Naperville Community Television, Channel 17

Rolling Out the Red Carpet -- Part Two

2007-11-15T15:23:00.000-06:00

Last night topped off another successful documentary premiere for NCTV17. Two Brothers, One Beer, and The American Dream was shown to the public last night at NCTV17’s headquarters. The premiere topped off a night that began with a Naperville Chamber of Commerce After Hours event that NCTV17 was proud to host this month.

Moving around in a crowd of 100-150 people, NCTV17 and Chamber staff greeted guests as they arrived, guided them through various stations that displayed the day-to-day operations of the station, and handed out information about NCTV17’s business memberships.

Ron Stenger, a 6^t^h generation descendent of John Stenger, one of the brothers that began the Stenger Brewery was present with his father, Jack Stenger.

Darlene Sanger, a current Naperville city council member who will be running for Illin
ois State Representative in 2008, was out for the evening as well as various other Chamber members and Naperville business owners.

The food was catered by Two Kitchens who did a fantastic job of serving up tasty

hors d’oeuvres and refreshments.

Chamber members and Naperville business owners had a great time conversing and eating at the After Hours, and at 7pm, NCTV17 began its p ublic premiere of Two Brothers, One Beer, and the American Dream . A large crowd stayed to watch the documentary which was a huge hit. Beer connoisseurs and ordinary beer drinkers alike immensely enjoyed the documentary that further cemented the important role the Ste nger Brewery played in Naperville's history.

Goodies such a s D VDs of NCTV17's various documentaries as well as two signed copies of Ambitious Brew donated by the author, Maureen Ogle, who was interviewed in Two Brothers, One Beer, and the American Dream.

Other guests included:

If you would like to read more about the making of the Stenger Brewery documentary, just scroll down to the bottom of the blog. You can read about voodoo doughnuts, interesting interviews, and how many hours we’ve logged and reenactments we’ve taped during documentary production.

Two Brothers, One Beer and the American Dream is set to debut on Channel 17 in the next few weeks. Please check the NCTV17 website for days and time.

Rolling Out the Red Carpet -- Part One

2007-11-15T14:29:00.000-06:00

In a moment of creative inspiration, Nancy Wiersum, NCTV17’s Community Development Director, added pieces of popcorn on long stems to the vases of flowers she strategically placed around the station for Tuesday’s big event. In a popcorn themed double affair that would serve both as The Naperville Chamber of Commerce’s monthly After Hours event, and the public premiere of the documentary, Two Brothers, One Beer, and The American Dream, NCTV17 rolled out the red carpet in anticipation of receiving 100-150 guests for both events.

Not only were NCTV17’s documentaries on display, but the control room was set up with a live camera that would allow guests to better understand how a television show is produced at the station.

Voila! A Chair was Born and the Last Couple of Stenger Reenactments

2007-07-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

The last couple of Stenger Brewery Documentary Reenactments are done bringing the total number of Stenger Documentary Reenactments to six!

That is more than the total number of reenactments for the NCTV17 documentary, A Role of Their Own, that showcased 4 reenactments and the documentary, One in a Million, that started it all with two reenactments showing what it was like to work for Prince Castles in its heyday.

One of the last last reenactments we taped was a lawyer reenactment last week with Tom Cowan (the narrator of One in a Million) in the historical Scott House which currently houses the law offices of Brooks, Adams, and Tarulis. We needed an interesting way of representing the reading of a will.

The second to last reenactment location was found by Carl, NCTV17’s Operations Supervisor, who revealed about a month ago that his parents had an antique bed dating back to the mid-1800s, around the unfortunate time that Nick Stenger (one of the Stenger Brewery’s brewing brothers) passed away. The bed at Carl’s parents’ house proved to be the perfect location for staging Nick’s last days. NCTV17 Production Associate, Jennie Barger, offered to play the role of Nick's wife, while Nick was reenacted by Rick Love and John Stenger was played once again by Chris Chenoweth who has already played in several other Stenger documentary reenactments.

Carl’s dad, Peter, was incredibly supportive and got into the whole production by offering sage advice from behind the camera such as, I am not sure if window blinds were around in the mid-1800s to which Carl replied, This is our movie, Dad. The blinds stay in the picture. (Actually this is not an exact representation of what Carl said. Carl really does appreciate his dad’s advice.)

Carl’s parents apparently have more than just the antique bed that has been passed down through their families. The most interesting antique, they have (and one of the most interesting antiques I’ve ever seen except for the stuffed turtle light with light bulbs extruding from it’s four legs) is what they call their toilet chair.

The toilet chair had previously served as Peter’s Great Aunt’s commode. Since her commode was an ornately detailed and grand looking wooden chair, Carl’s father could not stand to part with it, and so both of Carl’s parents had it turned into a sitting chair by placing a beautifully covered cushion into the hole in the seat. Voila! A chair was born! (Thank you Peter and Lois Schultz for letting us tape in your home.)

The very last reenactment was taped this past Monday at the Naper Settlement. It was a general beer garden scene that we hoped would encompass and express how much beer was embraced by German-Americans and what a large part of their life and leisure involved moderate and healthy amounts of beer drinking.

Once again, the Naper Settlement was extremely kind in letting us tape on their premises and the always helpful, Bryan Ogg, added two long benches and a wooden table to our scene.

Our cast of reenactors were pulled from many different pools of actors. Lindsey Theis, an NCTV17 Associate Producers volunteered her boyfriend, Shawn, and friend, Brian. Liz Andrews, an NCTV17 college interns and her mother volunteered as well, and we finally rounded out the cast with Kevin Dolan, an NCTV17 Community Producer, and three members of the fantastic Kids Kabaret: Jesse Coleman, Sarah Stephens, and McKenna Freund.

After costuming everyone (thanks to Kandiss Hernandez of Kids Kabaret and All Dressed Up in Batavia), and after comments by Lindsey’s boyfriend, Shawn, and friend, Brian, that they were swimming in a sea of pants, we were ready to start taping.

One might think that acting in a beer garden reenactment would be easy, but that is not the case! Carl made the children run around in 4 or 5 different takes, while we specifically asked the reenactors to act like they are drinking now then act like they are talking and having a good time then walk up some stairs, and then walk down some stairs. Lindsey Theis probably had the most work to do having been designated to be the beer maid and told that she had to carry 4 mugs full, two in each hand, negotiate with the old fashioned dress she was wearing while walking down the gazebo stairs, and then slam the mugs down on the table with all the gusto she could muster without spilling all of the prop beer out of the mugs. She managed to do this all several times and only spilled one beer once, and not while she was doing a scene, but rather when she was telling someone a story in between takes.

