‘Our Town: Tyrone’ documentary debuts on WPSU

The WPSU “Our Town: Tyrone” production debuted at 8:00 pm on December 4^th and met with overwhelming support from the Tyrone community.

“We had a great turn out.  We couldn’t be more thrilled with the support we’ve seen from the community,” said WPSU producer Carley Greiner.

The live in studio broadcast included a call-in fund drive that raised 200 pledges totaling $20,074.00 for the station.  According to WPSU, the money raised supports local public television, including future “Our Town” productions.

The “Our Town” series is one of the oldest WPSU productions and features communities from across its viewing area.

WPSU selects the communities and producers Whitney Chirdon and Carley Griener meet with the residents of the community.

The townspeople then choose the topics for the documentary and record all the video footage themselves.

WPSU does on camera interviews with the participants and uses the video footage provided by the resident-videographers to create the program.

“There is so much to learn and take away from working on the ‘Our Town’ series,” said Griener, “I love being a part of the ‘Our Town’ series for so many reasons but mostly because of the history. Each town we cover throughout the series has its own roots and history waiting to be told.”

Tyrone resident and Tyrone High School social studies teacher Cummins McNitt was one of residents involved in the project.

McNitt filmed a segment on Carry Simpson and WTRN. He enjoyed working on the project and telling the story of the small Tyrone radio station.

“Sometimes one of the best things we can do is to step back and reevaluate ourselves and our surroundings,” said McNitt, “The process can be truly cathartic.  In my case, it gave me a sense of reattachment to the town I have come to love.”

Mrs. Elaine Conrad, lifelong Tyrone resident and Tyrone Middle School  teacher filmed a segment on Reservoir Park. She too enjoyed the experience of working on the “Our Town” program.

“It was a new endeavor, I do like to challenge myself, like to learn something new, and like to try new things- to me that is what life is about- to always be learning and trying new experiences,” said Conrad. “I had a great time and am proud of the final total project incorporating everyone’s effort.”

Tyrone superintendent Cathy Harlow narrated a segment on Tyrone Area School District. She talked about the district’s Pre-K program and other initiatives within the Tyrone Area School District.   As with McNitt and Conrad, Harlow also enjoyed the experience.

“The producer was able to capture the best from each story and blend it into a production that really told the story of Tyrone,” said Harlow, “I was very happy that the school district was featured in many of the segments and appreciative of the initiative and interest that our students showed in the production.”

The Eagle Eye was involved with several of the segments in the piece.  Eagle Eye editors Nathan Hormell and Paige Umholtz were interviewed and covered the Eagle Eye and student life and activities respectively.

“I was very proud of our Eagle Eye staff, they really took pride in providing WPSU with the best possible footage,” said social studies teacher and Eagle Eye Adviser Todd Cammarata, “it was a great learning experience for the students and a great service to the community.”

Umholtz covered student life and activities in her segment of the documentary.

“It was a great time working with the awesome people of WPSU,” Umholtz said. “Being a part of something that a lot of people put time and effort into to make it great was a very rewarding experience. I’ll never forget helping with this project.”

The entire program can be viewed online or by clicking the video at the top of this story.