Panhandle PBS celebrates its 35th anniversary with open house
Panhandle Public Broadcasting System (PBS) celebrated its 35th anniversary Thursday with an open house at its location on the Amarillo College campus for the public to learn more about the station and its mission.
The celebration highlighted the local content with tours of the studios, highlight reels, green screen demonstrations, a visit with the Cat in the Hat and snacks. The Amarillo station has existed since it signed on the air on Aug. 29, 1988.
Julie Grimes, general manager of Panhandle PBS, spoke about the importance of the Texas Panhandle having a PBS station, which delivers content to the area. Prior to the start of PBS, the Texas Panhandle and the Amarillo area received the feed from the Dallas/ Fort Worth area.
“We did not have any avenue to tell the local stories of the Texas Panhandle through PBS," she said.
"So, for the past 35 years, that's what the station has existed to do, which is to engage the community to enlighten, educate, and share the stories and the voices from our region,” Grimes said. “I think most people think of PBS as a national entity. And that is a fact, but what it really is that it's a network of local public media stations. ... when you come to this one in Amarillo, Texas, what you really get is the flavor of our local area and the Texas Panhandle.”
Grimes emphasized that in areas with only one PBS station, like Wyoming, that station is responsible for being the voice of the entire state and region.
"In general, we exist to reflect the public media for our regions,” she said. “I mean that the local area is especially important in a day and age where commercial media is more conglomerate. And so, most of the television stations, the commercial stations that are here in town, are not locally owned or based, and so they do not feel as much of a responsibility to tell the stories of the residents in our area as we do.”
Having worked at Panhandle PBS for two years, Grimes brings an extensive skillset from her time at Southern Living Magazine. As a Texas Tech graduate, she is glad to be back in the state working to serve the Panhandle community.
Grimes spoke about some of the local programming her station has produced, which can be used with the expansive resources of the national organization of PBS.
“So, one project that we've just finished this spring is called West Texas Boys, and it is a documentary about a Latin family,” she said. "One generation ago, the family were migrant workers, and their dad bought them a red accordion. Now they are a Tejano Music Hall of Fame music group, and so we tell the story of how they made that transition and some of the adversity that they have encountered in their lives and kind of where they are today."
Grimes said that the project was just finished and that the station will also be working on a second documentary, exploring water and water conservation in the Texas Panhandle and beyond. With the timeliness of the issue across the region, Grimes felt this project needed to be done due to its current relevance to the region.
“We are looking at the Ogallala Aquifer and the precious resources that we have to irrigate and provide water for our region, and what we can do to make sure that we are as sustainable as possible,” she added.
Another project that the station has in the works is called “Up in the Air,” which is a look at the past, present, and future of public art in Amarillo.
“With this project, we really kind of reach all the way back to Georgia O'Keeffe and when she lived in Canyon and Amarillo and how that kicked off the local art scene with a nationally renowned artist coming to the area,” she said. “This inspired art like the Cadillac Ranch, for example, and the Amarillo Ramp, which has also led to the Hoodoo Mural Festival, which everyone knows and loves in the modern day.”
According to Grimes, the station is very studious and selective in choosing the right projects to give the area community quality programming.
"Obviously, we're public media, and so we do have to watch our resources,” she said. "I will say that I'm proud to say that we partner with lots of wonderful supporters here in our viewing area who help us through grants and underwriting, and so that helps make all of this possible. We're very appreciative of all the people who help us fund these works we produce. We are small but mighty, trying to do as much as we can with our resources.”
Kevin Ball, CEO of PBS Panhandle for the past eight years, discussed how public broadcasting remains viable in the current economic climate.
“It's totally based on our memberships; we have about 2,000 members who contribute anywhere from a little bit to very significant dollars to support our station,” Ball said. “We deliver local productions that people support. It's vital to what we do, and it is imperative that we produce shows that interest the community and give back to the community. It's a synergy of giving people what they want to see here and learning about things in the community.”
Ball emphasized that the key to success for Panhandle PBS is community-based outreach to get community buy-in. He mentioned events like Savor the Goods, which is like a dinner and friend-raiser aiming to bring new members into the fold.
“We try to do a lot of productions at the Symphony, WT, Amarillo Opera, National Philanthropy Day, and the Amarillo Master Chorale,” he said. "All those groups do local broadcasts on our air, along with many special events for the local area, such as Amarillo College’s graduation ceremony.”
Asked about misconceptions that people may have about PBS as a television station, Ball stressed that he thinks many people think that PBS works just like any other television network. With its ability to tailor programming to the community, it has a lot of leeway in what is on air.
“We can in some situations re-air some of our programming like the Master Chorale, which was a fan favorite if it fits the time constraints of the station,” he said. "We got a grant to be able to do that because it's expensive to do it, and we then put that out nationally and it was picked up in stations like in Atlanta, Dallas and Austin, (they) picked up the concert from us.”
Ball feels that the key to longevity is the stations' ability to connect with the public.
“People feel like and know it's their own station,” Ball said. “They know that it's coming out of Amarillo and the Panhandle, and I think our biggest value point. What I love about it is that I feel totally connected to the community. We give back to the community and they support us, which enables us to do that. It's a circle.”
Grimes expressed her gratitude for the support over the years for Panhandle PBS.
“I am thrilled that we've been able to be here for 35 years and have such public interest, and people came by to help us celebrate today,” she said of the open house. “I hope that we can have another 35 years and beyond to be here and tell the stories of the Texas Panhandle.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Panhandle PBS celebrates 35th anniversary with open house