All in all, the Stenger Brewery Documentary has been the most intensive in terms of taping and costuming and staging reenactments. The reenactments in this documentary are by far the best ones we have ever taped, and has brought our production quality to a whole new high. We are extremely pleased with how they have all turned out and look in the documentary and can’t wait for the August premiere to share it with more people.

Reenactments

2007-07-11T10:16:00.001-05:00

As the Stenger documentary progresses, we have been taping more reenactments due to the relatively few number of pictures we have of the Stenger Brewery and the Stenger family.

We recently completed taping three reenactments last week: a gold rush reenactment staged in a woody area of the DuPage River, a reenactment with Coors in a historical house in Lisle, and of course, the quintessential tavern scene at the most perfect of locations, the Pre-Emption Tavern at the Naper Settlement.

One might think that taping a reenactment is nothing more than pointing a camera at some actors and hitting the record button. What most people don’t realize is that hours of preparation and planning go into not only finding a suitable location for the reenactment but also finding actors, costumes, and props.

Kandiss Hernandez of Kids Kabaret is instrumental in helping us find actors; they are either actual members of Kids Kabaret or they are the parents of the members of Kids Kabaret. Or in the case of the Coors reenactment, the elder John Stenger was played by the husband of the piano player for Kids Kabaret.

Kandi is also an expert at finding costumes for our reenactments at local thrift stores. The total cost of the costumes for the beer tunnel reenactment? Less than $30. And when she can’t find what she’s looking for at a thrift store, she sends us over to All Dressed Up in Batavia. We just picked up a nice lawyer costume from the mid 1800s complete with an ascot (that time period’s version of the bowtie), vest, and suit coat from that actual time period.

Bryan Ogg, the Research Associate at the Naper Settlement, also helps us tremendously by helping us keep our reenactments historically accurate. While we are perfectly willing to throw in an IKEA table with a piece of fabric over it for a parlor scene from the 1870’s, Bryan insists on showing us drawings of what an actual table from that time period looks like. Even if that means that the only table we can find that is anywhere near close to this drawing at the prop house is missing its top and part of a leg. Bryan also had his mother FedEx an actual gold pan for our gold rush scene so that we could be as accurate as possible, even if our reenactor, Colton, was standing calf-deep in the DuPage River and only finding bottles and old watch bands in his panning efforts.

The prop house I mentioned earlier is a huge treasure that we recently discovered online called Zap Props. It is an old industrial building stuff full of props and antiques. You can find anything from a wooden beer tap from the 1800s (which we wanted) to an exact replica of a turtle that doubles as a lamp with bulbs sticking out of its hands and feet. Not to mention on the top floor is a giant 5ft tall can of Redi-Whip. Shanna, who helped us immensely, assured me it was empty.

Zap Props is located in an industrial area on the South Side of Chicago near an interesting dive called Huck Finn Donuts. (We have yet to taste one of Huck Finn’s donuts. Bill wasn’t brave enough to venture in. And the time before when we picked up the props, on the way back to NCTV17 we stopped at a sandwich place and witnessed a man in a bright blue velour sweat suit jumping up and down on a police car while the officers stared at him. What we won’t do at NCTV17 to get documentaries made.)

And last but not least, we tend to get an extra hand from some NCTV17 interns. Ricky and Peter got to work the jib camera and do grip work at the tavern reenactment and were a huge help.

Beer and Brothers

2007-06-11T14:17:00.000-05:00

Reenacting is one of the main ways NCTV17 illustrates its documentaries. Reenactments are essential in recreating historical events that could not be recorded by photograph or video having occurred prior to such technologies.

It was thanks to Bryan Ogg, the Research Associate from the Naper Settlement that we were able to tape a reenactment inside a beer tunnel for the Stenger Brewery Documentary. The beer tunnel was located on land owned by Bryan’s friend, Suzie who had bought the land which included a large house that had once served as a bordello in its heyday. Suzie had ran the house as the Addison House Bed and Breakfast for many years, but at this point only she, her 2 cats, and pooch reside in it.

And what a house it was! Every room was immaculately and uniquely decorated. Not only had Suzie painted fresco--like images on her kitchen cupboards, but she made ceramic pieces of art as well. The ceiling in her dinning room was taken from an old schoolhouse and each of the suites that she rented out to bed and breakfasters, had a different theme. There was the Bird room, the Cowboy room, and the Honeymoon suite. Each with its own knick knacks, paintings, photographs, drawings, and furniture.

Suzie had not stopped with the house, however, she had created an outdoor garden complete with a multileveled pond where koi swam, a full flower regalia next to her garage, and vines of honest-to-god hops. (The only hops we’d ever seen was the one in the beer we drank) Suzie also kept bee hives and cultivated her own honey. (Something Carl almost found out the wrong way when he unknowingly approached the bees’ homes on his way to getting a closer to look at the vines of hops.)

After taking in Suzie’s house and garden, she led us along a small trail through the woods at the back of her house and then down some wooden stairs to the beer tunnels. The tunnels were dark and according to Suzie vials of cocaine had been found strewn across the floor. (Suzie knew they were cocaine vials because someone had conveniently etched the word cocaine into the glass. This is back when cocaine was perfectly legal and well liked and used for recreational purposes.)

Our reenactors included one of Liz's students, Colt, his brother Kyle, and two NCTV17 staffers, Carl and Stevan. Colt and Kyle were set to play John and Nick Stenger, the two owners of the Stenger Brewery, and Carl and Stevan were to be their workers.

Both Kyle and Colt play football, and when we got ready to take the big heavy wine barrels down to the beer tunnels, we all watched as Kyle picked one up, hoisted it over his head, and started walking down toward the tunnels. From now on, it is NCTV17 policy to have at least a couple of football players in our reenactments.

After carrying all of the gear down to the tunnels, Carl, Stevan, and Liz set up the lights and camera, while I got Colt and Kyle ready to enter the 19^th century. It’s amazing how much some carefully selected shirts and pants from a thrift store can transform a person. (Thank you Kandiss Hernandez!) Here are Colt and Kyle as John and Nick Stenger.

After we taped with Colt and Kyle for an hour, I got Carl and Steven costumed up as well. Stevan said he might start wearing this hat to work.

Here are our reenactors before their costumes, and here is them after.

