gathering with us today. It means so much to have each of you supporting Amherst Media and the League of Women Voters. As you will see as of late and as we've experienced when you see the video, we've had quite a bit going on in terms of production. But Amherst Media is a place where you can have transparency, be assured of community, and where truth is not the first casualty of politics and journalism. So we have a deeply rooted institution here in the community, like the League of Women Voters, and we feel that like the League of Women Voters, we provide a sense of civility and meaning, even when it's difficult sometimes to get there. So thank you for returning to your partnership, the League, with us to provide the results for the nighttime election results. We're really looking forward to resuming that and resuming that partnership. Personally, I know I missed it, and I know folks have commented that they have also missed having the League give the results, so we'll resume that, and I'm really pleased that that's going to happen. Amherst and perhaps we can say the country in general is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities with big changes on the horizon, and at a time like this it is increasingly important that we make sure that all people have a voice in the decision shaping our community and the nation. Local news and community media are struggling in western Mass and around the country, and Amherst Media, like the League, are important cornerstones in the region for civic engagement, information, and that transparency. Amherst Media, despite some very challenging obstacles this year, has made great strides in terms of building our new facility. We have worked really hard to recruit a diverse board of directors that we're really proud of that reflects the rich cultural and ethnic makeup of our town, and our board has worked extremely hard to launch a campaign to not only raise funds for a new building, but raise the profile of Amherst Media in the community. Since November last year, the board has thoughtfully designed and created a fundraising campaign which includes new branding, development, and outreach materials. Created with our capital campaign committee, these materials are available in print and hopefully you saw some as you entered and includes valuable information about how many shows we produce each year, how we're funded, and why we need your support to continue informing the public in producing independent news and content. We also successfully planned a fundraising event with the Women's Club of Amherst, many of you attended it, partnering with our future neighbor on Main Street. More of these events are planned in the very near future, so stay tuned. For 11 years, our Executive Director Jim Lesko has led Amherst Media through some very tough times. Right now, our new staff members, Jeff Mastrioni and Faith Gregory, are helping to upgrade the station, updating the equipment, and preparing us for the future. Our members, volunteers, and extremely competent and dedicated staff and interns have provided the needed support through the year to produce live and taped shows which are broadcast, of course, in our three channels. But they're shared throughout the world and watched online. For 42 years, we have fostered civic engagement in the community, taping just under 180 government meetings, surpassing, as in previous years, our contractual obligation for the town. Prior to the hire of Jeff and Faith, Nick Ring, Joa Moore, and Jody Jenkins helped to keep things working at the station, training over 36 interns and community members. Every year, we seem to surpass the next in terms of those we serve, content production, and outreach in the community. Hopefully, you have noticed some of the positive changes our staff have helped to introduce, such as the clear broadcast signal and improved picture quality. In addition, Jody Jenkins has expanded the online zine, the collective. If you haven't seen it, please go online and take a look at it. It's really a high quality magazine, very informative. And with the help of interns and community contributors, it's fast becoming a go-to source for news and cultural content here in the Valley. In addition, commissioned by community and Amherst media member Dr. Elsie Federman, we will soon have a showing of a documentary about her hometown place of worship, Temple Beth Israel and Danielson, Connecticut. The documentary edited by Jim Lesko tells the powerful stories of the founding families, many of which who were Holocaust survivors. There have also been significant changes in our programming this past year with the loss of longtime producer to Amherst media, Bruce Smith, with his signature program, The Bruce Show, and his dedicated taping of high school basketball. We will miss his unique commentary and music that made him and his show indicative of the deeply personal and sometimes quirky programming of local public access. So again, welcome. I think we're going to have a video now to highlight of the year and enjoy your evening. Thank you. This past year we have witnessed the vocal rise and the condemnation of news as being fake and biased across the nation. The objective is clear, to destroy the credibility of all forms of media by portraying them as the enemy of the people. Here in Amherst, Massachusetts and in many other communities across the country, diligent and mindful work continues on a daily basis, providing not only transparency of local government, but also ensuring all citizens and organizations the access and opportunity to exercise their freedom of speech. Throughout the historic decision to change Amherst town charter, Amherst media recorded and broadcasted forums and debates held by the Amherst League of Women Voters and the Democratic Committee, as well as hosting our own. All interested parties were allowed to record their viewpoints for broadcast. To assist the area municipalities, the Massachusetts Secretary of State came to Amherst to provide