happy anniversary Northeast Indiana and welcome as we celebrate fifty years of programs in public service here at PBS Fort Wayne.

I'm General Manager Bruce Haines.

The station's transmitter was officially turned on during the 11:00 a.m. hour on Saturday, January eleven, 1975 while twenty twenty five turns out has a similar Saturday January eleven and of course a similar eleven o'clock hour and that's why it's an ideal opportunity for us right now to be sure you have our deep thanks for all those who created PBS's Fort Wayne five decades ago and our deep appreciation to all who have supported the station over that time.

>> So coming up in this hour, we'll look back to where we've been and look ahead to some of the special events in the next 12 months honoring our fiftieth anniversary year.

Now to help start this new year right.

It is my pleasure to welcome the honorable Sharon Tucker, the mayor of the city of Fort Wayne.

>> Mayor Tucker, thank you so much for being with us.

It's a true pleasure.

Oh, thank you so much for having me here.

Having grown up with PBS and author and all the great shows, I'm honored to be a part of today's celebration.

>> Well, and I understand you've brought a proclamation to share and so the broadcast floor is yours.

>> Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It is my pleasure on behalf of the city of Fort Wayne to read the proclamation that we would like to issue you for your fiftieth year anniversary and the proclamation reads Whereas it is public television's calling to provide programing and service that educate, inform, inspire and entertain so as to strengthen the social democratic and cultural health of the United States.

>> And whereas public television's programs and services were unavailable when Wally Fourth Night moved here his family from Pittsburgh to Fort Wayne in nineteen sixty nine disappointing his young daughter who discovered that her favorite program Mister Rogers neighborhood could not be seen locally and whereas Mr. Fox night guided the community's efforts and engineering that led to bring public television to Fort Wayne for the first time on Saturday January the eleventh nineteen seventy five and whereas the next 50 years have seen increased signal coverage and quality growth from one to five channels, creation of five weekly public affairs shows and award winning documentaries enhanced outreach with area non for profits and content for digital platforms with accessibility features for the hearing and sight impaired and coverage for the Allen County Public Libraries Auto Reading Service and whereas it most appropriate to offer gratitude and appreciation for the region of Fort Wayne community for its governance and the financial stewardship that have made possible PBS wains, past successes and its future future aspirations now therefore I share and Tucker, the mayor of the city of Fort Wayne do hereby proclaim that January eleventh twenty twenty five is and shall be known as the PBS Fort Wayne fiftieth anniversary day and I would ask that the public help us celebrate that going forward.

>> Thank you.

I have a really big goosebump.

>> It is such an honor to be able to celebrate you and be with you fifty years.

It's a great time.

>> Well and we're so glad you're at the top of the guest list.

Thank you so much Mayor Sharon Tucker of the City of Fort Wayne for being with us today and best wishes for you in this year.

>> Thank you.

It is time now for all of us to say hello to PBS Fort Wayne's Erin Arnold and Cathy Edwards.

Thank you very Cynthia Tucker.

Hi, I'm Erin Arnold, development director at PBS Fort Wayne.

>> And I'm Cathy Edwards, the corporate development director and we're excited to share some special events that we have planned for this year to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary, our first exciting project is called Rewind.

We have opened our archives and for the next fifty weeks we will be airing many of our locally produced documentaries from the past 50 years.

>> Let's take a look in Colonia opened a window to the for thousands of oil fans this was Mr. Bass's bedroom.

Truly Fort Wayne is a friendly town and I always feel that I've come the hairstyles and fashions may have changed but these documentaries are still entertaining and informative and beginning this Thursday you can catch a different documentary each week on PBS Fort Wayne on Thursdays at nine p.m. and again on Sundays at seven p.m. History and storytelling are vital parts of what makes a community vibrant and PBS Fort Wayne is proud to be your home for thoughtful programs that share your stories and experiences.

These programs are available through the generosity of our community and viewers like you without your support we wouldn't be able to share the history of International Harvester General Electric Willow Smithfield and so many more.

You are the heartbeat of this community and a PBS Fort Wayne by sharing your time, talent and treasure with PBS for Wayne you have brought to life the stories of L Chord Bob Shvres The Comets in the Unforgettable and Klown and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

We look forward to sharing many more of our region's history and stories with your support for another 50 years to everyone in our neighborhood speaking of our neighborhood we have received some kind messages from our community that we would like to share with you right now.

Congratulations on 50 years of public broadcasting in Fort Wayne .