At about this time, we broke for lunch. The reenactors waited to change back into their normal clothing, but I insisted we didn’t have the time, and so all four of the reenactors ate their lunch in full costume.

Just as we were finishing up, a man at another table who had been staring at us quite frequently asked if the four reenactors were in a band. Carl replied that no they were actors, and the man insisted that they were a band. I figured if he wanted to believe that, then that was fine with me. I told him they were called The Farmers and were going to be on MTV next week to which the man promptly told Carl that he believed his response over mine.

Full from the food, we went back to the tunnels where we wrapped up Carl and Stevan’s scenes and then began to tape the exterior shots with the help of NCTV17’s coolest new piece of equipment, the jib.

The Jib is a long metal bar that sits horizontally on a tripod at it’s midsection and holds a camera on one end and handles on the other. The operator can then smoothly manipulate the movement of the camera by holding onto the handle and pushing the bar around. The shots Carl took with the help of the jib are incredible and will really help the reenactments have more of a movie type feel.

Our day started to wrap up at 4:30pm which was good because it had started out at 6am. Colt and Kyle ended their day as they had started it, sleeping in the backseat of Liz’s car.

On the Road Again DAY TWO

2007-04-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Many of the work trips Liz and I take have us traversing through small towns with populations ranging from 225 to 3500 and names like Otterville and Nutwood. One of the most interesting things we have seen so far in one of these towns was a small pond next to a normal family home with tall Greek type statues lining the back of it. A nice little retreat in the middle of nowhere. We also passed a large sign that said, Bulls for sale. You definitely do not see that everyday in Naperville.

The Illinois State Historical Society Award Luncheon was being held at the Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton, and when we pulled into the parking lot, we were happy to see lots of trees, hiking trails, and the Illinois River running behind it. The weather was beautiful and we were going to take advantage of it after the ceremony.

Liz and I were pretty confident that the lodge was not an original log cabin, but had been built specifically to be a hotel and recreational center. Normally we would turn to the Naper Settlement for help with this, but unfortunately they were not able to make the trip down to the award ceremony. They had won two awards too!

We were treated to a nice buffet lunch before the award ceremony, and the other guests sitting at our table were incredibly nice. At first we thought we would sit alone, but eventually some brave souls named Barb and Ted Wachholz ventured over, and by the end of the lunch, they were deeply interested in the Cock Robin/Prince Castles story documentary Liz had done as well as our station and will hopefully come over for a visit. The award ceremony turned out to be a wonderful presentation honoring state historians in more ways than one. Apparently history is not only relegated to books these days. There were awards for Educational Programming (the category we were awarded in), Public Programs/ Exhibits, Special Projects, and Teaching. We were the last organization to be awarded in the whole ceremony and were extremely happy to walk away with a Superior Award for Educational Programming for the Joseph Naper Documentary. We never think of ourselves as historians, therefore, we were honored to be given an award from the Illinois State Historical Society. It has given us great credibility in being historically accurate which is something we strive to be. (With great help from the Naper Settlement.)

After the ceremony, we walked around the Pere Marquette lodge grounds gearing ourselves up for another 5 hours in the car for the drive home. We walked around in a circle on a campsite until we figured out that the trails were on the other side of the lodge. Then having finally found our way onto a moderately difficult trail, realized that we were ill-equipped to be climbing over fallen trees on a one-person path bordering a nice size ravine. I was also wearing clogs which are definitely not hiking shoes.

An hour later, we were back on the road, listening to a great cd mix a la Liz. Liz pulled a Bryan Ogg and made us stop at a small cemetery in the middle of a corn field where we found a gravestone with Carl’s (our operations supervisor) last name on it. I graciously made the photo his new computer desktop. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner again on the way home. Chicken and dumplings this time and I finally tried one of the biscuits Liz is a huge fan of.

All in all, we were honored to win the Superior Award for Education Programming from the Illinois State Historical Society. We are also deeply appreciative of the Naper Settlement who nominated us for the award and who is also a great help to us in keeping our documentaries historically accurate. Carl gets a shout out too for being the behind the scenes guy and putting in just as much work in the Joseph Naper Documentary as Liz and myself.

Another Road Trip: For an Award This Time DAY ONE

2007-04-30T14:11:00.000-05:00

About two weeks ago, Liz received a letter from the Illinois State Historical Society that the Joseph Naper documentary had won an award. Without knowing anything else about it, Liz and I (who also worked on the documentary) made hotel reservations and hopped in the car for another road trip to Grafton, IL which roundtrip would clock in at 562 miles.

Our plan was to drive to Springfield, spend the night in a hotel, and then drive the last 3 hours to the award ceremony in the morning.

Halfway to Springfield we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel, where I had never eaten before. Two Friday Fish dinners and one raspberry lemonade later we were on the road again. Luckily the rest of the time to Springfield went quickly thanks to another infamously fantastic cd music mixes that Liz makes. Men Without Hats, anyone?

We finally arrived at the hotel in Springfield where we asked the nice hotel clerk how far it was to Grafton, IL. (This being important so we could figure out how much we could sleep in the next morning.) She told us it was 1 1/2 hours, not the 3 that I had thought it was. In fact the hotel clerk was so convinced that Grafton was 1 ½ hours away that when Liz asked if she was sure, she replied that she had lived there her whole life!

Liz and I then spent the next half hour trying to get the wireless internet working at the hotel so we could find out how many hours it really was to Grafton, IL. Liz tried to get her Blackberry and laptop hooked up to the internet during our struggle. (Talk about being wired! I am surprised she did not have DISH TV in her back pocket.)

Finally, Liz was able to get on the internet and we discovered that we were looking at a 2 to 2 ½ hour trip to Grafton. Not as good as an hour and a half, but better than 3 hours.

We then slept soundly.

A Day with Harold Schrader

2007-03-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

Here at NCTV17 we often collaborate with the Naper Settlement/Naperville Heritage Society. They let us interview them for our historical documentaries and help us behind the scenes with research, and we help them videotape elder Naperville residents for their Oral History Project.

The latest Oral History Project taping took Bryan Ogg, Research Associate at the Naper Settlement and myself (Laura Zinger, Associate Producer at NCTV17) three hours away to a small town in Western Illinois where we taped 96- year- old Harold Schrader talking about the Naperville he grew up in.

Before we met with Harold, we stopped off at a nice small town restaurant called Olympia Flame.

