Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 33

9 Kingsport Times-News Top billing WTETO-TV channel 39 1st independent By BILL WILLIAMS Times-News Entertainment Writer Fall Fest weekend in Greene GREENEVILLE This Fall Fest in downtown Greeneville promises a little something for everyone with films dance food music a glimpse of the past and a salute to modern-day industry The Sinking Creek Film Celebration the non-profit showcase of student and independent filmmakers will present a festival of unique short fi'ms including documentaries animated and novelty films Sponsored by Commerce Union Bank of Greeneville the festival will include two showings at 3 pm Saturday and again at 3 pm Sunday at 110 Main St beside the Capitol Theater Each showing will feature a different series of films for the entire family There is no admission charge Sinking Crjsek Film Celebration now in its 17th year was founded by Mary Jane Coleman of Greeneville who continues to direct the film project along with co-director George Griffin The library of films now totals nearly 300 and is acclaimed nationwide as a forum for student and independent (noncommercial) filmmakers Everything from homemade biscuits soups and chili cheese burgers chili dogs funnel cakes and ice cream will be available both days of the festival from 10 am to 10 pm Saturday and 1 pm to 6 pm Sunday The biggest entree however will be a ton of barbecue cooked over hickory charcoal by the GreenevilleGreene County Area Chamber of cooking team Southern rock Virginia bluegrass and Tennessee gospel are but three of the many kinds of music to be featured Among groups scheduled to perform are the Believers a gospel group from Greeneville and the Greeneville-based rock band Voyager Music is scheduled to be performed from 11 am to 9 pm Saturday and from 1 pm to 6 pm Sunday The Believers are to take the stage at 4 pm both days of the festival Voyager is to perform at 6 pm on the stage at Main and Depot streets Two Greeneville square dance troupes are scheduled to perform on a stage set up on West Depot Street Saturday The Weavers are to kick things off at 2 pm and the Greeneville Promenaders are to follow suit at 2:30 pm No festival in historic Greeneville (the home of President Andrew Johnson) would be complete without recognition of the past Living history displays of a blacksmith at work an antique grist mill and a wheat thresher in action will be part of the festivities as will a display of antique farm machinery restored one-cylinder engines and farm animals Products manufactured in Greerie County will be showcased in a nearby exhibit featuring such industries as North American Phillips Ball Zinc Products Division Plus Mark Inc and Pet Milk Co Some 60 crafts booths have been signed up for the festival On Sunday there will be a 31 mile walk-a-thon beginning at 1 pm a 12 mile fun run at 1:30 pm and a 5 mile fun starting at 2 pm The Run for the Sun Road Race events will begin and end near the Greene County Courthouse on South Main Street The registration fee is $5 per entry and entries will be accepted until race time Trophies in the 5 mile race will be awarded to the overall male and overall female winners and to the top three finishers in each age group Trophies also will be awarded to the top two finishers in each age group in the mile run and the top finisher in each age group in the walk-a-thon For more information and entry forms contact the Greeneville Sun or the Chamber of Commerce The Fall Festival is an event of the GreenevilleGreene County Area Chamber of Commerce The focus of course is on the downtown area and the rural and mountain heritage of the region Among the programs to be aired by WETO channel 39 are Hollywood Close-up a 30-minute show about show business Kids Incorporated (left) which revolves around the formation of a youthful rock roil band and Comedy Break (below) with Mack and Jamie two super funny young comedians GREENEVILLE are getting more TV said John Quaintance viewer is getting more knowledgeable about what he or she wants to just that kind of viewer savvy that WETO-TV in Greeneville and Quaintance the director of creative services are banking on when East newest over-the-air channel plans to begin broadcasting Oct 30 in competition with the three existing stations in the Quaintance said realize going to be difficult to compete with a station like WCYB which is acknowledged as preeminent in the we the independent fit in is by offering alternative programming like a time about 10 years ago when FM radio stations were so popular Twenty years ago you just give them WETO channel 39 is the only locally owned independent (not network affiliated) station in Upper East Tennessee It is the brainchild of Jay Austin and Bob Lochte who began investigating three years ago what if any air channels were still listed by the FCC as available in the Tri-Cities region After much planning research and an investment of nearly $1 6 million studios in a new two-story build-r ing off Snapps Ferry Road are taking shape with installation of state-of-the-art equipment (so in fact that you can smell newness) modern offices a large studio where local productions will take place If all goes as planned at 6 am the day before Halloween viewers in an area extending from Abingdon in the north Knoxville to the south border towns in North Carolina eastward and the coal towns of Southeastern Kentucky will be able to tune their TV sets to channel 39 (on the UHF dial) to see a host of new syndicated shows recent major motion pictures and reruns of highly popular series like Leave It To Beaver and Death Valley Days (Some but not all of the 30-plus cable companies in the region will carry the station initially Cable subscribers interested in getting WETO as part of their subscription packages should contact their cable company to find out if the com-' pany plans to carry the new channel Kingsport and Johnson City ap in the I grade" or best reception area while Bristol is in the Grade A or second-best reception area) television no longer has to rely on the network Quaintance said of the programming plans syndicates are making numerous often better programs all the One such program staff is excited about is Comedy Break a30-minute showcase of new comedians and more established artists such as David Steinberg Comedy Break will air at 11 pm Monday through Friday As' alternative to morning news shows on the three major networks the station will broadcast shows like The Gobots The Flintstones Inspector Gadget and Great Space Coaster in the am slot daily Early risers can tune in Biznet flews at 6 am a program produced by the American Business Network of the US Chamber of Commerce Morning programs through the week present a definite variety beginning with Good Housekeeping a syndicated show from the magazine of the same name the Jimmy Swag-gart Show (religious program-min) and reruns of Perry Mason At 11 am weekdays the station will link up with the Daytime Network independent fit in is by offering alternative John Quaintance WETO-TV director of creative services (Inday) for two hours of four 30-minute shows that include: a roundup of national and international news All About Us an electronic version of US magazine actor Robert Stack hosting The Great Life a program about living the good life and Hot! Not! which focuses on the hot and cold in sports movies music television and science the three networks will be showing the soap operas running Inday just for those people who simply want to watch soap Quaintance explained think Inday will be surprisingly Movies comprise a large share of air time with afternoon and nightly prime-time movies through the week and even more on weekends 1 According to Locthe who serves as the program director WETO haspurchased more than 1000 films and plans to screen 19 movies each wek Star Wrestling Tranzor and Hollywood Close-up a 30-minute look at show business similar to Entertainment Tonight The station will not have a local news department initially although public service programming of events like Jonesborough Days or the National Storytelling Festival planned this point (a news operation) is just too big an said Quaintance a veteran of 21 years in broad-' casting the last 16 of which were in television news WETO (acronymic for is the result of market surveys that showed! the Tri-Cities to be one of only eight markets in the US with no independent air channel available without cable service are another local station and we hope the programming will be appealing to the Quaintancaid A sampling of titles include The Black Stallion Returns Cannery Row The French Woman Reckless True Confessions and The Year of Li ving Dangerously are the kind of movies people are now renting from their local video Quaintaince said are just coming off HBO or Cinemax Many of them have not been broadcast on over-the-air Although the movies will be edited for commercials the station intends to show them uncut as much as possible Quaintance said the movies also will be interrupted as little as possible especially in the first six months of operation as commercial accounts are being built Among fall lineup of first-run programs are Star Games Tales From the Dark Side Kids Incorporated GI Joe StartjCf Something Big All i.