Happy fiftieth anniversary PBS Fort Wayne happy fiftieth anniversary PBS Fort Wayne congratulations on 50 years of public broadcasting Fort Wayne , Indiana.

Happy fiftieth anniversary PBS Fort Wayne congratulations on 50 years of public broadcasting in Fort Wayne .

Happy fiftieth anniversary PBS Fort Wayne congratulate things on fifty years of public broadcasting in Fort Wayne Happy fiftieth anniversary PBS Fort Wayne congratulations on 50 years of public broadcasting in Fort Wayne .

>> Congrats on fifty years.

Happy anniversary far away Wayne Public Television We are so blessed to have you.

Thank you all for making it happen.

Hello I'm Cathy Edwards, PBS .

Fort Wayne has been called the unofficial historian of northeast Indiana and it's rightfully earned for over the years we've created quite a few documenter that fit that title in preparation for our fiftieth anniversary we dusted off what we could find and we're excited to tell you that forty titles will be gifted to the Allen County Public Library on DVD.

These documentaries will be available very soon at all of the branch locations you'll find historical documentaries like Fort Wayne in the 40s, the 50s and the 60s.

Fort Wayne Community Schools a history of Learning and 150 years the YMCA of YMCA of Greater Fort and other local documentaries include Entrepreneurial Energy Expectations Living with Alzheimer's and of course some of our more recent creations are included in this gift to the library the forgotten the story of the state mental hospital here in Fort Wayne and of course the stories of General Electric and International Harvester are among the collection to so get out your library card head to the nearest nearest UQP branch and settle in for some quality winning award quality trips down memory lane.

>> Let's go back now to Bruce as we have a very special guest today.

Bruce .

>> Well, and you know this story because once upon a time when Wally Farzaneh and his family moved from Fort Wayne to Pittsburgh in 1969, he soon discovered that his young daughter Wendys favorite program, Mister Rogers Neighborhood could not be seen locally.

>> No Mister Rogers neighborhood was something so sad it was reported it brought tears to Wendys and eyes and it got her father's attention and well I think it's probably best to have Wendy tonight Demick share the rest of the story and I'm proud to say she is with us today to do just that.

>> Wendy, welcome to PBS .

>> Thank you.

Glad to be here.

Do you remember all that?

I remember lots of it and then some of it I do.

I remember being there too.

I remember hearing about it which is it?

But I do I remember being sad about it but I remember all the the meetings and conversations ,the dinner table and all of that and you know kind of thinking in the sense that you were your father's inspiration.

>> I was in that yes.

The child the tears bring Channel Thirty nine to life as they said because all of a sudden my favorite television show wasn't on but if I can go back it was a little deeper than that because it wasn't on.

So they started letting me watch Saturday morning cartoons and shortly thereafter we were out with some very good friends of ours from Fort Wayne and the gentleman is of Asian descent and I was afraid of him and I had never been afraid of him.

>> My parents were embarrassed.

They were kind of you know, they were shocked and what was going on.

And then the next weekend just coincidentally he was sitting next to me on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons and he started realizing that all the villains were portrayed at the time it was the late sixties as Asian men and the light bulb went off and he's like This is why we need this because you need television that's programed for children the way they think Mr. Rogers used to say you become what you watch on TV a little bit of it and he didn't want that to be what I became.

And so yes, it was the tears but it was also that deeper piece of the kindness and the love and the inclusion and diversity and other things that Mr. Rogers talked about on his show that he wanted to be sure was part of this community.

>> I loved how the Journal Gazette summed it up when they wrote that it was Wally First Knight who became the man who brought Mr. Rogers to Fort Wayne's neighborhood.

>> Exactly.

And since then we hear in an opportunity to get to know you and your sister a little more coming to realize that your mother and father were tremendously connected to some very special causes for which just like PBS Fort Wayne, these organizations continue to thrive in this day and it's talk about that.

>> You know, my dad used to joke and say there was a period of time when he lived in Fort Wayne and he hardly had dinner without a toothpick in it because he was always at a reception for something or a community meeting or something .

They were involved very involved in the embassy theater when it was going to close and there was this huge community effort to save.

They were both on the Urban League board.

They were involved.

My mom was very involved in the zoo.

It was on the board there and they were involved in the mental health association.

I'm starting to I got it all the different ones but they were always very involved in their community and it's something they always really instilled in my sister Danielle and I and it's something we pass on to our kids.