On the way to Harold’s we saw an interesting road sign that Bryan insisted we take a picture of.

Once we got to Harold’s house, I set up the camera, and then Bryan started to interview him about his past. Harold remembered swimming in the quarries and old time Naperville businesses from his youth in Naperville. He also remembered Caroline Martin Mitchell and the car she would drive around town. Harold shared his memories for two hours and ten minutes.

On the way home, Bryan and I saw many other interesting sites along Rt. 71 including an airplane that was crashed into the ground symbolizing an agricultural crash that had occurred in the area and another small town called Norway, IL which apparently was the first Norwegian Settlement in the United States.

Hopefully Harold’s oral history will add more insight into the town that Naperville once was, so that its rich history will never be lost.

The Germann Girls

2007-02-06T11:59:00.000-06:00

When John Stenger's daughter, Anna Elizabeth married Henry Germann, they had 14 children. 8 of them were girls whom we have affectionately dubbed the Germann Girls.

Evelyn Leahy Hankel sent us this picture of her mother, Evelyn Genevieve Germann, back in Naperville in 1915 awaiting her wedding date on June 28th, 1916.

According to the family tradition, each Germann Girl was to spend one year living in Naperville prior to their wedding date.

According to Evelyn, this party was held in the Germann dining room of the Stenger Farmhouse of her mother's grandfather, John Stenger, whom they had all lived with there until his death in 1911.

The dining room was decorated by Evelyn's sisters who are standing in the back. From the left, they are, Minnie Germann, Magdalene Germann, and Marie Germann (author of the family's history, After 100 Years) The rest of the women are school friends of Evelyn's mother from St. Peter and Paul School. Evelyn's mother is in the center of the photo, and to her left is her dear friend Anna Knoch and to her right is another of her sisters, Pauline Germann.

Many thanks to Evelyn, who sent us this photo.

Stenger Bottles in the Press

2007-01-30T13:33:00.000-06:00

Rich La Susa, one of our interviewees for the Stenger Documentary has written about the four Stenger Brewery bottles that Tom Majewski found during a privy dig in The Pilsner, a publication of the Chicagoland Brewiana Society.

To read the article, click here http://ez-files.net/download.php?file=315f7659fb9b0ee98328aabf19112177

Lights, Camera, Action: Two Days in the Lives of NCTV17 Producers: DAY TWO

2007-01-30T13:00:00.000-06:00

After a restful night at the hotel, we ate at the Grove Cafe in downtown Ames. There we found out that they did indeed have pancakes the size of a dinner plate and we also found out that Larry, the husband of the boss, snores thanks to a chalkboard hung on the wall.

After breakfast, we headed to the Ames Historical Society where Dennis C. Wendell, the Collections Curator at the society, (and also probably one of the nicest human beings we have ever met) gave us a short tour of downtown Ames helping us search for a location with the best ambiance in which to interview Maureen. A funeral parlor was briefly considered, but the Ames Public Library ended up being the best and most quiet place for our interview. Dennis was helpful to the umpteenth degree and raided his house for what we call beer steins (but the Germans actually call them bierkrugs which means beer mug in German) and his friend, Don Faas’, house as well for empty beer bottles.

The picture on the left is our set before the props Dennis gave us. The picture on the right is the set after Liz did her lighting magic and we rolled in a table from the library staff room.

At this point we were ready to interview Maureen Ogle. Maureen is incredibly well spoken and intelligent with a strong voice and when she gets excited she gets a twinkle in her eye. Maureen, in her own words, loves teaching people about history.

During the interview, Maureen postulated that the American depression in 1893 (which was just as severe as the Great Depression in the 1930s) could have been a contributing factor in John Stenger selling his brewery. (Which he did in 1893.)

Maureen talked about how Germans civilized drinking. In the early 1800s most Americans were drinking whiskey in dark dingy saloons. Near the 1850s when German speaking immigrants started coming to America in large numbers they brought with them their culture of leisure time and pleasurable beer drinking. They also brought along beer gardens.

After the interview, we talked with Maureen about her newest project while she signed our books. She will again tackle the American identity while telling the history of another item that Americans consume and have consumed in large quantities throughout history. Look for that in the next year.

At this point, we knew that we wanted to treat Dennis to lunch (he was helping us move tables for goodness sake!) So at his suggestion we went to Olde Main and had an excellent lunch complimented by their Red Monkey Root Beer which was brewed in their on-site brewery. We had a wonderful time chatting with Dennis while we ate, and promised to visit him if we were ever to return to Ames in the future.

We had one more stop to make before we left Ames, and that was at Stam, an amazing chocolatier just a few doors down from Olde Main. We had seen it earlier on our tour with Dennis that morning. They are the only franchise that carries Stam chocolate which is produced in Des Moines, and they also carry various other chocolates and licorice which evidently is well loved by the Dutch. Something Liz had not known but found intensely interesting because she had spent her undergrad at Hope College in Holland, MI, a school that proudly displayed its Dutch heritage. (Liz even wore wooden shoes and learned Clompen, a Dutch dance, while at Hope.)

Terry, the owner of Stam saw our NCTV17 jackets and started to inquire about why we were in town. While Liz told him about the Stenger Documentary and our interview with Maureen Ogle, the woman in line behind us overheard her and told Laura that she was a home brewer from Oregon. Liz and Laura promptly told both of them to go buy Maureen Ogle’s book, Ambitious Brew.

With our chocolates (Laura bought 5 or 6 of them and ate them all on the car ride home) and coffee in tow, we got back in the car for our return ride.

Here is a picture of Grinnell, Iowa which we passed on our way and we took a picture in homage to Debbie Grinnell from the Naper Settlement.

Lights, Camera, Action: Two Days in the Lives of NCTV17 Producers: DAY ONE

2007-01-30T12:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, our day began with Liz giving a one hour presentation on how NCTV17 makes a documentary as part of a joint event for members of both NCTV17 and the Naperville Heritage Society. She opened her presentation by citing her main inspiration behind her ideas: Dunkin Donuts coffee. She spoke to an almost full crowd in the chapel at Naper Settlement using clips from the many documentaries NCTV17 has made: One in a Million: The Prince Castle and Cock Robin Story, Community Building on the Great Frontier: The Story of Joseph Naper and the Founding of Naperville, The Naperville Riverwalk: The First 25 Years, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: The Martin Mitchell Mansion Story, and A Role of Their Own in order to illustrate how pre-production, production, and post-production all work seamlessly together in the creation of a documentary.