workshops and trainings for the upcoming elections. This effort to inform continued with the broadcasting of forums, debates and statements of the candidates for Third Hampshire District State Representative. Amherst media recorded and broadcasted debates held by the Food Bank, the Amherst Educational Foundation and the Amherst League of Women Voters. Candidates for the New Town Council were invited in to record statements as well as Town Council candidate forums were broadcast around the clock on Channel 17. But local politics weren't the only voices being recorded by Amherst media. Mount Holyoke College provided the venue for former Secretary of State John Kerry to speak about his recent book and for Senator Nancy Pelosi to preside over commencement ceremonies. While Mount Holyoke had San Juan Mayor Carmen Cruz report on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Hampshire College Art Gallery hosted the Museum of the Old Colony. Amherst media featured a short promotional video and a full studio interview with the exhibits curator Pablo Delano. The Fourth International Conference of Cast and Race was recorded at UMass and in turn Sharon Chen interviewed international students to gain insight on what adjustments people made to integrate their lives into American society. Joe Ronca, host and producer of Creating a Human Rights Culture, interviewed Dr. Rhonda Smith about racism, policy and micro intrusions. Additionally, Joe talked to Amherst Middle School students who worked on the Human Rights Mosaic project. The humanities are often described as the study of how people progress and document the human experience. Greg Guantanabe was kind enough to be interviewed in our studio after his dramatic theater performance in Jean Sakata's One Man's Show Hold These Truths about Japanese internment during World War II. Poetry continues to inspire and move people to feel and imagine which is what Michi Serrano did with her piece The In-Between Race. Poet Magdalena Gomez combined forces with musician Diana Alvarez and actor-writer Janice Astor de Valle to produce Latinas on stage at Springfield's Bing Theater. WMMJN interviewed Christy Soares and two of her students from the Latinx Theater project at UMass. Our studio is the scene of a widely diverse representation of music. Live at the Grid, spearheaded by our own Jody Jenkins, is giving local bands the opportunity to record their music and share it with the wider community. The styles and genres are diverse and the music is passionate and inspiring. In conjunction with Live at the Grid, we took our interns on the road to record bands at the local North Fire recording studio. One intern took a different approach to production. Nathaniel Gavour, Amherst-raised and former Video Vanguard member filmed his stand-up comedy to try and make sense of the world around him, titling his series Did You Hear the One About? We received a trophy. It was participation trophy for bowling. We are very proud of our ongoing series such as Theological Devotional and Hourglass Trails as well as Going Deeper. These shows inspire deep thought and introduce our audiences to talented and accomplished individuals. History Bites is bringing their lunchtime participants many lecturers of local lore. A window into ARPS continues to introduce the viewers to the people in public schools to educate the children of Amherst. The ever-popular Curious Giraffe show continues to engage our youthful viewers with music and fun, including environmental issues. For the slightly older audience, Science Cafe continues their series exploring topics such as why soils are super. Critical Connections, in conjunction with Karuna, introduce Shaheen Pasha and Gina Bevers, discussing what the Me Too movement represents for women of color. Critical Connections also introduced Combatants for Peace, an Israeli-Palestinian NGO committed to nonviolent action. In an episode of Difficult Dialogues, Dr. Amal Kar Shabao spoke with Zayed Abbas Samrush, the program manager for cross-cultural programs with the Middle East Children's Alliance about bringing clean water to the children in Palestine. Our cameras and reporters were also covering local news like Montee's March for the Food Bank of Western Mass, the Net Neutrality Office, and the First Congregational Church of Amherst Software to provide Sanctuary for Lutio Perez. And don't forget the remarkable interview of Teriyaki restaurant owner, Yuche Hyuk, who spoke about the Korean community within Amherst. Amherst Media was there to capture the Women's Club of Amherst's celebration of their 150th anniversary, as well as finish a promotional for the organization A Better Chance and their 50th anniversary. Congratulations go out to both of these stalwart community accomplishments. Hands across the hills attempted to bridge political differences between residents from Kentucky and Leverett Mass as they tried to understand each other's reasoning on who they supported during the 2016 presidential elections. One new series included the co-producing of the Valley Advocate Podcast where editors interviewed people and discussed issues in the news across the valley demonstrating potential for cross-collaborations across regional news providers. The attacks on the freedom of the press amendment will continue and escalate. Amherst Media has worked tirelessly for 42 years to safeguard these rights, but we need your help. Right now, we need financial and political support from you, our residents and local organizations, so that we can continue to exist and to build to promote government transparency and ultimately to make sure our public has access to community, educational and governmental programming and information. Become a donor and a member today to ensure Amherst Media can continue to provide its vital services to the greater Amherst area. Hi, I'm Jim Lesko for those that don't know, I'm the executive director. Very proud of this year in review as every year when we're able to show you some of the work that we've