>> I've spent my career working for nonprofits.

I guess it's in the DNA.

Well, and that's another thing that's probably well worth a few extra seconds and that is the importance of giving back or if you have the capacity to do so because this this has stepped you into you and your sister into careers of your own in the nonprofit space.

>> Yes, absolutely.

I mean giving back and supporting your community is just part of who we were raised to be.

But it's really what keeps communities thriving.

And you know, my parents didn't have a lot of financial resources to like oh yeah.

People say oh, they found a TV station.

They must have been rich like no, not at all.

It was about the hours beat on the pavement out talking to people raising Goller at a time which is how most nonprofits subsist in you know, that dollar at a time fundraising and you know it's look what you've done from that little building well where you are today.

>> Yes.

And I think of that because we act in the moment and we often don't necessarily know how that moment is going to play out, you know, through the miracle of hindsight.

Exactly.

And certainly the embassy theater continued to to to thrive.

The children sue the different places you mentioned and of course here at the station.

>> So what are your thoughts about stepping back into this space that your father and your mother, the colleagues, all those at the time helped to rally to create to me it's just it's a wonderful way.

>> I wish my dad could be here today.

He passed away almost seven years ago now but he would be so proud.

I remember like traipsing through that field out to that little building when they put up the tower there at Butler Road and Hilik Yeah.

>> Yeah.

And you walk into this beautiful studio and multiple stations and you know, I follow PBS .

I live in outside of Seattle but I follow your station.

I can't watch it but I can follow it online and I can vote on social media and it just a sense of pride in seeing part of my father's legacy and I I thank you the staff all of the volunteers and board members before that kept his legacy going and growing it into what it is today.

>> It's really special.

It's a true pay it forward thing.

We are we are so glad that you were able to be with your sister to come here and help us connect all these dots and honor to be here get to get some closure about it.

>> Yeah.

Thank you.

So you're back.

Thank you.

By the way, Wendy for us tonight, Derrick has indeed spent her career working in the not for profit field as a development professional.

She moved to the West Coast after graduating from the University of Wisconsin in nineteen eighty eight and she and her husband of thirty five years, Steve live on Bainbridge Island.

That sounds wonderful in Washington State where they have raised their three children Cameron Keegan and Grace.

Both Wendy and her younger sister Janelle carry on the first night commitment to service as volunteers, board members and supporters of a number of organizations.

>> And our thanks and appreciation again, Wendy, for being with us today.

Thanks so much.

>> Let us now go back across the studio and over to say hi again to Erin Arnold.

>> Thank you, Bruce and Wendy, isn't it amazing to hear the history of Fort Wayne and how it started with just one family and grew into what we are celebrating here today but that philosophy of being supported and uplifted by our viewers remains at the heart of public media PBS Fort Wayne is your station.

We aired the programs you tell us you want to see.

We produce the programs on the topics in history you want to learn more about.

These are the stories of you and your community.

In twenty twenty three the PBS Fort Wayne Board of Directors created a local program fund.

This fund was set up to ensure that we have access to financial resources needed to create a local shows and documentaries that you want to see and now we want to expand this fund and need your help.

Consider making a special gift to the PBS for Wayne Local Program Fund your dollars will guarantee that we are able to make amazing films like Truck Town The Forgotten and A Home for the Arts films that share our history ensuring that it is never forgotten and something special that I'm very excited to announce today the PBS Fort Wayne Board of Directors will be matching contributions that are donated specifically to the local program fund all this year our board of directors knows how important this fund is to secure our legacy and are proud to make personal contributions to support local storytelling.

So please take a moment today to visit our Web site at PBS for Wayne Local to learn more and to make your special financial gift.

You have told us time and time again how much you appreciate and how much you learn watching locally produced shows.

Now is the time that you can help support these vital shows with your special gift to the local program fund, please visit our website and make a financial gift for local storytelling.

And now I want to send it to Bruce who is going to tell you about some of the ways that you can watch PBS Fort Wayne from anywhere right now it's really true.

>> It's almost easier to say where you can't watch PBS Fort Wayne but how exciting it is to know that beyond broadcast we are moving forward in a great way with a variety of streaming platforms.

>> It is the great new way to be sure that the programs you help us create are shared with as many viewers as possible and these are some of the ways up until today when we add one more to do it all.

But there's Hulu Plus live TV local now YouTube, TV, all of that you'll find PBS Fort Wayne waiting right there at the touch of a remote control.