Lots of familiar faces were at the presentation.

There was a the lovely reception afterwards that was catered by My Chef (we loved the lemon squares and cream cheese puffs). Then Liz and Laura were off to Ames, Iowa in order to interview Maureen Ogle, the author of Ambitious Brew, a highly entertaining and intelligent book about the history of the brewing industry in America, for the Stenger Documentary.

On the second half of our five hour drive we discovered that Iowa gas stations are interesting. Not only did the one we stopped at that night have very large swords for sale, but the employee working behind the counter informed us that her manager was a cross dresser while we paid for our gas.

When we finally got to our hotel, we were pleased to find that the desk clerk was a nice young man (a self-professed townie) who told us that the best breakfast place in Ames was the Grove Cafe which was not pretty but had pancakes the size of a dinner plate. His advice to us, Just order one.

Good night everyone. Tune in tomorrow to read about our second day in Iowa.

Thank You All!

2007-01-16T15:55:00.000-06:00

Well, Liz and Laura are finally back in the office today.

As we look at our trip in review, we realize how lucky we are to have been able to make this trip out to Oregon.

We have seen beautiful rolling hills, Stenger brewery memorabilia and pictures that we did not know existed (Our current favorite is the one of Anna Elizabeth Stenger Germann on the donkey in front of the waterfall-she is the one on the right), and spent a large part of our time in the extreme hospitality of the descendents of John Stenger: Evelyn Leahy Hankel, her daughter, Paulette, Bill Leahy, and Ann Chick.

We still do not know where the Stenger beer recipe is nor whether there are any existing Stenger beer bottles out there, but we do know that John Stenger would be very proud of his modern day descendents that have lovingly kept his memory and that of their grandparents and parents alive.

Thank you all for making this a great trip full of stories, wonderful pictures, and for sharing with us your most treasured possession: your family.

From VooDoo to Veneta

2007-01-14T23:54:00.000-06:00

Portland highways are completely confusing. Not only are there highways to contend with, but numerous bridges as well that cross over the Willamette River that goes right through Portland. But we persevered because we were incredibly interested in finding our way to Voodoo Doughnuts, a funky doughnut shop Laura found out about when doing research for the trip.

Emmett (an incredibly nice and helpful guy) was our guide as he gave us a tour of their rotating doughnut case: raspberry filled chocolate covered doughnuts shaped like people (Laura’s favorite), vegan doughnuts covered in various candies and breakfast cereals, and a Memphis doughnut-a fried banana fritter drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate chips which Liz immediately recognized as a tribute to Elvis.

After buying a dozen (we will share them later with Laura’s sister and her husband who live in Portland), we were off to navigate the Portland highways again to meet and interview Ann Chick. On the way to Veneta, Oregon where Ann lives, we saw lots of open space populated briefly by pit stops and big stores like Wal-Mart and Target. (It looked a little bit like driving to Champaign-Urbana, IL) But once we got closer to Veneta we saw beautiful open fields filled with ponds and small loose forests. Liz even saw an enormous (and by enormous, we mean enormous-the picture does not do it justice) nest on top of an old telephone pole that she said was most likely an eagle’s nest. (It looked like a condo, if you ask Laura)

We got a little lost once we passed the Veneta sign, but a quick call to Ann put us on the right path again, and once we got on the right street, we were amazed at the wonderful homes hidden off behind the trees.

Ann graciously met us when we pulled into her driveway, and did not mind at all when Liz started to completely rearrange her living room in order to get the best shot for the documentary. While Liz set up the camera, Laura was once again put on picture duty (the fun part!) and got to look at all of the fantastic photos that Ann had of her Great Grandmother, Anna Germann Stenger, and her family.

We also got to see the bishop chair that John Stenger once sat in and apparently was very dear to him. Ann had thought that it was called the Bishop chair because whenever the Bishop came to the home of John Stenger in Naperville, he would sit in this chair. When Ann looked the chair up online she found out that it was also called a Bishop chair because he top of the chair has a gothic style to it and what appears to be crosses.

Ann had other items that her Great Aunt Marie Germann (the author of After 100 Years, which was a memoir of life on the Stenger farm) had told her had been in the brewery. We saw a beautiful New Haven Clock that used to sit on the desk of John Stenger. (Ann put a key in the clock to wind it up so we could hear it chime.) Ann also owns a small serving platter that Anna Elizabeth Stenger gave to her parents as a Christmas gift in 1876 when she was barely 20 years old. The Bishop chair clock, and serving tray were all beautifully crafted and just serve to remind us that the art of craftsmanship today is just not what it used to be.

The interview with Ann was wonderful as well. She drew from the well of memories that her Great Aunt Marie wrote about in After 100 Years. In this memoir, Marie wrote about John having been injured, but does not say how. Ann had heard a version different than any we have heard before, but you will all have to wait for the documentary to find out what that is.

Liz was also happy to see the Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks at Ann’s house. (Sorry, Ann!)

As we head back to Portland on I-5, we are recapping on what a great and rewarding trip this has been.

Our final thoughts will be posted tomorrow.

Following the Brew In Astoria

2007-01-13T20:50:00.000-06:00

This morning we were 15 minutes early for our interview with Liisa Penner, so we decided to take advantage of the time and take a quick walk around the area. We walked by a winery that sold Chocolate Orange Whey Wine (Liz nor Laura could find anything wrong with that), then we passed a snow covered garden enclosed in a red gate with what looked like its own personal address, and finally we came upon a unique and neat reproduction of the first fort in Astoria, Fort Astoria. The reproduced fort was maybe 1/8 of the size of the original fort and was structured against a wall where part of the fort was painted on the wall. (see the picture in the upper left corner so you can fully understand.)

At promptly 8:30am we were back at the Clatsop County Historical Society, where the friendly curator, let us in and we were able to meet Liisa Penner for the first time. It turns out that her name is spelled with two is because she was born in Finland. (Laura was wondering about that since she first started emailing Liisa but never asked.) Liisa gave us free reign to pick a location for her interview. After being tempted by the old-fashioned bar on the second story of the building with a giant moose head hanging by it, Liz decided it would be too hard to properly light the area and the giant mirror behind the bar was not helpful either. (The mirror might have aided the bartender in keeping his eyes on his patrons when his back was turned, but the last thing a person with a video camera wants is to see their self in the shot)

Liz found the perfect location in one of the downstairs galleries while Laura set to the task of scanning in Evelyn’s photos and documents as well as a photo and ads of the North Pacific Brewery. (In the picture here you can see Laura making herself at home at yet another historical society.)