been up to. And of course, I'm just the one that's the executive director, it's really the interns, the staff and our members, our community members that produce this amount of work. And you look at this and I measure this against a lot of small investigations, quite honestly, of covering local events, covering the kind of speakers that come through this area. We would like to do more. We're stretched out as far as we can, but we like to do more. I want to give a special thanks to Faith, Gregory, who's in the control booth. She put together what was, she told me it would take her four hours to edit. It was a little bit longer, Faith, but it was well worth it. Thank you. And also did the voice over for us. So I'm not going to say a lot tonight. I just think it's important at this point in time to talk about the freedom of speech. A few years ago, the board of directors here, very different from those that are on it now, said to me, I really don't think you need to be out there talking about the freedom of speech first amendment. We've got to talk more about what we can do for the economic development and that. And I said, well, what do you think everything's based on? What do you think is really what we're really about here? And I think over the years, I'm very proud for the 11 years to say that we haven't wavered from that at all. That the voices that you get to hear in Amherst and elsewhere are in many times people that would not have been heard given any other opportunity. There is no other opportunity. So with that, I looked up the first amendment and I think that, you know, I was surprised of how much is actually in it. So if you indulge me for one brief minute or two, first amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting in individuals' religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully and to petition their government. Extremely important amendment that I feel we all know is under attack. And I think it's more important than ever that we and others like this organization continue to be here for the communities that we serve. So with that, I really encourage you as our friends and as our supporters to reach out to your friends and supporters and people you know in the community and tell them that we need their help now. It's not we're not always going to be here unless we get the community to fight for us to be here and to help us. We have to move. This isn't a choice. We have to move. I got a call from Eversource this morning saying, do you realize that you've had the fourth amendment to your extension of your lease? So, I mean, I could get emotional, but I won't. I'm always emotional. I just hide it well. I would like to thank and say a few words before I sit down to our friends at the League of Women Voters who will be receiving the Gene award. Gene, I only knew for a short while, but she was on the committee that oversaw the hiring that I was reviewed and was given and we joked afterwards I said, well, you know, my mother's maiden name was Hagerty. She says, well, I knew we were related. So, and that was it was very nice. She welcomed me to the community very early and very readily. But in all honesty, Alice Swift who's here joined us tonight and Jane Laus were already here long before I arrived and we were videotaping, taking equipment out and covering League of Women Voters events and I got to say that's the true heroes of what Access Television has always been about. Citizens are saying, well, if you can't do it, we'll do it and we want to do it because we believe in it. So, Alice, I credit you and Jane for Mary Jane for all the work that you did, even when we kept going, well, we have new equipment and you know, I just learned this last one. You know, it was a difficult decision time and when you stepped aside and we agreed to do as much as we could, I'm so glad we were able to continue our work with the League and continue right up until next Tuesday where we are going to be doing a really good show out of the studio and I'm very excited and I'm very excited that the Hagerty, Jean Hagerty award is this year recognizing the Amherst League of Women Voters and I like to turn the microphone over to Vera, the Vice President at this moment. Thank you. Created in honor of our beloved Amherst Media Producer and Board Member Jean Hagerty, the award recognizes individuals and organizations that believe in and demonstrate the importance of community engagement to obtain social change. This award is in honor of Jean's lifetime dedication to community betterment and advocacy towards free speech for those without a voice. This year, Amherst Media has selected the Amherst League of Women Voters to receive the Jean Hagerty Award for Community Service. We feel that recognition for the important and meaningful work conducted by the League to better educate the electorate and foster civic engagement at all levels of government is long past due. For 80 years, the League has served the community of Amherst. It continues to provide a voice for citizens and be a force for change, actively pursuing their long-time mission in the community. The League of Women Voters is the ninth recipient of the award and joins previous honorees including in 2010 Isaac Ben Ezra, 2011 Cynthia Brubaker, 2012 Our Treasure Ed Severance, 2013 Founders of Student News Joshua Wilson, Jesse Jason Tabor, Charles Brewer and Graham Churchill. In 2014 we honored the late Judy Brooks, 2015 Jerry Gates in 2016 Representative Ellen Story, 2017 the Rotary Club. Please welcome Adrian Terizzi to accept the 2018 Jean Haggerty Award on behalf of the League of Women Voters and Adrian will be making some remarks. This is really a very a personal emotional moment for me because all the names that you heard mentioned receiving the Jean Haggerty Award are people that I know, respect and have worked with so I'm going to go away from my particularly planned and scripted notes just to say to all those wonderful people who came before the Amherst media board selected the