But we're very pleased to announce today that PBS Fort Wayne is now accessible on prime video via the app Web and Fire TV, a most significant partnership for PBS and all of its member stations nationwide and you can find us in the live TV section under Entertain.

>> We're also currently being featured in the hour highlighted rather in the featured genre.

They're on prime video and viewers who are not Amazon Prime numbers you can still have free access to PBS Fort Wayne under the live TV section within prime video.

This is the way the scheduler will look the the listing stations that are available on Prime all free and again you start out with the live TV section under entertainment and then move on over and you'll be able to to click and make it work.

>> And that's important because for some folks their streaming service is their inventory of channels when there is an opportunity to be in that group ,you know, sometimes you're noticed by your absence and now just like Mr. Rogers has been made visible in Fort Wayne through PBS as broadcast now think of it as an exciting way for PBS waiting to be made visible across all of these special spaces here in the millennium.

>> So check it out as we move forward in time and make a note of it and tell your friends PBS Fort Wayne visible now on prime video as a really nice ring to it.

>> Let's back over to Kathy for another update on things in our time.

>> You know, I started working here in twenty ten and one of the great privileges of working at previous Fort Wayne is the opportunity to get insights into what quality educational television is all about, what makes it engaging, what makes it enlightening, what makes it educational.

Another part of our fiftieth anniversary celebration this year is bringing to Fort Wayne some of the people you see on your screen at PBS Fort Wayne we've put together a speaker series called Where Curious Minds Gather Plan to bring your curious mind to one or more of these upcoming events through the course of the year we'll kick off where curious minds gather with actress Darla Contour.

She was the lead character in the twenty twenty three PBS series Little Bird.

It's the story of the Canadian sweep of indigenous children in the 60s and 70s.

>> Darla herself has a personal connection to this period in Canadian history.

So plan to come to the Allen County Public Library on March 22nd at 2:00 p.m. to learn more of her story and get her perspective on culture and cross culturalism and what that means for her and for you today you can find details of Darla's visit on Fort Wayne on Fort Wayne's PBS Fort Wayne fiftieth anniversary Web page in the summer.

We'll also have additional speakers so you get your stomachs ready.

Steven Raichlen will be coming back to Fort Wayne .

He is the guru of barbecue and I'm happy to announce that he has a new book coming out this spring.

>> Steven has been here two other times and entertained sold out audiences both times.

The date's not yet been finalized.

He's working on his schedule.

We're working on ours so stay tuned for details and please come hungry in the Fall will host a member of Fred Rogers Productions for the presentation in conversation about learning and education, how traditional methods of childhood learning have changed and evolved.

We're working to make this a continuing education credit for area teachers and it promises to be an enlightening presentation since PBS Fort Wayne came to be because of a young girl who wanted to watch Mister Rogers we felt it only appropriate to invite someone from Fred Rogers Productions for our celebration Our Final Where Curious Minds Gather event will feature a member of the PBS News Hour team.

It's still early days of our discussion but if you're a fan of news hour or Frontline for their in-depth news reporting and documentary creation on a variety of public affairs matters, this will be an amazing opportunity to be in the room with one of those reporters.

>> It's an incredible time in our history not only of the United States but around the world.

You'll want to keep your eyes and your ears open for the date late this year when curious minds will gather to learn more about gathering news, presenting news and the trials of news that we're curious minds gather speaker series is sponsored by Philips Financial and I see that Bruce has another guest over there on the set so let's see what's going on.

>> Bruce Kathee, thank you very much Jim Milnor is a PBS fan.

He's watched Mystery and Masterpiece on W.C. Eat in Cincinnati among other shows his nonprofit development work there with Take Him to public television at WFYI in Indianapolis followed by being hired as general manager at PBS Fort Wayne and he has returned to the scene of this experience and it is a pleasure to welcome Jim Miller general manager back in 1980 we were working through this eighty one to eighty six or eighty six to nine and those those days are becoming a little but those were interesting days.

>> The station is not really fully formed.

>> I mean it is just getting on air it seems 75 we're into the early 80s we've moved from Bowling Green programing being repeated to content from Indianapolis.

>> You were in Indy at the time I guess make that all come to be you know, we were microwaving the signal from Indianapolis up here and every time I came up the highway, you know, I'd see the microwave towers and think well there goes our signal.

There goes Masterpiece Theater, there goes Mr. Rogers and electronically hopping up here and when I arrived we were we were a low power translater station and had a very modest transmitter.