About an hour later, it was showtime, and we sat Liisa down and began asking her questions about Joseph Schamberger (he was married to Mary Stenger making him John Stenger’s son-in-law) and the North Pacific Brewery. Liisa had a wealth of information which she had gleaned from various newspaper articles, Cumtux articles (Cumtux is the Clatsop County Historical Society’s quarterly magazine), and census records. She provided us with all of the facts she could find on Joseph Schamberger and the North Pacific Brewery as well as some insights such as Joseph Schamberger wasn’t so far off base thinking that moving to Astoria would improve the health of his wife, Mary. Apparently malaria and other such infectious diseases were not common in the town. According to Liisa, air is clearer here because it comes off the Pacific. We agree, the air is a lot different from the kind we breathe in Chicago.

After the interview with Liisa, we met with Evelyn again at the Clatsop County Historical Society so we could meet her brother, Bill Leahy. Paulette, Evelyn’s daughter was there as well with more Goonies gifts for Laura. (Sidenote: Paulette is wonderful and has been a great help to us while we were in Astoria. We hope she will come out for the Stenger Brewery Documentary Premiere with her sister, Patty, and mother, Evelyn. It helps that the Oprah show is taped in Chicago, because apparently Oprah is to Paulette what the Goonies are to Laura.)

While Paulette went out for coffee with her husband, we sat down with Evelyn and Bill and talked about the Stenger Brewery, the Germann family (remember the hard G there), and the history of Astoria. Bill’s father-in-law was a manager for the telephone company back in the late 1800’s—early 1900’s and Bill had brought along two phone books to show us. One was from 1899 and had phone numbers from the whole West Coast from San Diego and Los Angeles to Portland and Seattle. Then he showed us a phone book from 1910 that represented phone numbers only from Portland, Oregon. The phone book of the whole west coast was only half the size of the phone book that was printed 11 years later for Portland, Oregon. Talk about a growth spurt!

As you all must know by now, Astoria, OR has been a location for many Hollywood films. Evelyn has one more idea for a movie that should be filmed in Astoria which she has written to Steven Spielberg about. Evelyn’s idea is based on a true story that involves a shipwreck, the only surviving sailor, and the Native American girl who saved him. Evelyn is a romantic woman who has even published a book of poetry. Listen up, Mr. Spielberg, Liz and Laura give this idea two thumbs up!

After meeting with Evelyn and Bill, we headed over to The North Pacific Brewery building which now houses a Firemen’s Museum as well as a children’s museum to tape some footage for the documentary. There we got footage of bottles embossed with North Pacific Brewery and a small glass with the brewery’s name on it. (Sidenote: No Stenger bottles were found.) In the museum, there was also a receipt for ice sold from the North Pacific Brewery. Lots of old time breweries sold ice as well as beer and this brewery was no different.

When we were done taping at the brewery, we only had one more thing to see on our way out of town: the Goonies house (or what we thought was the Goonies house? Paulette, am I standing in front of the right house? There was no sign! ;))

Currently we are driving to Portland, trying to get off of the mountain before any of the forecasted rain, snow, or ice hits. What a view!

Tomorrow we are off to interview Ann Chick, another descendent of John Stenger who lives in Veneta, OR. Our blog may be a little bit late because of all of the driving we will have to do. To be continued. (Feel free to post some comments, folks. We like feedback)

Pancakes, Interviews, and Goonies

2007-01-12T21:01:00.000-06:00

Laura called Liz on her cell phone at 7:30am this morning with a crucial question: Liz, did you look out your hotel window yet?

Liz answered, Yes, Laura, I did. How about next time, you call me on the hotel phone?

Soon after we were eating pancakes at the local breakfast nook, Pig N Pancake, where Laura noticed the infamous rock from the Goonies movie on the front page of the Daily Astorian newspaper.

Deeply enthralled, she opened the newspaper to find out more and saw an article about a documentary crew from Naperville in town to interview Evelyn Leahy Hankel on the inside front cover.

Ecstatic that we had been written about in the town’s daily newspaper, we met Evelyn’s daughter, Paulette, in the lobby of our hotel and followed her to her home where Evelyn lives with her.

Evelyn greeted us with open arms and began to show us pictures of her family that she had carefully spread out on the kitchen table. She also offered us Stenger cookies which were made from a secret family recipe. Later on we joked with Evelyn about how a Stenger family cookie recipe could survive a hundred years, but the Stenger beer recipe was no where to be found. Were the cookies better tasting than the beer? There is no way to know.

While Evelyn finished showing Laura her family pictures, Liz, set up the camera, lights, and microphone. Unfortunately, Evelyn had no more photos of John Stenger nor the Stenger Brewery, but she had other great photos of her family. One of them was a wonderful photo of Louis and Marie Germann (Evelyn pronounced it Grr-men with a hard G) with animals on the Stenger farm. Apparently they were the last ones to leave the farm before their mother Anna Elizabeth Stenger Germann sold off the land and packed up all of their remaining items for their new destination, Berkeley, CA. Louis, Pauline, and Marie had all gotten jobs for Kroehler Manufacturing Co. San Francisco office, and their parents decided to move out to California with them.

Another photo shows Anna Knoch (Evelyn pronounced this Kanuck) who was a good friend of her mother or her aunt at someone’s house in Naperville sitting at a large table with about a dozen other girls all smiling for the camera.

After Evelyn explained the last photo to Laura, Liz announced it was time for the interview. Evelyn looked fantastic in her purple jacket and once she sat down, she passionately told us all about her family history.

When Liz asked Evelyn about John Stenger, she said, He was a very handsome and romantic man from my past. He came to America so young.

When Laura asked Evelyn about the Gold Rush, she responded, John Michael was very lucky in the Gold Fields, we never heard an amount, but we always heard our grandfather was very wealthy.

At 1:45pm, we wrapped up our interview with Evelyn so we could all get back to our hotel by 2pm to meet a reporter from the Daily Astorian, which Paulette had graciously arranged for us. (Paulette also graciously arranged to give me a fantastic rubber Goonies bracelet left over from the movie fest. Thank you, Paulette!!)

At the hotel, Evelyn relayed her family history for the reporter while Liz explained why we were making the Stenger Brewery documentary.

One hour later, we were taking Evelyn back home while braving the patchy icy streets. (We had to burn rubber to get up the hill to where Evelyn lived due to the unexpected ice.)