League we're in a great company. I knew them all in fact I served on the board during that period of time when we very carefully looked at all the talent across Amherst all the community groups and organizations that could really have been any one of your choices so thank you for selecting the League of Women Voters I am very pleased I'm privileged as a matter of fact to stand here tonight as just one member of the League of Women Voters and accept the Jean Haggerty Award on behalf of the League and I want to thank those League members who were here tonight to accept the award as well so thank you I'm going to go to my formal remark I've got to go back to my script so thank you so much Vera that was lovely and I thank everyone for being here and you know it really is quite an honor for the League to accept the Jean Haggerty Award and I do so on behalf of wonderful people who came before me I stand here tonight representing decades of women and men but I knew Jean Haggerty I worked with and admired her she came to town as a senior citizen about the same time you did Jim Leska and Jean epitomizes the fact that community service is really what we really should be about in our private time in the free time that we have to give a sight of family and the necessities of life and Jean really tutored me well I'm going to step aside for a moment to say Jim I met you when you first came to town you may not have remembered but I came in to introduce myself and to welcome you to the community and I'm grateful that you have served the town of Amherst as well as Amherst media as well as you have been tireless in building Amherst media local access television is the truth in providing all of us within the community our knowledge of what is going on inside uncensored transparent and freely available so for that my hats off to you Jim and to the Amherst media board I mentioned that Jean arrived as a senior citizen in the town as I am now she didn't stop she got very involved and I loved meeting her in her apartment as she tutored me and talked about what was important to her and in accepting the award tonight I want to say that the League of Women Voters of Amherst is paying tribute to her memory as well as to the memory of the Amherst women who in 1939 19 years after the 19th amendment allowing women the right to vote after decades of women in Europe and the United States fought for our rights well this group of women in Amherst gathered together in the living room and organized what is known as one of the earliest chapters of the League in the state so we really stand on those women those of us who are here tonight and I want to thank you for joining us the committee members and the select board people who are here so we organized as one of the earliest chapters of the League and next year as I think you mentioned we're going to be celebrating our continuous year of service I only stand here representing those on the current steering committee on the shoulders of those who served so well before us we've learned from them we organized around their principles and we serve to this day to their mission and to their principles I have to add that the League of Women Voters is particularly honored to be acknowledged by you by Amherst media you are our community partners in civic engagement and civic information and you have been for your 42 years we're older than you are ever since you came on board 42 years ago you've never turned down any request to show our programs or candidates nights I've approached you on many occasions Jim and no matter what the schedule was heavily scheduled whether it was for an international women's night or an affordable housing program or many many candidates night you never turned me down so I appreciate that and accept that on behalf of the League tonight and you've been televising these shows for all 42 years I hope you continue well into the future the League depends upon access local access television as is our very own Amherst media all the more important for accepting this award tonight is the fact that is indeed awarded by Amherst media and your board and I thank you board for allowing us to be the recipients this year it is the first award that the Amherst legal women have ever received I checked the archives I checked the archives I communicated with many of our 50 plus year members and it was very sounding to me but not not in the fact that we weren't awarded we do our work very quietly as you do as Amherst media it just underscores the reason why it is so meaningful to us to receive it from you our community partners as I mentioned in civic education and information so this award is the first for us tonight we're thrilled to accept it and I am on behalf of the steering committee and so tonight we celebrate this honor but tomorrow we get right back to work because you know and we know that we're going to go live for election night coverage we haven't done that in a while and so we're going to be doing another collaborative effort Amherst media the League of Women Voters so next Tuesday night November 6 all tune in and I don't want to end tonight by thanking you I'm appreciating my people who are here the steering committee members and those of you in the audience for attending but we want to do this we want to go one step further we want to wish Amherst media again our community partners we've collaborated for all your 42 years in wishing you the best for a very successful capital campaign you are set to build a very important visionary 21st century facility that will continue to be a force for community building for information sharing and for social justice on which you have always stood and I applaud your efforts and I appreciate your acknowledging the League tonight with your very important Gene Hegerty award we are grateful thank you so very much I am Steve Brewer I'm a past president of the board of Amherst media and tonight I'm here as a representative of Makers at Amherst media the Makers based community group that