>> In fact, a lot of people kiddingly said, you know, we can't see you unless you're sitting right under the tower.

>> And so that was a chronic challenge and a problem then and the first priority was to get our our power ramped up which we eventually did and so it was quite a ride.

Yeah, well it had to also be one where you had quite the rides from the office downtown in the United Way building.

>> You know, we were we were split up.

We were in the United Way building with our administrative offices and then we had our transmitter facility out on the road and there was a very small conference room out there big enough for a meeting basically and we use that is our early studio and and we were I would have to say innovative if you will, and using the space that we had and then fortunately we had space on our tower and a rock and roll station in town needed needed tower space and they had been on Channel Twenty One Tower but they wanted to increase power that would create some interference issues and they asked us if we had room and they they did an engineering study and found out that they could be on our tower and not create any any interference issues.

So they they moved over to our tower and then they needed a room.

>> I didn't have any room left for their transmitter and I said if you could build a little extension on our transmitter building well how's your your transmitter and craft a long term lease that will be favorable to both of us and they did that and then there was room for three offices on top of the transmitter room so we were able to move our small and modest staff from downtown Fort Wayne up to our transmitter site on Butler Road.

>> Probably good to get the gang together right now.

So it was it was quite interesting the our signal had a lot of interference because we were such low power and and that was just a chronic complaint, if you will, from viewers in the area that they they could they liked us.

>> They couldn't see and so we did manage to juice up that little transmitter for a while and then the way that we we came to full power was that our colleague and in South Bend mentioned to me one day that they were going to put a new transmitter on air and I thought when that happens their signal will begin to encroach on our signal area and so we kind of started daydreaming a little bit and most stations in the area at the time were using a a thirty kilowatt thirty thousand watt transmitter which was certainly sufficient that time.

>> And I went ahead and was able through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting able to buy a sixty thousand watt transmitter and we were really honkin so so we cleaned up our signal issue and gave us a little wider viewing territory and I don't know whether anybody else in town has a 60 on board or not.

>> We we may indeed be the most powerful transmitter in the neighborhood but it was it was a big help and we went from not being able to see is to seeing this just fine and over that transmitter came I think the other big item on a to do list of all sorts and accomplishments during your tenure was the idea of PBS's Fort Wayne becoming its own official member within the system.

>> Yes.

Essentially originating everything.

Yeah.

And that happened well that that was kind of a natural progression.

Again, we were microwaving a signal from Indianapolis up the way up here so that there would be some program service.

But you know, there were a lot of limitations there and we were constantly checking with them to make sure there weren't programs schedule conflicts and things like that.

And so it was just it just made sense to become independent and as I've heard and it was true that Fort Wayne was was one of the few even though we're a small city but nonetheless a major city that did not have its own PBS station.

>> So there are good reasons all the way around to to get us moving forward and we were able to put in a more powerful transmitter on board and then when we created that that little transmitter room that became the incentive to really expand that facility out there and we did a capital campaign and and built a new studio and some additional office space and so that was our home for a number of years.

>> But I see you've kind of upgraded the place since I was amazing with a new coat of paint.

Oh yeah.

You've done well.

You've been an excellent caretaker and it's it's good to see what came out of those early days.

>> Well, I'm going to take you back to those early days.

We found a little piece of something this only lasts about 13 seconds but under the heading of Jim Milner this is your life .

>> Take a look, everyone.

Good morning.

Northeast Indiana.

I'm John Miller, general manager of TV.

Thirty nine and we're setting history this morning.

We're coming to you live from our very own facility for the first time as a PBS station and the nationwide PBS system there you are in master control and an engineering announcing that indeed PBS with the training wheels are off and what would you remember that day?

>> You know, I do the we didn't have enough room really to create much of a pledge set and I frequently was trying to convey to the community and the legislature the community that that our equipment and facilities were modest at best and but you know, it looked good being in the control room because you had monitors and switches and things and gave us an air of of authenticity I guess would be the word.

>> And so we did some of our early pledge drives from there and then we were able to build a studio and start acting like a grown up PBS station.

>> Well, it had to improve the community's posture certainly to to know that now we are one of them and them are us and so forth and together we rise well and Fort Wayne has been a wonderfully supportive community, you know, all along when we started working on the capital campaign and getting to know some of the community leaders, you know, they were very they were interested.

They were supportive.

They were helpful generated a number of nice gifts to kind of get that project off the ground and moving forward and and then that that has evolved to here.

