You didn’t get to the RAAPA Christmas concert this weekend? Missed Sen. Collins’ visit last Tuesday? (She wowed all who met her.) Watch Jolene Lovejoy’s latest “River Valley Connections”?

WVAC TV 7, the River Valley’s own public access channel, is where to turn for coverage, live and taped, of important local events. Because of its program schedule system, you have multiple chances to view those events.

Channel 7 is also a gold mine of information. It’s rough around the edges, yes. But, as Joe Volkernick remarked, “I check out Channel 9 (Augusta) all the time. They have a budget of $100,000 and they can’t touch us for programs.”

Channel 7 operates 24/7 on an annual budget of $15,000 ($10,000 from Rumford, $4,000 from Mexico and $1,000 Dixfield). Its only paid staff is Laimie Cross.

A Bethel resident, Laimie does all the programming for Channel 7 and for the Bethel area access channel. She spends roughly 10 hours a week at each station, on top of her full-time job as lab technician at Rumford Hospital.

“I’ve been working at the Bethel channel for 15 years. I started because I was interested in photography then moved on to videography,” she said recently.

A little hectic

She has high praise for Channel 7 and its “excellent core of volunteers who produce quality programs. I am not sure Rumford-area people know what they’ve got.”

There are the long-haul heavy-duty volunteers, John Rivard and Joe Volkernick. Joe’s been volunteering countless hours for seven years. He is grateful for Laimie’s programming work because he’s out straight filming – the easy part – and then editing and making tapes.

“I don’t mind because I’m retired, but sometimes it gets a little too hectic,” he said. “The better you get, the more work there is to do.”

Don’t know about you, dear readers, but I have been very frustrated from time to time trying to watch a Channel 7 program – say Gene Towle’s “Jam” (local musicians playing country and western – a hit at the Veterans Home in Paris when John Kezal brings the latest tape).

Chances are it won’t air at the advertised time. The cause, in part, is the automated play system that repeats each program every 13 hours for seven days.

Enough said.

That could change, Joe Volkernick said, if more reliable volunteers joined up. The good news is there has been a spike in the number of reliable and talented volunteers over the last year or so.

Stepping forward

Mary Puiia LaPointe, who works full-time at Franklin Savings, was watching a meeting of the Rumford Board of Selectmen back in August 2004. During that broadcast, John Rivard appealed for volunteers to pick up his work filming the Rumford selectmen’s meetings during the months he spends in Florida.

“If someone doesn’t step forward, the meetings won’t be taped,” he said. Mary stepped forward.

Rich Plante, a Meroby Elementary School teacher, came aboard recently and, thanks to him, the Mexico selectmen’s meetings are regularly taped for Channel 7. (He was very distressed when a glitch prevented his filming last week’s lively meeting.)

Youngest, but not least: Gregory Ramey, who just turned 12, is an enthusiastic and increasingly skilled volunteer for Channel 7.

“He’s doing a great job,” Joe said.

“He’s wonderful,” said Laimie.

Gregory fits right in at the River Valley access channel where everyone is wonderful and doing a great job. Contact Channel 7 at 364-7956.

Linda Farr Macgregor and her husband, Jim, live in Rumford. She is a free-lance writer and author of “Rumford Stories.” Contact her at [email protected].