A bit of a shocker this past Sunday in South Deerfield, as Father Randy Calvo announced to his flock that he was stepping down as pastor of the Holy Name of Jesus parish in South Deerfield.
Father Randy, as some readers may know, is a member of the FCAT Board of Directors and also produced the "Mass From Holy Name" weekly church service which runs five times a week on FCAT channel 12. He has been arguably our most consistent producer over the years, and won the initial "FCAT Community Producer Of The Year" award in 2015.
Father Randy is a great person and is universally respected in the community. Thankfully, he has agreed to remain a part of the FCAT board until his professional situation clarifies, and, for that, I am truly grateful. His show will be missed, obviously, but can always be viewed at the fcatmedia page at YouTube.com.
We wish Father Randy well in all of his future endeavors. (below image courtesy of the Greenfield Recorder)

Should Massachusetts towns declare themselves "sanctuary" or "safe" communities? It's an issue which has come up for debate in a number of municipalities, most recently Greenfield, which is in the middle of a very divisive discussion over whether to declare itself a "safe city," which would effectively prevent anyone in local law enforcement or government from assisting in federal efforts to round up undocumented immigrants.
So far, the issue has not been a very hot topic in the south county, although the Whately Selectboard earlier this year took on the matter in response to a local resident's request for clarification of the police department's policy on ICE detainment.
The debate has been front-burner enough that it raised the question, what is the situation with south county immigrants, and how do the towns of Conway, Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately plan to address the matter? Over the course of the next few weeks, FCAT's new Senior Producer Esther Glovacki plans to take a deep dive into this issue in a series of interviews with local officials, immigrants, and residents in the start of what we believe will be a compelling series that will shed some light on how small communities like ours are dealing with this matter.
In the meantime, if you happen to have feedback on the topic, or may know of someone whose story might be compelling and would be willing to be interviewed, give us a call at 413-665-0012 or email esther@fcat.tv

It's almost time to tee up the pigskin for another season of Frontier Red Hawk football. This year promises to be another exciting one, as Coach Don Gordon welcomes back one of the most powerful backfield tandems in the league in Aaron Landry and Steve Worthley. As always, FCAT's cameras will be there to capture the action, and we will also be following the volleyball, soccer and field hockey teams at various times throughout the season. We are also looking for underwriters to help defray the costs of our coverage. If you are interested in supporting our efforts via a 10 percent tax deductible donation, contact us at 413-665-0012 or via email at chris@fcat.tv. Go Red Hawks!

For far too long, this organization's website has been, to put it mildly, pretty useless. That is all changing as of today with the launch of the NEW fcat.tv.
Here you will be able to not only easily link to our programming and schedules, but also get updates on news items, events, and information of importance to the residents of Conway, Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately. You will also be able to keep track with what is going on in the local government and political scene through regular blog posts which will originate here.
Redevelopment of this site has been a long time in the making. I hope you will visit often and give me feedback in the space below. Thanks for reading.