WCTE PBS will use this year’s annual dinner to celebrate local storytelling and historical preservation across the Upper Cumberland.
President Avery Hutchins said the event serves as a platform to highlight the station’s previous year of work while raising awareness for its ongoing mission. Hutchins said the theme: “Moving Through History with WCTE.”
“This time last year was the loss of our federal funding,” Hutchins said. “And we really wanted to put an emphasis on the work that we’re doing here, not just right now, but over the last 48 years that we’ve contributed to the Upper Cumberland.”
Hutchins said the station is aligning its local celebration with the national 250th anniversary of the United States. Hutchins said the dinner will feature throwback video footage, testimonials, and live performances to showcase how the station has preserved regional culture.
“Well, I think it’s always important to tell the stories, but I feel like it’s it’s important for us to think about the longevity of the station, 48 years serving the Upper Cumberland, bringing local storytelling, preserving our culture, celebrating our history, and WCTE plays a big part of that in that when we were placed here many years ago, that was one of the pillars of our work here in the Upper Cumberland was to preserve that history, tell that history, make sure that people can see themselves in the work that we do and that we’re well representing the area and the community,” Hutchins said.
The evening will include the presentation of several community awards, including the Partner of the Year and the Joe Albright Community Impact Award. Hutchins said Kosta Yepifantsev will receive an advocacy award for his efforts in Washington and at the local level following the loss of federal funding.
“I think it’s always important to put a spotlight on people that are going above and beyond the work,” Hutchins said. “I think it it shows the impact that this community can have on on this whole area as a whole when you have people that are giving back, and it’s not always a financial giving back, but it might be their time or their service or like their advocacy.”
Hutchins said the station has evolved from a traditional over-the-air broadcaster to a multi-platform service available on Dish, DirecTV, and streaming services. Hutchins said despite these technological changes, the station remains committed to providing free educational resources and local programming like “Wish You Were Here” and “It’s Your Business.”
“Well, I think when you attend our events, you get a deeper understanding of the work that we are doing in the Upper Cumberland and why we’ve been here for 48 years and why we want to continue to be here for the next 48 years,” Hutchins said. “I think that understanding the impact that we do have is critically important and when you become invested in something, whether it’s with your time or your your financial means, then you—it becomes a stronger entity for you and you become more involved with it such as you might volunteer, you might be an advocate for the station, you’ll attend more events.”
Hutchins said the station is currently piloting a program with a local daycare to provide teachers with tools that help prepare four-year-olds for kindergarten.
“What excites me most is just, in addition to the local storytelling is just our ability to to work with schools and children and again, giving them new tools and resources that can help with those school readiness programs and aligning our work with our partners in the Upper Cumberland,” Hutchins said. “You know, together is stronger.”
The event takes place August 20 at The Saltbox Inn and is open to the general public regardless of membership status.
