The Waldo County Pie & Story Festival, the New Vaudeville Revue at the Colonial Theater, the Waldo County Fiddle Contest, the Mid-Coast Summer Video Guide, and the documentary, The Last Year of Peirce School, are some of the all new, locally produced television shows that will soon be seen in prime-time on the brand new Belfast Community TV on cable channel 2, also known as BCTV2.

Program Director, Ned Lightner, is seen here setting up the station equipment in the unused attic space of the Belfast Boathouse. The City of Belfast will allow the station to incubate in the attic for two years to help the fledgling station get on its feet.

Belfast Community TV on cable channel 2 is available free to all cable subscribers and will be overseeing and operated by the local non-profit organization the Belfast Institute of Lifelong Learning (B.I.L.L.) to provide a non-commercial, locally produced television station to cable viewers in the Belfast area.

BCTV2 will also start each morning with a family-friendly, convenient, colorful and animated community bulletin board that will also display the time and give a constant spoken local weather report through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA.

There will also be competitions and awards for locally produced video, photography and poetry. Details on these competitions will be announced.

Channel 2 was originally part of the franchise contract Adelphia Cable had made with the city of Belfast that was mandated by congress to be sure that the public had access to cable media. As times and media technology have changed, the franchise agreements are changing as well.

Although Adelphia provided the initial funds for the necessary equipment, cable channel 2 will not be generally funded by the Adelphia franchise agreement, or by Belfast taxpayers. The new station, which has little overhead, will be completely self-funding through volunteers, grants and local business underwriters.

Community members will get a chance to see the new animated bulletin board and a sampling of upcoming shows at a free presentation on April 20 in the Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library starting at 5 p.m.

For More information on the station and its programming call Ned Lightner, during business hours, at 338-6161. For information on the bulletin board and becoming an underwriter for the station call Susan Guthrie at 338-6140, during business hours.