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“Our Town: Big Valley” set to air Sept. 7
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BELLEVILLE - When it comes to life in the Big Valley, it's pretty much the only place Cole Cullen has ever known.
The 49-year-old Cullen has fond memories of his childhood years in Allensville. Topping the list was riding his bike.
"I was one of those kids that was on my bike until it was dark," Cullen said. "I rode all over town and through the woods."
He also remembers many trips to the Allensville Fireman's Festival.
After Cullen went off to college at Penn State, he moved away for nearly a decade and started a family. In 2005, the Cullens decided to return to Reedsville.
With Cullen spending so much of his life here, It's easy to see why he considers the town's throughout the Big Valley -- Allensville, Belleville, Milroy, Reedsville and surrounding areas - his towns. When Penn State-based PBS station, WPSU-TV, announced Big Valley would be featured on its "Our Town" series, Cullen couldn't have been more excited.
The station's lead producer of local content, Cullen has been part of a production team that has been working on the Big Valley segment for the past two months, meeting and interviewing local residents, gathering photos and footage and editing the hours of camera work.
Cullen hopes others will find that hometown pride as "Our Town: Big Valley" is set to air at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7.
Cullen said. WPSU has been producing the "Our Town" series for more than 20 years. The Big Valley episode will be the 109th overall for "Our Town."
"It's mostly done and ready to go," Cullen said. "I'm very happy with how it turned out. We had 26 interviews, which is a few more above our average.
"I think there's a nice representation of the breadth of the story, with some arts, culture, history and Amish," he added.
The project is on schedule as Cullen said it typically takes two months to put the project together. He will be working that night during a station telethon.
"As a visual storyteller, you've always looking for the beauty in the story," Cullen explained. "But when you live in a space, you don't necessarily notice how pretty that part of your world is. Working on the program forced me to look at our area with different eyes, and I learned the Big Valley is truly a beautiful place to live."
There won't be any red-carpet treatment or station watch party. "We are encouraging people to hold their own watch party," Cullen said. The station did hold a preview event for any community members who appeared in the episode at the Kish Innovation Center in Reedsville.
Cullen said some cable subscribers might want to check their service to see if they get WPSU or more likely WITF out of Harrisburg. For anyone who doesn't get WPSU, they can still watch the premier by streaming on www.psu.org/ourtown. There will be a promotional ad on the site when it gets closer to the date.
It can also be viewed live on the PBS app or the Local Now app. If using the PBS app, viewers must make certain the WPSU is selected as "My Station."
"People should not wait until 7:59 p.m. on Sept. 7 to figure this out," he explained. "The easiest way to see it is to watch it on the website."
While the whole piece is special to Cullen, he is most pleased about the way the story of the Amish was told.
"I feel like we did a nice job of telling the story of the Amish without exploiting or exposing the Amish," he explained. "There was not a single story or a number of stories about them. People gave little nuggets here and there. That way you get an idea of their contribution, and I am proud of that."
Cullen also treasures the relationships he formed with the remarkable people from Big Valley that he met during the production process. "There's one woman from Harrisburg who doesn't live in the area, but she came back to tell a story. Even though she lives in Harrisburg, she still talks about Mifflin County being home."
Also included is a story from Lisa Griffith, who works as a professional opera singer in Germany. "She just happened to be in the area and participated in the show," Cullen added.
Hearing the stories of the hometown originals were priceless. "I thought there were a lot of good stories," Cullen said. "I also learned a lot of things that I didn't know."
Being from the Big Valley, Cullen knew a lot of people who were in "Our Town" or "people knew me or my family." He added. "There
were also a lot of people behind the scenes who were instrumental in the success of these programs, which is the point of 'Our Town.'"