we've run for several years here at Amherst media and it's my pleasure to recognize Christine Olson as our volunteer of the year at Amherst media so we set up Makers at Amherst media end of 2013 beginning of 2014 and the first email I have from Christine was in February of 2014 that she came to one of the very first meetings that we've set up and wanted to get involved as a doctoral student in communications at UMass Amherst she was interested in studying the Makers based phenomenon and saw a new Makers based being set up as an opportunity for her to get involved in due data collection but also it was something that she could get involved with and participate in as a volunteer and she did basically three years there wasn't anything that Makers at Amherst media did where Christine wasn't right there at the front helping make it happen she was organizing the materials she was showing up as the face of Makers at Amherst media at outreach events at Barnes & Noble at the schools she organized a relationship with the Vila program at Amherst college she set up an after school program for Makers at Amherst media she was coming in for the drop-in sessions from school face to face and it was just a wonderful thing to have her engaged in the program and like I say for three years she has been the face of Makers at Amherst media for the past few months Christine has transitioned from collecting data to doing that analysis of her data for her dissertation and she gave a preview to a bunch of us to see what it looks like the Makers Steering Group and it was fascinating for me to see all of the events that I'm familiar with but run through this different analytical framework this different lens that she's using professionally as a communications doctoral candidate to understand the way that our community works and how the members interact with one another and what kinds of resources were well used and which ones we might have thought of using more and so I really look forward to when her project is finished and we've already seen I think the most important results already it was enlightening for me and so we wanted very much to recognize her efforts and we're glad to recognize her as volunteer of the year but of course now Christine has a new maker project that she's working on and we look forward to finding out more about that in February I understand and so it'll be great to see in just a few months so thank you very much Christine come up we've got a a certificate we'd like to award you with I just wanted to really briefly say thank you we heard in the opening remarks that you can be assured of community here and that's really been my experience working with Amherst media working with everybody as part of this Makerspace initiative has been the defining aspect of my graduate career here in Amherst and so I really appreciate all of the mentorship the advice often the emotional support that I got here and so I really appreciate the award and everything that you've done for me so thank you all Hello everyone I'm Ed Severance on pleasure here at Amherst media I believe this is my 11th I think I came in a month after Jim came in and this is my 11th annual meeting as a treasure I get to do a really boring housekeeping part so I'll hang in there I'd like to begin by thanking our long standing bookkeeper here at Amherst media Julie Shively who gives us monthly updates on revenue and how it affects our budget her long-term employment here at Amherst media allows her to give us insight on previous fundraising efforts and other areas of the budget she's an invaluable member of our financial team and we'd like to thank her she could not be here tonight but thank her I'm happy to say the financial stability of Amherst media remains strong at the end of the past fiscal year which just ended on June 30th of this year we had a total of $82,008 in checking and savings accounts total current assets of $480,331 and total liabilities of $179,072 for a total net equity of $301,259 we also currently have a balance in our capital equipment account for $143,926 and a fiscal year 2018 unfortunately we had a deficit of $7,813 this was primarily as a result of higher rent, higher utility burden from ever source property taxes we were paying until we break ground on the new property and interest on the loan we still hold on the property bright spots over the past fiscal year Comcast revenues remain steady with approximate 1% increase over last year's fiscal year combined with other revenue sources that gave us an operating budget of $355,360 for the 2018 fiscal year our new fundraising efforts that brought in $8,060 in new revenue and were able to raise $17,502 in production services classes and workshops so we continue our fundraising with the goal of having the loan paid up by spring so we can break ground for our new home next year thank you very much I have props I'm sorry I don't have a puppet though if I had a puppet it would be far more interesting pumpkins there we go closest that we're going to get to a puppet I'm Patrice Wilson or Trees some of you know me as Trees this past year I've been on the board of directors and by default I was ganged up on and voted chairman of Capital Campaign you're welcome you're welcome that's it, that's it I know I should, I was supposed to be in the restroom that day and they all looked at me like oh yeah by the way so hey I've been learning and growing and developing a lot looking at a lot of podcasts talking to a lot of people who do a lot with fundraising and things like that and it's just my enthusiasm that I bring and I try to take that enthusiasm and push it all out to you and everybody else I meet and pull you in and hopefully tonight we can work on that with some of you so tonight I just wanted to A return and report very quickly about some of the things that we've done recently just in the past 10 months and then in the next month in November and December a couple of the smaller fundraising things that we have going on and one