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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2010

Sinikka Nogelo, Executive Director
Cape Ann TV
38 Blackburn Center,
Gloucester, MA 01930
(978) 281-2443
fax (978) 281-8679

In announcing her retirement at the end of May, 2010, Sinikka looks back:

In the early 1980's, I walked through the doors of 38 Blackburn Center for the first time. I'd heard a public access television station was starting and that free classes were available. I signed up and lo and behold I, who rarely picked up the family 35mm, felt as though the TV camera was a comfortable, new body part. After two sessions I was set to go.

What to do? I started by researching The Fisherman and Joan of Arc statues and doing short pieces about them. At that time, there was a new phenomenon called "Red Tide." I wanted to know what it was and why it kept me from my clams. And as one question often leads to another, I soon had a series of "shorts." One was a clam digging demonstration with Stubby Knowles, another a trip to the clam depuration plant in Newburyport where master diggers who were allowed to dig in closed flats brought their catch to get cleaned in clear waters, and yet another was an interview with Dan Greenbaum on the causes of pollution at Little River.

Next I ventured into the studio, another resource open to access producers. I volunteered as a camera operator on a show called Positive People, the title of which pretty much sums up my feelings about everyone I've been privileged to work with at my 38 Blackburn Center home. The first show I produced and hosted was called Arts Eye. As a painter myself, I naturally wanted to present artists to the local television audience. My first guest, Joy Dai Buell, was wonderfully composed and interesting and her handmade paper looked fabulous on the screen. I was both painfully shy and camera shy, but I made it through this first brush with my version of "sacrificing for art."

Four years earlier, I'd been one of eight artists who founded "Center and Main," a cooperative gallery in downtown Gloucester. We all admired the famous Folly Cove Designers. I applied to the Gloucester Arts Council for a grant to video their surviving members. It was one of the many special shoots I will always treasure in memory.

All in all, it was a heady time. I'd often painted until 1 or 2 am, but more and more, it was video editing that kept me up. I joined the Y so I could use the Hydra Fitness machines to build up enough strength to lift the heavy video decks we carried to City Council meetings and sporting events. I quit my regular part-time job and picked up smaller jobs, so I could concentrate on honing my television skills. To this day, I thank The Cricket Press, Musician Magazine and Para Research for making that possible, and of course, my husband Joe and our darling daughters who were small at the time.

I became a "professional" with the magazine show Womenscape, a full-time cable employee in 1984 and the station's Program Director soon after. From then on, all my life skills, my liberal arts degree from Tufts and the years I worked in business prior to going to art school came into play. In August 2007, the station itself transitioned from a large cable company's department to a community-owned non-profit of which I feel honored to serve as the first Executive Director. I'm particularly appreciative of the hard work of our many volunteers. Due to their talented efforts, Cape Ann TV continued to win national awards in its first year!

In retrospect, I find it truly remarkable to see what small steps, started lightly, can lead to a lifetime career. And mine has been the very best. And it's because public access channels are all about community. Absolutely everything I've done at work for nearly three decades has brought me closer to the people of Cape Ann. I've been so very privileged to record your events; to do what I can to help support your efforts; to volunteer for worthy causes with you; and to interview thousands of "ordinary heroes," to borrow Capt. Sully Sullenberger's phrase, on Cape Ann Report alone.

On May 31st, as I retire from Cape Ann TV, it will be with sincere gratitude for the support and friendship extended to me by so many. And I'll be very proud to once again join the ranks of Public Access Volunteer. I invite you to do the same.