>> So community has been a great town for public television and you know, when we talked about getting together today, I was thinking about my early impressions and every day when I came to work my feeling was, you know, we produce or we share really good television.

>> And there was a phrase that was active back then called TV Worth Watching and and that's that's how I felt about when when I took off in the morning I was heading for the station.

>> I knew that we were going to be delivering a lot of interesting and innovative and worthwhile television as I want to say it was Newt Minow that said that TV was a vast wasteland at one point public television changed that dramatically and we we were airing good stuff so and it is only because of the ground that has been plowed into irrigated and taken tendered through your efforts and those that followed and the ones that went before.

I mean this is a success and a community enterprise of by and for northeast Indiana is really a team sport.

Well, and it gave us an identity I I recall early on when we were recruiting station IDs, you know, we wanted to convey the sense of being a part of the northeast Indiana community and so we sent our modest production team of two out in northwest Indiana and towns around Decatur and all those all those little towns that eleven county area.

Yeah.

And we we shot street scenes and we use that as the backdrop for our station IDs because we were in their community and you know, we wanted to let them know that we cared about them and that they were a part of us and and so that's how we built our initial station ID library was using street scenes from the communities that we served.

>> Yeah.

So I was kind of cool.

Well, and for your being able to see and and support the processes that led to improve power, improved access to programing finding a place of our own within the PBS system for all of that and then some thank pleasure was mine.

>> You know it was it was a good time and we were blessed with a really good staff and an excellent board of directors because it wouldn't have happened without a lot of help and you know, we had good people, we had good leadership and and people that had some visionary thinking and it made it possible otherwise we would still be sitting out on Butler Road and out of the tower looking at you that was a signal going Oh yeah, we love the view from here.

>> Yes.

And thank you for sharing your views from there and that was a great time.

It was.

It really was.

Jim, thank you very, very much for being with us.

My pleasure.

Jim Miller, former general manager here at PBS Fort Wayne Time now we hear once again from PBS Fort Wayne's Erin Arnold.

Thank you, Bruce .

Thank you, Jim.

I just love hearing about the history of the station and how it came to be and if you are a history fan like me, I have an announcement that will interest you especially on this snowy snowy day PBS Fort Wayne is going to Italy.

That's right in honor of our fiftieth anniversary and inspired by the Ken Burns documentary on Leonardo Da Vinci, we are hosting a trip to the land of amazing food, arts, culture and of course history.

>> And we invite you to go along with us.

We will depart Fort Wayne on September 17th and enjoy ten days traveling through Italy.

>> Are you interested?

Here's a clip that will share a little bit more information.

Ciao Italy PBS Fort Wayne is going to Italy and we invite you to join us travel to the home of Leonardo da Vinci September 17th tonight and enjoy the sights of Rome Pompei Sorrentino Florence and more.

>> Visit our website for more information on how you can join me on this trip of a lifetime.

I can't wait to travel with you this September and explore those cities like I mentioned Florence Sorrentino, Venice, Rome and more.

We will walk through the ruins of Pompeii, take a boat to Murano Island and see some of the beautiful glass and see if we can't straighten out that Leaning Tower of Pisa.

So are you packing your bags yet or perhaps you want a bit more information?

We will have two upcoming information sessions that we invite you to if you are interested in the trip, join us on January 28th at two p.m. for an in-person information session with representatives from Colette Travel who will be here to answer all of your questions.

But if you can't make that date, join us virtually on January 30th at six p.m. via an online link that I'll be sending to you once you RSVP and that will also be hosted by CoLab Travel to RSVP to either session or for a complete itinerary and pricing information visit our Web site at PBS for Wayne Dogs Travel.

I hope you will join me on this trip of a lifetime.

>> Now let's get back to Bruce .

Roger Rhodes came to Fort Wayne after studies at Ohio University and positions as program manager in Lima, Ohio and is general manager at WIIFM TV.

He became president and general manager at PBS Fort Wayne in 1990 and would serve in that role for 17 years now retired and living in Florida we spoke with Roger regarding his time here.

>> Roger, thank you so much for taking time to join us today.

It's a it's a real pleasure to open up the doors to this alumni experience and it's exciting to be here.

>> And before I get on to anything else, congrats relations on the big celebration and the anniversary that is I think it's a tremendous thing for a great resource in the Fort Wayne community.

>> Congratulations.

Well, I appreciate that.

