TV's "Live at 5" comes to Brazil

By FRANK PHILLIPS
frankphi@hotmail.com

The show had all the excitement of an old-fashioned chataqua. There were no speeches, but organizations offered food, there was lots of high quality entertainment and something the public doesn't get to see every day -- a real, live TV newscast.
WTWO, NewsChannel 2 raised its portable tower and turned the Forest Park band shell and surrounding grounds into a huge TV studio for Monday's "Live At 5" broadcast.
All the familiar faces were there: Dana Winklepleck, Jesse Walker, News Director/Anchor Tom McClanahan, Patrick Fazio and Sports Director Jason Penske.
But the real stars of the show were our Clay County people: The Brazil Concert Band, The First United Methodist Church Bell Choir, Toni's Tumbling & Dance Studio and the Brazil Concert Choir.
All performed during the show and the leaders were interviewed on TV; so were Mayor Tom Arthur and outgoing Chamber of Commerce President Mitch Chalos.
Glen Brown, of the Clay County Popcorn Festival Committee, introduced the Valley viewers to Orville Redenbacher's contribution to Clay County history as members of the committee looked on.
One of the items on display was an original, vacuum-packed jar of popcorn with a black and white label that Redenbacher hauled to Chicago in the trunk of his car when he was trying to introduce the Midwest to his gourmet popping corn.
Refreshments were in abundance courtesy of Christmas in the Park, the YMCA, The Brazil Coffee Co. and St. Vincent Clay Hospital.
While five NewsChannel 2 cameramen, a producer and news and weather anchors were on the air, the happy group of residents visited with one another and munched on the available goodies.
Next week, WTWO takes their show on the road to Sullivan. The station plans to broadcast from 10 cities this summer.
Station Manager Duane Lammers wouldn't say how much it cost the station to broadcast from each of the cities, but he did point out the expense in extra personnel and equipment.
Lammers enjoyed the crew's visit to Brazil.
"This is WTWO," he said. "This is what we do."

On the Net:
http://www.wtwo.com