Do you remember when our CFUW Club was involved in Community Television in the early 1970s?  Do you even remember Community Television?  Well, a long time ago The CRTC, in its wisdom, mandated that the cable companies should pay back to the community they had access to by providing studio access to volunteers to make programs about their community. Our Club was approached by one of the cable television organizations (probably Rogers) to produce some programs for Community Television.

Lynda Robinson was an early participant, and described the experience. The studio was a small storefront near King and Victoria, with one camera which took two people to move, and portable television lights. There were two wooden chairs, and the “show” which usually took the form of interviews, was recorded on 3/4 inch videotape in black and white. Lynda can only remember the show that she produced, on Nutrition. The show was too short, so the staffer suggested she go out on the street and do some interviews with people passing by. They all without exception treated her with amazed puzzlement, and that was the end of that. She doubts if that particular program ever went to air. The others were never seen in Etobicoke, as that company’s area was south of Bloor and East of Victoria Street. When Maclean Hunter opened their studio in Rexdale in the 1970s the group continued to produce four or five programs a year, participating in all aspects of studio production. The programs included Women in Politics, involving Etobicoke Councillors Ruth Grier and Lois Griffin, both members of our club at that time, and a series on Media Literacy. In the 1990s we were involved in the production of Scotty’s Telethon for Charity, raising funds for the two women’s shelters in Etobicoke. Maclean Hunter was bought out by Rogers Cable in the 1994, and the Rexdale studio closed, putting an end to local production.