of my key things that I said is that I bring I bring the fun and fundraising that's my goal because I want you to enjoy the process and to have fun while we do it because together as a community we're responsible for building and creating a future for the next generation and that includes this beautiful new media building in which community can come together, share our stories inspire one another to teach the next generation about freedom of speech the importance of voting the importance of being active in your community no matter what side of the party lines that you're on and that's really what I try to push out to folks is that this isn't just about Amherst media having a new home this is about something really important for the community so I want you to think about that just as I share with you just a couple of things that we have done that we worked really hard on this past year we've worked really hard and labored very intensively and coming up on a fundraising folder one that can be organized and show what it is that Amherst media is about show the history show what we desire to do in the future what we're doing right now and why it is that we need a new building this is a beautiful folder and I really appreciate the work of Matt and Rick who did so much with graphics and they were ready to run out of the building and they did tie them to their seats thanks for letting me tie up Rick I really appreciate that Matt got out the back door you know it was one of those times that Jim turned off the alarm and Matt got out the back door but we appreciate all that he did in helping to bring this beautiful folder this is something that we'll be taking whenever we go to talk to banks whenever we are approaching donors and we do need some heavy hitters we would love to be able to have the opportunity to sit down with folks who have some pocket change of $120,000 $250,000 because you know there's some people with that kind of change those are the people that we want to share their legacy and actually have them donate the funds whether it's an organization a business or an individual somebody who would like to leave a legacy in their will to Amherst media so that a room or the studio could be named after them even the building that would be a beautiful legacy to leave your children and the community to have your name on that I think that would be really, really wonderful the other thing is as you can talk to Rick tonight we're also doing the buy a brick campaign which is so fun Rick tell me if we sold all of those bricks to individuals, to families and businesses how much money would we get just from that see that's not chump change $50,000 that's really decent that would be just a little smidge in that kitchen that I really want to get because you see I really love to put these events together and a break room a break room so that's something that we, that's a major goal and that would be really wonderful to walk into the foyer of that new building and see the wall with the different colored bricks with different sizes with folks' names with businesses the Amherst League of Women's Voters people like that just all different organizations we want to show that you are a part of our community so that your name's on that wall when the newer younger generation steps forward to take our place that they can see your name and be viewed on that wall so this was something we worked really hard on we're really proud of there is some, there are a couple in the foyer you can take a look at, please, please do so we'd love to have you do that in this in this basket that I have here, I have some cards we would love to have your thoughts and your ideas on fundraising no matter how great or how small if you would like to join our capital campaign committee we would love to have you a part of it you don't have to be a part of the actual Amherst community because this is a community center we'd love to have all people from different clubs and organizations step forward whether it's event planning whether it's you have a talent and a love for grant writing we're in the middle of really pushing and putting together a big grant proposal and things like that we have the makerspace and other ideas of how we could formulate of having organizations come in here and pay to have them run workshops and things like that there's all kinds of ideas that are under that heading of capital campaign so if you are thinking of something tonight while you're here, while you're snacking on some of those delicious goodies in there take some time to write down your idea and your contact information and put it in the green basket which I'll put in the fourier again we are grateful for your support and I appreciate the words that were spoken earlier they were inspiring because all of the volunteers that come here but those of you who have been honored this evening, this is why we're here and I'll probably get a little emotional but I'm a little selfish when I think about why I work at Amherst media so hard my husband's family came to Amherst in 1800 we live on the last 50 acres of his family's 200 acre farm my grandson is the ninth generation to be born on that property and I hope and pray that he grows up in this beautiful area in this beautiful town and I want him to be the recipient of this new building I want him and the generations of young children that will grow up in this area to be able to come to this beautiful community center and to be enriched by the stories that we are capturing and the new stories that will come about I want him to know who else he is and her organization in Connecticut and that wonder those beautiful stories that Jim's been working so hard on putting together in this documentary it's so important to have this community center and so when I think of it and when I work so hard on this and I do want to have fun doing it I think of my grandson Declan and I think of those other little children his age who are going to be coming up and they will be able to come