“This is small-town America at its best ...”
― Karen Aubrecht, who highlighted “Little League Baseball”

Sunday, September 13 at 7:30 pm on WNED-TV

 Who was Harry Yates?

How is tree debris made into mulch?

Are there really 100 steps leading to the Chestnut Ridge gorge?

How can the Orchard Park chorale afford to perform with a full orchestra?

These and many other questions are answered by the two dozen volunteer filmmakers who contributed to WNED’s 13th community “video scrapbook” production highlighting the village and town of Orchard Park, N.Y.

These enthusiastic residents captured local points of pride ranging from an NFL stadium to the oldest active house of worship in Erie County. Their videos also take viewers behind-the-scenes at the courthouse, a veterinary clinic and a compost site.

All of the video footage was edited and compiled into the television program, OUR TOWN: Orchard Park. The volunteers also were interviewed about the topics they covered, and their commentary serves as the narration behind the program.

The Orchard Park project illustrates two key benefits of WNED’s OUR TOWN series. For viewers, it helps build awareness about regional gems in Western New York and Southern Ontario. For participating volunteers, the experience often engenders a greater appreciation of ‘home.’

Exploring the eternal flame behind a waterfall at Chestnut Ridge Park became a lesson in nature and science for Robert Woodley and his son. A segment by Joe Wales highlights the value of local businesses to the Orchard Park community, with a focus on two century-old establishments (Arthur’s Hardware and Anthony-Brown Pharmacy). But most Orchard Park volunteers chose topics that convey the quality of life in a place that one young videographer says is “very cool to me now.”

Ten-year-old Wilhelm Aubrecht, whose film topic was “Municipal Government,” was among several young people participating in the production. In fact, this project involved “more independent, individual contributions from youth than any other OUR TOWN,” noted Senior Producer Lynne Bader-Gregory.

A list of volunteer videographers and their topics follows:

Produced by WNED
with generous support from

About Orchard Park, NY …

• includes a village in the center of a town;
• early settlers were Quakers from Vermont;
• has a combined population of more than 30,000 (2000 Census);
• is one of the Erie County “southtowns” near Buffalo, NY;
• is approximately 40 square miles;
• has preserved its rural landscape of rolling hills and wooded areas.

Learn More: http://www.orchardparkny.org/

About OUR TOWN
Since 2003, WNED has produced 12 other OUR TOWN programs, featuring:

• Ontario, Canada: St. Catharines, Kitchener/Waterloo, Markham, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Oakville and Welland
• Western New York: Dunkirk/Fredonia, East Aurora, Ellicottville, Jamestown, Kenmore/Tonawanda and Lockport