What was it like in those early days to be GM of an up and coming service like PBS Fort Wayne that was so exciting.

Exciting time, a big learning curve for me and that curve continued on for many years.

But at that time we were able to start to look at well what's next?

What should a PBS affiliate in Fort Wayne look like?

What what did this community need and that led to a vision for local programing which had kind of been my background prior to coming to PBS .

Thirty nine .

But there was a great team of talented folks around me who did wonderful work helping to set new precedent and they were very hard to figure out the ways to pursue those projects.

Some of them big winners.

>> Some of them have now been better and that's that's the excitement of local service, local production, live television, those sorts of things.

You bet.

And in fact being able to be multiple services simultaneously I think it was on your watch this was the first time to move from one channel to four channels with digital set right.

>> We were very fortunate, very blessed to be able to do that.

Yes.

In fact I realized too that from that enhancing the vision campaign not only was the move to four channels another outgrowth of that but also the idea of moving from around 6000 or so 7000 square feet to 27000 square feet that even today your efforts allow us to be one of the largest production studios in the state which is tremendous with its opportunity and that whole public service dimension to support the local programing that you talked about so there's a little bit of legacy there for you.

>> It happened on your watch.

Well, I think you stated very well, Bruce .

It happened on my watch.

I was the beneficiary of a lot of that but the ones that really carried the water and and the whole weight are the investors the members from the community who see the value and were willing to step up and make it happen and then a staff of people that it takes to deliver on the promises made, namely making sure that we were able to continue to pursue local productions that had really valuable content and of course the national programs and all through with that ultimate public private partnership thing with folks just enjoying the service and realizing that they'd be a real deficit on the screen without it I think you hit the nail right on the head.

It nothing happens without funding even though it's not for profit, the electricity still has to be paid and the programs have to be purchased and the talent folks who come up with the ideas for the program really deserve to be well compensated and all of that takes takes the funding and I remember as I'm sure you do too many many pledger times when you wonder if it's if it's going to continue to work out this time.

But time after time folks in the Fort Wayne area did come through and they are really the one that legacy belongs to.

So as you say, it happened on my watch.

It would not have happened would not have happened without them and be quite frank God's blessings on it.

>> Well, and with those blessings we we dare to look forward.

We are at that fifty year mile marker.

What hopes might you have for this station say going into the next fifty?

>> My hope for public broadcasting will be to continue to lead the way in and valuable children's programing that is so sorely needed things that that programs that help bring a family together in a very positive way and we see right now so much division nationwide and I think that PBS public broadcasting both nationally and at the local level as we see with the Indiana Public Broadcasting Station's news service, I think that there may be a big role for them to play in leading the way to re energizing quality journalism nationwide.

>> Well, we're certainly on that road to public service which is the never achieved destination because of its changing shape and changing demands opportunities along the way.

We're at that as we say fiftieth anniversary rest area but we pull back out onto the highway with your aspirations for the station and also with our appreciation for all that you did to get us to the place where we could even talk today.

Roger Rhodes, thank you so much for taking time to join us.

Is a real pleasure and a happy anniversary.

>> Oh, happy anniversary to you.

Congratulations and it's been a pleasure, Bruce .

So good to talk with you.

It was great to see Roger again.

We're glad he's doing well and was able to join us virtually from Florida.

>> Now there's something else I want to tell you about.

It's an addition to the annual Explorer Day event that we host every year in June we're hosting a PBS kids character Breakfast.

>> That's right.

The 11th annual Explorer Day is set for June 7th at Parkfield Field from 10:00 until 2:00 and the Explorer Day breakfast will be served just before Explorer Day begins right there at Park View Field.

>> Some of the PBS characters we've invited to breakfasted to join us include Daniel Tiger Clifford the Big Red Dog jet from ready getgo Rosie from Rosie's Rules and of course our own writer will be their two children will be able to enjoy their breakfast, have pictures taken with their favorite PBS kids, characters and parents.

You'll have stories you can tell your kids when they're older.

>> We're very excited to be able to share this event with our biggest fans.

The kids who watch PBS Kids Breakfast will be followed with the annual Explorer Day festivities.

Each year we get together about 30 to thirty five businesses and organizations who come to parks Field to share information with children to keep them engaged and learning through the summer months.

Parents also get to learn something.

They get to learn about the many services and activities available for their children not just during the summer months but every day of the year.

The date for Explorer Day and the Explorer a breakfast is June the 7th.