and be like these young men and young women who I was also like who came here as interns so I want to do this for future generations because this is an important community and this is an important organization and we want this to be here not for 42 years in the future but for 142 years in the future so we appreciate your support and we need it and thank you so much for being here Thank you Patrice I think we knew that your heart would always be in it and your creativity and that's why you're our capital campaign chairperson so thank you now I get to introduce my board members and again we have a diverse board on all levels but what's really wonderful about it we have a dedicated and really hard working board they're working for you members and they're working for the community so you've already heard from me I'm Demetrius Shabazz I'm the president of the board and very honored to serve in this position Ed is our treasurer Vera is our vice president you've already heard from Patrice Wilson she's our chair of the capital campaign Anastasia Ardennes she is our school committee representative we have appointed positions on our board and Anastasia is serving in that capacity Rick Hood is our long time member on the board and Charlie I'm trying to find you there Charlie Schweik is also a member of the board Charlie agreed as a volunteer to serve in the capacity of another member who had left to make a film and so Charlie agreed and volunteered to serve in this capacity and so am I missing any other members Steven sorry Steven and you've already heard from Steven who served in the capacity of the president of the board before I stepped into this position and was elected I think and Jacqueline so I'm going to read the rest so those are the members who are here so thank you again board we also have Jacqueline Faizon is a member of our board she's not here tonight and Marisha Parham is serving in the capacity of the president position the five colleges is represented on our board we try to have like I said a diversity of people opinions and serving in different capacities because this again is a community station so I am introducing at this point Charlie is up for election so he'll no longer be a volunteer he has been nominated to serve on the board as an elected position and then also Andrea battle here and she's also nominated for the board so these are our two elected our two nominated members and if you can come up and take a couple of minutes to introduce yourselves so Andrea and then we'll have Charlie I'm going to say this publicly like my daughter did to me when she told me the audience that I had told her since her name was Whitney that the museum in New York was named after her and until she got to junior high she didn't realize that I was just making that up D had asked me to look at the board at the Amherst media I think it was in 2011 or 12 I had just gotten involved at the housing and sheltering committee and I was just doing a youth action coalition which by the way was a wonderful thing that we're trying to reprise the young people from there some went on to tish at NYU and other things due to Amherst media and all that they gave so my heart was very much with Amherst media I just didn't have any time tired and everything and she got me one time when I was with Elsie who threw me under the bus and said okay I'll do the capital thing with her if Andrea will do the board so then of course I felt guilty because we know we have to raise this money so but anyway I'm no longer with housing and shelter I felt very proud to have helped create the municipal trust with them and I'm stepping down from one or two other things but my heart has always been here and I really do care about the future and I want to see that building built and I want to see the youth I have three grandchildren here so the oldest one is twelve I do expect to see them being able to utilize this also and I'm a retired teacher who came here to hang out with my grandchildren and obviously do everything else I can to make this a better place so I thank you this is a box call me by surprise a little bit but I'm good at it I'm ready my history so I've lived in town for about ten years I've lived in town for about ten years and I've got two kids in the school system currently when they were in middle school I got active in the middle school working on Lego robotics and I started seeing the glow in those kids' eyes as we were doing this after school and that led me and I knew Steve Brewer who was already active here in Amherst media and Steve among others started the maker program here and right around the same time Christine started I joined and it really motivated by trying to make the connection in after school programming to our youth that gave me a wonderful several years interacting with Amherst media people and I got to everything we've heard about the people that are here I just learned over those two years the other thing for me was as an Amherst resident and everybody in this room I'm sure has the same feelings there's times there's periodic times in town and you want to hear some big decisions being made or something and one that pops into my head that was just so important there was a big active town thing happening I went down to the town room couldn't get in it was standing room only down to the basement this was before I was really interacting with Amherst media but there were media there were televisions in that hallway and I was with people watching what was going on in that room because we couldn't get in that room it's those kinds of things that have given me tremendous appreciation for this organization the last thing I'll just say is that there's that history there in terms of the footage and the archival of the last town meeting I volunteered and helped with that and was just really appreciative of what Amherst media does in terms of archival of our history but one of the things that's really motivating me for working with this terrific board in this community