On the way back to the hotel again, Liz noticed the Astoria column, a 125 ft structure built to commemorate the founding and history of Astoria. Inside of the column is 164 steps which Liz and Laura ended up climbing in order to tape the breathtaking views of Astoria that they hope to use in the documentary. (At the top of the column, a nice couple from out of town Laura if she knew where the infamous rock in Goonies was. She confessed sadly that she did not.)

At the top, we could see the spectacular Columbia River, the extensive Evergreen forests surrounding the town, and Astoria itself with its many older, multi-colored Victorian homes. We even managed to get an amateur photographer to take our photo at the bottom of the column.

We are currently writing this blog from the Wet Dog Café/ Astoria Brewery where the fish in the fish and chips melts in your mouth and the brownies are made with their specialty stout.

Our stomachs are full, our legs stronger after the 164 steps, and our bodies thinking it’s 8pm when it’s really 2 hours earlier. We sign off here so we can some rest before our 8:30am interview with Liisa Penner at the Clatsop County Historical Society.

The Goal For Today Was to Get to Astoria

2007-01-11T22:10:00.000-06:00

We started out with two hours at the airport, four hours on the plane (we saw the movie, The Queen, two thumbs up) Halfway up to Astoria (3 hours by car), we got a call from our 87-year-old 3rd generation Stenger interviewee,
Evelyn, telling us to turn around and go back to Portland due to the snow and ice. Being the native Chicagoans we are, we were unfazed and being documentary producers, we would do anything for the story! Fortunately, it ended up being a very small amount of snow and some ice which is apparently unusual for Astoria, so we could appreciate Evelyn’s concern.

Along our journey, we saw Mt. Ranier from the plane, we saw a sign for white coffee (which had Liz very curious!), and we drove over the Lewis and Clark bridge. That is seven hours traveling time in all.

So far we are impressed with how quaint and friendly a town Astoria is. We can see why Mary Stenger and Joseph Schamberger would have wanted to move here if it were anything like this 100 years ago.

Much more tomorrow....Liz and Laura

Oregon or Bust!

2007-01-11T12:54:00.000-06:00

When I tell people I make documentaries for a living, I almost always get a raised eyebrow and an inquiry into how exactly I do that and are we hiring. My job includes a lot of behind the scenes researching. Researching a documentary is a little bit like being a detective minus the seedy office and scorned divorcees. Luckily, I get to do most of my research and "cold calling" from a nice clean office with hot coffee (a must for any NCTV17 employee).

The documentary I am currently working on is about the Stenger Brewery, which was in operation in Naperville from roughly 1856 to 1893. It was started by hearty, risk taking German immigrants who did not think twice of moving to America from Bavaria and starting a large brewery in a town that until they arrived mostly spoke English. Within 20 years they had a brewery production of 17,000 barrels a year. That's not as much as major breweries like Miller Brewing Company and Anheuser-Busch, but in the late 1800's, it was a big accomplishment. During the time of its operation, the Stenger Brewery was also the town's largest employer.

Back to my mode of research for the Stenger Documentary. I got turned onto my most recent "cold call" case by Don Wampach whose dedicated effort helped bring Stenger Beer briefly back to Naperville during Naperville's Seisquicentennial Celebration. (That was in 1981.)

When Liz and I talked to him a few months ago, he shared with us letters he had received in 1981from Stenger descendents across the nation. One especially attracted my attention more than the others. It was a letter from Marie Taubenkrau whose Grandmother was Anna Elizabeth Stenger She wrote in her letter that Anna Elizabeth had worked as an office girl in her father, John Stenger's, brewery. This was news to me. The trail was hot and I was on it. I looked up every Stenger in the Oregon area where Marie's letter was postmarked. Then I started to "cold call."

The first number I called was Marie's husband. He sadly informed me that Marie had passed away and that he knew nothing about the brewery, but that his daughter Ann Chick might be able to help me. He gave me her number. Two weeks later she sent me a picture of John Stenger no one in Naperville had ever seen before. There are a lot of Stenger descendents living in the Portland, OR area. They are all descended from John Stenger's daughter Mary and her husband Joseph Schamberger.

Thanks to my minor detecting skills, which includes my ability to talk to anyone for
l-o-n-g p-e-r-i-o-d-s o-f t-i-m-e, I've been told by other descendents I've tracked down of the Stengers that they have more family photos, an original keg card used to order beer from the Stenger brewery, a thermometer that was used in the brewery, and numerous memories and stories. Another one of these descendents is still living and happens to be 87 years old. She is the granddaughter of Anna Elizabeth Stenger whose father was none other than John Stenger, the great brewing brother of the Stenger Brewery. Evelyn is the oldest living descendent of John Stenger, and Liz and I will be flying out to Oregon this Thursday to interview her. While we are there, we will interview Ann as well as an historian from the Clatsop County Historical Society, Lisa Penner. We are excited to meet them all.

We aren't exactly sure why Joseph Schamberger decided to move to Oregon in order to further his brewing career (My personal theory is he got sick of Midwestern winters), or where the gold is that family lore proclaims John Stenger came back from the California Gold Rush with. But we hope to find some more theories if not answers. If you want to know what we find out, be sure to read this blog. We'll be posting live from Oregon.

Going on a Beer Run: NCTV17 follows the history of Naperville's Stenger Brewery to the Pacific Northwest

2007-01-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

As part of Naperville Community Television's on-going commitment to preserving Naperville's history, a rare opportunity has presented itself with the current documentary in production about the Stenger Brewery. The Stenger Brewery operated in Naperville from 1849 to 1893 and was the city's largest employer at the time. After much research a connection between Naperville, Illinois and Astoria, Oregon has been established. Astoria's Evelyn Leahy Hankel is the great grand-daughter of John Stenger, who ran the Naperville brewery with his brother Nick. A crew from Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 is traveling to Oregon January 11th, looking for stories and memorabilia from the Stenger family brewery. This trip is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Ron and Paul Stenger and their families.

To share the excitement with the Naperville community, producers Elizabeth B. Spencer and Laura Zinger will be blogging everyday from both Astoria and Portland, Oregon. The nights of Thursday, January 11th though Sunday, January 14th, the duo will post pictures and commentary from the day's interviews on NCTV17's website www.nctv17.com
As part of the trip, not only will the pair interview a direct descendent but also visit the Clatsop County Historical Society and further research the connection between the Naperville Stengers and the Schamberger Brewery. Joseph Schamberger married Mary Stenger, one of John Stenger's daughters and established a brewery in Astoria which prospered for many years. Both Spencer and Zinger hope that residents join in their excitement by following the blog.
"It’s not often that you come face to face with history like we will this week with Evelyn," said Spencer, producer and NCTV17 Executive Director, “We just want everyone to share in our passion for this wonderful story."