It's at Parkview Field Breakfast reservations will be available early this spring sometime in March and will have a great grand time.

It is the funnest work day of the PBS Fort Wayne year for me getting to meet the families, the friends, the kids who are having such a great time now let's go back over to Bruce .

>> He's got some more information for us.

We have some of the most socially social media I in northeast Indiana and it is that kind of miracle in this millennium that allows us to follow the progress of all the things you've been hearing about in this hour regarding our fiftieth anniversary celebration, the character breakfast, the rewin series, the speaker series and then some and it is something we just want to remind you that catching up with PBS Fort Wayne is just a couple of mouse clicks away.

We have social media that is available to you through YouTube for example and so much growth has been happening in about the last year to 18 months and being able to migrate a lot of the samples of content from our 730 PublicAffairs shows creating individual channels for each of those shows so you can watch a little or a lot or several and all through the week and that is simply found by either clicking on the YouTube link from our Web site or going to YouTube outcome and then type at PBS Fort Wayne and there you go.

You'll be able to find our documentaries, our local shows including the new ones subterranean cinema to be able to watch great old movies again for the first time there's Jeff all over again and it is absolutely a pleasure to know that there are solid significant shows that you know, you can count on every week like matters of the mind and the special shows that sometimes come and go too quickly.

You want to catch up on where they are.

So in the electronic space of things, YouTube is a great way to go.

Our Web site PBS Fort Wayne dot org is another from which lots of different directions can happen.

>> There's a wonderful home base through your computer but then for those there you see it.

>> Fifty years in the neighborhood with our new documentary thanks to producer Rob Rhodes and all that has been shared from this community to help tell its own story that top of the website page will take you through some of the shows of the week that you don't want to miss and that's all about being able to be sure that we keep you connected with the programs you want to see.

>> And for those who just love a good book, we have this this is previews.

This is our quarterly magazine and it is free.

>> You can download your own private copy of previews from our Web site.

You just can subscribe to this every quarter and in fact our monthly program listings can be by subscription as well.

Just click subscribe bribe two guides.

>> That's a link in the engage section of our Web site this quarter in particular if you will, kind of a commemorative issue of a sort because there are several pages dedicated again to looking back at how it all got started just like the old PBS show that has the title How We Got to Know and this helps indeed to fill in the gaps and give us a chance to then together look forward to all of the great reasons to find PBS Fort Wayne in twenty twenty five.

So we commend all of those things to you.

>> But one other piece from the past deserves a special moment because one of public television's memorable moments took place in 1969 when Fred Rogers appeared before the US Senate Subcommittee on Communications to advocate for 20 million dollars in funding for public broadcasting that has at the scene across from Fred Rogers with Senator John Pescatore who is known for his tough stance and powerful position.

But nevertheless, as you might imagine, Mr. Rogers speaks about the importance of nurturing children's emotional and psychological development through thoughtful television programing.

>> Take a look.

>> I end the program by saying you've made this day a special day by just being you.

There's no person in the whole world like you and I like you just the way you are.

And I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service .

>> Could I tell you the words of one of the songs which I feel is very important?

Yes, this has to do with that good feeling of control which I feel that the children need to know is there and it starts out what do you do with the mad that you feel?

And that first line came straight from a child.

I work with children doing puppets and in very personal communication with small groups .

>> What do you do with the mad that you feel when you feel so mad you could bite when the whole wide world seems oh so wrong and nothing you do seems very right.

It's great to be able to stop when you've planned a thing that's wrong and be able to do something else instead and think this song I can stop when I want to can stop when I wish I can stop stop stop any time I know that there's something deep inside that helps us become what we can.

>> I think it's wonderful.

I think it's wonderful.

>> Looks like you just doing the twenty million dollars to have a public TV station provide quality programs like Mr. Rogers neighborhood to area families was the impetus to the community's creation of PBS Fort Wayne fifty years ago this hard work and perseverance did not go by unnoticed.

In February 1975 a letter arrived from Pittsburgh affirming the shared success of the station and this community to establish PBS Fort Wayne and the letter read in part how fortunate we in public television are to have people like you who are dedicated to the task of offering meaningful television programing.

>> We wish you the best at Channel Thirty Nine Sincerely Fred Rogers PBS .

>> Fort Wayne has been able to be here with you because you've been here with us every step of the way and every step going forward we can because you care .

Thanks for watching.

I'm Bruce Haines and joined by All Here.

Happy Anniversary NE Indiana from all of us to all of you