is the future as people have talked about and there's just in my opinion so much untapped potential in this community that we haven't even leveraged in Amherst media around the training center that this could be and so I'll leave it at that I just see so much potential for growth and I'm just honored and grateful to have this opportunity to work with everybody so thank you so real quick Charlie is being nominated for the three-year term elected seat and then Andrea is being nominated for the one-year term elected seat and Ed has some ballots for you and I just wanted to say as you're receiving your ballots and you're filling them out serving on the board takes a lot of energy takes a lot of working with one another and I just really I'm so appreciative of each and every board member we have also besides the appointed position for school committee there's an appointed position for five colleges there is traditionally an appointed position for the town and I so appreciate our former member Adrian Terese who has served with me by my side in battle with Comcast and negotiating for the 10-year contract so Adrian served in that capacity for the town which is an appointed position we hope to resume that after the town council is seated it's a very important position so we will be looking for someone hopefully folks will self-nominate as well and could the former members of the board as again you're filling them out could you stand up and be recognized former members Adrian Terese former member of the board there's also another former member that I met for serving while they're tabulating the very serious ballots I totally forgot to tell you about a couple of our upcoming fundraisers on let's see Saturday, November what date is that not this Saturday but the next Saturday I apologize the date is not on that thank you Andrea Tulip Chowdery one of our Amherst media community members as well as one of our producers she's actually going to be hosting an open mic small concert fundraiser here right in the studio there'll be actually a number of different styles of music from all over the world it's going to be a lot of fun I believe that is going to be from is it two to four I didn't see the time that was on here I apologize I believe it's something like three to five but we'll make sure that that gets on our website also we're getting ready to launch a really interesting and different fundraiser with Valerie Damersky she is a wellness advocate with doTERRA she also is one of the owners and operators of Amethyst Brook Wellness Center just down the street here we've seen her setup in the four year we're actually going to be selling small little essential oils kits those kits are being sold for $30 and we will receive $10 for each one so that's actually a pretty decent return it's a great time to get those kits it being the holiday season and she also has a handout that will be given to you with 101 uses for those three oils that are in that container that's pretty fabulous you've got allergies, illnesses whatever you want to clean your house those are fabulous oils and then I want to remind you on Tuesday November 27th that is the National Day of Giving which we're going to be part of that for the second year in a row that's a day in which people can actually donate to their favorite charity nationally we hope that you donate to us and again we'll be pushing that out as well and that's on Tuesday November 27th giving Tuesday so thank you we have a couple other things that we're looking for in the future of wine tasting and some other fun things like that that we'll have probably after the New Year starts so we'll let you know thank you so much we'll be closing out I just wanted to say that if you haven't had one of Patrice's cookies this is the other reason why we put her on the board we found out her cookie skills you need to get one it's delicious and as I was telling someone we just have events just to have Patrice's cookies normally so we have Charlie Schweik had enough votes for the three-year term surprise, surprise and Andrea for the one-year term so thank you for agreeing to serve on our board thank you Amherst Media Board so I want to close out again thanking League of Women voters and thanking thanking all of you that are here as we've seen we're building our new home it is going to take some heavy lifting but we know that with the community's help we can do it from our research of the building it's going to cost $850,000 Amherst Media is that place however that brings people together a place where candidates and local state elections can introduce themselves so you saw poets can bring peace and healing or a place where retirees can gather for a class in photography no other site no other site in this community provides these services at little to no cost that is why I'm here and I hope it's why you are here in this room to continue to make Amherst Media a place to build create and bring people together our new home will house a large studio as well as the break room as you heard that's it and a small podcasting room a computing center and will include an energy saving HVAC system LED lights and a water retention and runoff system that goes beyond what is mandated by the state of Massachusetts we hope that all of you will join our efforts to build a new home for Amherst Media creating and helping to build a place that will serve as a long term home for community gatherings and a hub for information education and civic engagement and more importantly that you go out in the community and you tell our story we really need that support you tell folks why you support us last thing election night we will have Stan Rosenberg the League of Women Voters telling us who's won it's always a really exciting time if you have never tuned in to the League of Women Voters in election night please tune in it's at 7.30 on Tuesday 17 the league knows yep and that's it and we're gonna go live so thanks again for coming and thanks again for your support good night