TTTV’s Farewell to Gene Donahue

A Farewell From TTTV Studio Manager Gene Donahue

On December 2, 1996, I was hired by Harron Communications to be their Public Access Coordinator. At the time, citizen programming aired on Harron's Channel 2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7 to 11 PM. When Public Access shows were not being cablecast, Channel 2 was the Horse Racing Channel. After the races concluded, a placard stuck to the screen overnight, crediting the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's radio broadcast that we then cablecast, disregarding that whole vision part of television. When our programming did air, static bracketed every show while an employee in studio physically stopped and removed the last show's ¾” videotape before inserting and playing the next. Initially, the Public Access volunteers and the students at Conestoga High shared the TV studio at that school, none of us pretending that the rule stating students vacate by 4 PM was not to be a battle line. (School does not stop when classes end.) I gave us all breathing room by moving our production to the new Township Building where the Greenwood Studio took shape. That happened in 1997. Much has changed since then.

We branded our channel PA2; we grew; we went 24/7; we grew; we renamed ourselves TTTV; we schooled ourselves and neighbors twice a year; and yearly we patted ourselves on our backs during an Emmy-ish gala that went out live. Public Access became planetarily public; the history of us ascended to our very own cloud. And powers-that-be, met voters and board members alike, now share powersthat-stream immediately on YouTube. Here, Harron became Adelphia. Comcast ate Adelphia. Telephony televised and paved another byway for local traffic. Technology overran prediction. Computers took over and let us treat projects like word-processed documents: suddenly we could copy and paste and format clips like sentences. We could move what we captured all over a timeline and keep changing our minds forever. Color became correctable and a plaything. Audio tracks proliferated, and every single one welcomed surgery. Miracles antiquate: our Commodore Amiga was shelved like a toy that is no longer special, was replaced by a Control Room that fit in a box. That GlobeCaster today has identically gone; its successor, the TriCaster, is incomparable, for now. 16-by-9 killed 4-by-3, which is a statement that belies the revolution. Videotape gave up the ghost. The world at large became memorable on tiny, tiny cards. My most notable improvement was becoming a Tredyffrin Township employee. That happened on January 1, 2012. I celebrate two anniversaries on New Year's Day. So much has changed over my twenty-five years here, but not this: I know heart and soul that my job is a privilege. It is as rewarding as it is challenging. It can be solitary alone against the monstrous when editing, then rambunctiously communal during production. Daily, I learn. Daily, I teach. Tech. Art. Craft. Each day is progressive though singular. Each day is also a joy, a lustrous commonplace joy, because it gets visited by kind, generous, studious, loving, funny, gifted, disciplined, passionate, creative producers and crew members who have made my job a labor of love. Because of their uplifting, I have never regretted coming into work. At 69, I recognize that the future isn't as long as it used to be. But it is still crowded with life-long ambitions that demand availability. First and foremost, I plan to share leisure and adventure with my Diana, my family, my friends. Graciously, there are other pursuits, creative endeavors, big goals too ambitious to complete. I do and don't want to retire. Decidedly, I must.

I thank Township Administration, particularly Bill Martin, Joe DiRocco, Patricia Hoffman, and especially Michael Giurastante, for having my back, and likewise the decades of Tredyffrin supervisors for their vital behind-thescenes empowerment of our neighborhood production house. I thank fellow employees for their friendship and the laughter; the several hundred students for their invigorating smiles and nods during class; and the many, many, many PA2/TTTV participants who have enriched my life in so many ways over so many years. I will be warmed remembering that blessing of fellowship for the rest of my days. It is easy to see why now and always I cherish this job. It gave me the opportunity to fall in love with admirable people, enough to fill three lifetimes.

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