The Stenger documentary began production in late June of 2006 and is being funded in its entirety by the Stenger family. It is part of Naperville Community Television, Channel 17's on-going documentary series and will air on Channel 17. Working in collaboration with Naper Settlement and the Naperville Heritage Society, NCTV17 has been able to create award winning documentaries that not only entertain but educate as well. In 2006, the two entities formed a partnership to preserve the digital media of Naperville. "This is a perfect example of a partnership," says Spencer.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 provides a voice to educate, inform, preserve, entertain, assist, and celebrate one another through diverse programming that reflects the character and spirit of our community.

2007-01-08T15:46:00.000-06:00

When NCTV17 decided to make a New Year's resolution for 2007, it decided to get a make-over. Well, Spotlight on Naperville is getting a makeover at least. It starts with a re-affirmation of the show's mission: toe bring to NCTV17's viewers the latest in not-for-profit organization's events and community happenings. And so, a revised name: Spotlight on Naperville: Community that Cares.
To go along with the revamped name is a revamped set--which you can see Production Associate Jeff Chow working on, a new musical theme and new graphics. I won't spoil it for you, but it will put a modern new look to NCTV17's flagship show.

Tune in Wednesday night at 7:00 to catch the new show in all its glory!

Reenacting a Naperville Legend

2006-12-12T17:08:00.000-06:00

Here at NCTV17, one of our missions is to preserve the past through the making of documentaries. In the very first one, we covered the development of Napervilel following World War II in "New Naperville: Urban Development in the Post War Era." The latest, "Community Building on the Great Frontier: The Joseph Naper Story and the Founding of Naperville" focused on.. well, read the reeeeeally long title, and you'll understand.

The next one in the cue is "A Role of Their Own: The Naperville Women's Story" about the important women in Naperville's past. We just shot a reenactment today: Genevieve Towsley, the Naperville Sun reporter and local historian (Her statue sits next in front of Barnes & Noble in downtown Naperville). Playing the role of Towsley: Kandiss Hernandez, a woman of soe many talents, I'll only attempt to list three of them here: Host of Spotlight on Naperville, Creative Director (and founder!) of Kidz Kabaret and costumer extraordinaire! Here is Kandi as Towsley in front of an authentic Royal typewriter--just like the kind that Towsley herself used. And standing over her shoulder is Laura Zinger, the researcher behind "Joseph Naper..." and now coming into a role of her own as producer for "A Role of Their Own: The Naperville Women's Story."

A Time of Thanks at NCTV17

2006-11-22T13:32:00.000-06:00

As the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, I think it is a good time to reflect on what we are really thankful for. At Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 there are many things for which I am thankful:

I am thankful for a great staff. The younger staffers bring energy and enthusiasm to the station and remind me to be more carefree. I am immensely thankful for Nancy Wiersum and the entire Wiersum family. Nancy is our Community Development Director whose grace and professionalism has helped NCTV17 grow in leaps and bounds in the short 16 months she has been part of the team. The support of her and her family (special thanks to Ben) have made such a huge difference. Carl Schultz is another key component in NCTV17 success. His creativity, constant support and willingness to work so hard for NCTV17 is something I am truly thankful for. Then there is Bill. Bill provides a steady presence at the station. His immense skill helps us with everything from set building, to ribbon cuttings to a friendly smile as you come in the door.

I am thankful for the support of our Board of Directors. The trust they place in me is something that I do not take lightly.

I am thankful for our many community partnerships that have helped us grow in so many ways--more ways than they probably know.

I am thankful to our community producers who create shows that reflect the community and their interests. And for their tireless effort as crew members for the many programs produced at NCTV17.

I am thankful for interns and volunteers who return from college and stop by to visit to keep in touch.

I am thankful for Keith Druek and his tireless effort to raise money for NCTV17 through his show “Our Town.”

I am thankful for the city council that asks tough questions and challenge me.

I am thankful for all the great stories in Naperville and the people willing to let me tell their stories through our documentaries.

I am thankful the residents who watch Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 and for those call in and tell us they enjoyed one of our programs.

I am thankful for the opportunity to be the Executive Director of this great organization, so that I can say to you all, from the Board of Directors, the staff and myself, Happy Thanksgiving!

NNHS Students report their stories at NCTV17

2006-11-07T15:26:00.000-06:00

Every Fall, students from the Naperville North High School Enriched Print Media Class are bussed over to NCTV17 to learn about making a television program in our studio. This year, over sixty students from two periods worked together to create four great shows about issues of interest to NNHS students. They learned about camera operation, microphones, directing, computer graphics, as well as a new addition to the cirriculum this year: Interviewing a guest.

These students did their school, their teach, and themselves proud by really committing ot the project, creating great sets (painting flatson a Friday night when any sensible teen would rather be at the movies. But let's facie it--anyone that committed to doing a great job at anything, including television, isn't entirely sensible. And that's a good thing), and taping their final productions after school on October 30th and November 6th.
So when you see the great job these students did on their projects, give them a congratulations. They've more than earned it.

2006-11-06T15:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the SECA grant from the City of Naperville, NCTV17 is doing something its needed done a long time ago: rebuilding playback. To give you an idea on how antiquated the older system was, just realize that it was built when 3/4" video tape was state of the art and DOS was the operating system du jour.

Thanks to the folks at Tightrope Media Systems and SmartChoice AV Solutions, Naperville Community Television is finally entering into the 21st Century. Utilizing a video server, a DVD "jukebox" capable of holding 400 DVDs and a network based database system, our playback system is going to be the best its ever been.

Here you can see Operations Supervisor Carl Schultz (me) along with our Programmer Jay Gosciniak (far right) and Mark, the installation engineer from SmartChoice AV Solutions.

You can also see a large pile of boxes.

2006-11-06T15:24:00.000-06:00

Not ones to keep things to ourselves, we bring members of the family in to help out on the projects nearest and dearest to us. Associate Producer Laura Zinger, the researcher behind NCTV17's current block of historical documentaries, is showing her twin sister Heather the ropes in the exciting art of interview transcribing.