GRIN AND BEAR IT • For WVPT, Fifty Is Nifty
September 10, 2018
Local PBS Station’s Fans Help Celebrate Birthday
By PETE DELEA
Daily News-Record 9/10/18
HARRISONBURG — Like many children, Christine Daniel grew up watching Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street cast on her local PBS station, Harrisonburg-based WVPT.
Now, the Mount Crawford resident is passing the tradition on to her two sons, Noah Daniel, 9, and Tegan Daniel, 3.
She said she’s come to rely on WVPT.
“I love that it’s educational,” said Daniel, adding that her children’s favorite shows include “Super Why!” and “Curious George.” “I can trust that when I walk out of the room, what they are watching is going to be safe.”
The Daniels were among several hundred people to attend the station’s 50th birthday celebration at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center in Harrisonburg on Saturday afternoon.
WVPT was the brainchild of four men: Tyler Miller, president of then Madison College; Arthur Hamilton, the station’s first general manager; O.L. Boyd of Augusta County Public Schools; and Wilbur Pence of Rockingham County Public Schools.
The men were searching for a way to get educational programming into local schools when they filed a petition in 1966 with the Federal Communications Commission to create the Shenandoah Valley Education Television Corp.
Land was leased at Madison College, which would later become James Madison University, for the site of the new public broadcasting station.
WVPT broadcasts hit television sets for the first time on Sept. 9, 1968.
In October 2013, after the station having been at its JMU location for more than 40 years, the university bought the facility near the intersection of Port Republic Road and Bluestone Drive for about $2.3 million. WVPT’s new station on Martin Luther King Jr. Way opened in May 2014.
This year, the board of Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corp., announced that the station merged with Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corp. CPBC operates two PBS-member television stations in Richmond, one in Charlottesville, and public radio stations in Richmond, Chase City and Heathsville.
Despite the changes over the years, the commitment to the community has remained the same, say WVPT officials.
Donna Meyerhoeffer, WVPT’s office manager, has worked for the station for 30 years. One of her favorite memories during her career was during the annual fundraising auctions the station once held.
“It brought the community together with all the volunteers,” Meyerhoeffer said. “They’d be on [air] for hours and hours.”
Each year, WVPT, with the help of the Rockingham District Ruritans and the Daily News-Record, also hosts an annual regional spelling bee. The winner goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Meyerhoeffer said it’s part of the station’s commitment to lifelong learning, which also gives a child a chance to shine. “It’s something they
might not get to do otherwise,” she said. Tina Wood, station operations manager for Harrisonburg- based WHSV-TV, has volunteered with WVPT for 30 years. The PBS station, she said, provides valuable television programs to Shenandoah Valley children.
“You can put your children in front of the television, let them watch and then they learn how to count and say the alphabet,” Wood said.
Jo Sites, WVPT’s community engagement manager, said the station has accomplished much in its first 50 years, but plans to be even more community- oriented in the future.
It’s important, Sites said, to give back to those who support public television.
“If it wasn’t for the supporters, we wouldn’t be here,” she said.
Cubby, the WVPT bear, greets guests during the station’s 50th birthday party at the Lucy F. Simms Center on Saturday morning.
By PETE DELEA
Daily News-Record 9/10/18
HARRISONBURG — Like many children, Christine Daniel grew up watching Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street cast on her local PBS station, Harrisonburg-based WVPT.
Now, the Mount Crawford resident is passing the tradition on to her two sons, Noah Daniel, 9, and Tegan Daniel, 3.
She said she’s come to rely on WVPT.
“I love that it’s educational,” said Daniel, adding that her children’s favorite shows include “Super Why!” and “Curious George.” “I can trust that when I walk out of the room, what they are watching is going to be safe.”
The Daniels were among several hundred people to attend the station’s 50th birthday celebration at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center in Harrisonburg on Saturday afternoon.
WVPT was the brainchild of four men: Tyler Miller, president of then Madison College; Arthur Hamilton, the station’s first general manager; O.L. Boyd of Augusta County Public Schools; and Wilbur Pence of Rockingham County Public Schools.
The men were searching for a way to get educational programming into local schools when they filed a petition in 1966 with the Federal Communications Commission to create the Shenandoah Valley Education Television Corp.
Land was leased at Madison College, which would later become James Madison University, for the site of the new public broadcasting station.
WVPT broadcasts hit television sets for the first time on Sept. 9, 1968.
In October 2013, after the station having been at its JMU location for more than 40 years, the university bought the facility near the intersection of Port Republic Road and Bluestone Drive for about $2.3 million. WVPT’s new station on Martin Luther King Jr. Way opened in May 2014.
This year, the board of Shenandoah Valley Educational Television Corp., announced that the station merged with Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corp. CPBC operates two PBS-member television stations in Richmond, one in Charlottesville, and public radio stations in Richmond, Chase City and Heathsville.
Despite the changes over the years, the commitment to the community has remained the same, say WVPT officials.
Donna Meyerhoeffer, WVPT’s office manager, has worked for the station for 30 years. One of her favorite memories during her career was during the annual fundraising auctions the station once held.
“It brought the community together with all the volunteers,” Meyerhoeffer said. “They’d be on [air] for hours and hours.”
Each year, WVPT, with the help of the Rockingham District Ruritans and the Daily News-Record, also hosts an annual regional spelling bee. The winner goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Meyerhoeffer said it’s part of the station’s commitment to lifelong learning, which also gives a child a chance to shine. “It’s something they
might not get to do otherwise,” she said. Tina Wood, station operations manager for Harrisonburg- based WHSV-TV, has volunteered with WVPT for 30 years. The PBS station, she said, provides valuable television programs to Shenandoah Valley children.
“You can put your children in front of the television, let them watch and then they learn how to count and say the alphabet,” Wood said.
Jo Sites, WVPT’s community engagement manager, said the station has accomplished much in its first 50 years, but plans to be even more community- oriented in the future.
It’s important, Sites said, to give back to those who support public television.
“If it wasn’t for the supporters, we wouldn’t be here,” she said.
Cubby, the WVPT bear, greets guests during the station’s 50th birthday party at the Lucy F. Simms Center on Saturday morning.
