This year the SCAT Annual Meeting will include an Award Ceremony hosted by Jimmy Del Ponte to recognize excellence in numerous categories of programming and activity at SCAT. We are accepting nominations for the “Best of 2008” awards among 2008 programs produced by SCAT members (not staff) in the categories below. Individual or series programs may be nominated, and you can nominate your own show if you like.

The categories are: Hot Set Show, Informational Program, Music/Variety/Entertainment,
Youth-produced, and Religious.

Shows may be nominated for more than one category if applicable. After the nominating deadline of January 9, SCAT will announce the three programs with the most nominations in each category on our website. The winner of each category will be announced at the Annual Meeting. To nominate a program, send an email or note to Daniel Marques at membership@access-scat.org specifying your name, the program name, and the category. Only current SCAT members may participate.

One Member Representative position will be open on the Board when John Carreiro steps down after six years of service. If you are interested in serving or would like to nominate someone, please let me know as soon as possible. The usual term is three years.

The Annual Meeting will be a fun evening, with dinner donated by Union Square restaurants beginning at 6:00pm. The one-hour meeting will start promptly at 7:00 and will be cablecast live on Channel 3. You will hear short reports from the SCAT Board, Executive Director, and elected officials. We will elect a Member Representative to the Board, give awards for outstanding programs and volunteers, and certificates to all of SCAT’s series producers. In addition, all attendees will be entered into a raffle for donated prizes. If you have a raffle prize to include, thank you! Please let me know ahead so that the donation can be included in the show credits.

On December 10, Santa and Mrs. Claus visited Somerville! For an hour and a half children from all over Somerville either came in or called in to the studio to talk to Santa. Jeff Jam opened up the show with a few holiday songs next to the brightly lit Christmas tree. Then Santa and Mary Claus took over with stories about how they met and their lives with the elves at the North Pole. One elf named Zina even came in to say hello to the children.

Many thanks to the crew: Bill, Lindsey, Gui, Daniel, Prince, George B., Matt, Mike, Elizabeth, Cherline, Wendy, Julia, Jeanne, and Hans. A special thanks to JoJo, George W., and Jeff.

Happy holidays from all the members, volunteers, and staff of Somerville Community Access Television.

Nepal has seen rapid political changes during the last two decades. On May 28, 2008, lawmakers in Nepal legally abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule. A Maoist ideologue, and the newly appointed Finance Minister of Nepal, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai visited Boston and held a talk program at Harvard University on 14 October, 2008. In the talk program entitled ‘Penury to Prosperity’ Dr Bhattarai shared his vision and answered questions from the audience.

This program was produced by Eta and Eugene Shrestha.
Scheduled cablecast times on SCAT Channel 3:
Wednesday, November 19 at 11:00pm
Tuesday, November 25 at 6:00pm

 Congratulations to the Next Generation Producers for winning a second place award for their public service announcement on peer pressure. The video is a dramatic presentation of how to resist gang involvement. It was produced by teens from the Somerville Boys and Girls Club and Centro Presente in the Spring of 2008. Instructors Dacia Kornechuk and Prince Charles led the group.

Bill Barrell also won an award for his lively coverage of the 2007 Fluff Festival in Union Square. The contest garners entries from access center producers across the Northeast, including New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. It is quite competitive, as producers only send in their very best programs.  SCAT's two awards are quite an honor. Great work!

Daniel Marques is SCAT's new Youth Program and Membership Coordinator. He will lead the Next Generation Producers afterschool club at Somerville High School as well as other teen programs. Daniel is also the go-to person for membership questions.  

Daniel has a degree in Communications and Journalism from Universidade Federal do Parana and UniBrasil in Curitiba, Brazil. He  got involved at SCAT in 2007 as an intern, then assisted Dacia and Prince with the youth program through the Summer of 2008. As a full time staffer, he will combine his Portuguese and video skills to teach production classes in Portuguese at SCAT.

 SCAT is offering SCAT members production classes in Portuguese this Fall. The Basic Portable Equipment class, which begins on October 7, covers the use of SCAT's professional camcorders and audio equipment. The Basic Editing class, which begins on November 18, introduces students to Final Cut Express. The fee for each class is $40. 

To become a member of SCAT, you must be a resident of Somerville and attend a free, 45-minute Orientation session. Call 617-628-8826 for more information.