A call by producers from WLVT-TV, PBS39 has gone out for current and former Hellertown residents with memories to share to attend a meeting Thursday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grist Mill Tavern Room, 150 W. Walnut St., Hellertown.
The Tavern Room at the historic Heller-Wagner Grist Mill in Hellertown will be the setting for a March 16 community meeting about the PBS program ‘Our Town: Hellertown.’ Members of the community are invited to attend and learn more about the series.
The stories about Hellertown will become part of a documentary called “Our Town,” which is already a hit series in other PBS markets throughout the state, where small communities such as Oil City, Titusville, Berwick and Bloomsburg have been profiled.
Hellertown is the first town in the Lehigh Valley chosen to be the focus of an hour-long “Our Town,” and producer John Rice said it was an obvious first choice for many at the local TV station who weighed in on which town to profile first.
Rice said the goal is to produce a show that is entertaining and informational, but not overly slick.
The finished product will have a patchwork quilt-like feel to it and feature interviews with 15 to 30 local people, who will tell the town’s story and explain its uniqueness in their own words.
“When these shows work well…they are nothing more than a love letter from the town to itself,” he observed. “It’s not like anything else that’s on television.”
The meeting Thursday will be an open community meeting at which anyone interested in participating can learn more about “Our Town” and ask questions.
A week later, on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. a second community meeting and “whiteboard session” will be held in the meeting room at Hellertown Borough Hall.
At that meeting, which is expected to last about 2 hours, stories will be gathered and written down on a whiteboard that will serve as the planner for the program.
The actual day of filming, or Interview Day, will be Saturday, April 22, at a location in Hellertown to be determined.
“Everyone who’s there on interview day is in the show,” Rice stressed.
He added that if someone cannot attend either of the March meetings, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be part of the program, which is expected to premiere on the local PBS station in early June during a summer pledge drive.
DVD copies of the program will be the gift to donors who pledge a certain amount.
After that, “Our Town: Hellertown” will air several times and eventually be archived on the PBS39 website.
Rice said that interviewees are encouraged to bring visuals with them for inclusion in “Our Town.” These can include old photographs or film footage.
Since the show is about Hellertown “then and now,” the meetings are open to anyone who’s a part of the community and has something of value to contribute.
Saucon Source is proud to be the local media partner for the upcoming production of “Our Town: Hellertown.”
If you know someone you think would like to share a story about growing up, living or working in Hellertown, please tell them about the meetings and invite them to attend.
For more information, or if you have questions, email
Ou*****@wl**.org
. A webpage for the program is schedule to go live soon, and the link will be shared with Saucon Source readers at that time.