Stories about Hagerstown will be shared on March 14 when Ball State PBS airs the next installment in its series highlighting small towns and cities.
“Now Entering … Hagerstown,” a video scrapbook of its people, places and history as seen through the eyes of its residents, premieres live at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 14, on Ball State PBS. It will stream at ballstatepbs.org, on the PBS App and the Ball State Public Media App.
“Now Entering … Hagerstown” features video vignettes about this Wayne County town told by several of its biggest cheerleaders. Community members collected video footage and still photos to showcase stories that make the town unique.
Then the Ball State PBS production team traveled to Hagerstown in mid-December to record interviews at Town Hall with those storytellers, which serve as the narrators for each story.
The show explores the area’s history including the Whitewater canal, area mills, the Odd Fellows building, the fire department and the Teetor family.
The program includes stories about growing up in Hagerstown, the Nettle Creek Players, the Hagerstown-Jefferson Township Public Library, why the local airport is important to pilots, the Hagerstown Sesquicentennial and the Jubilee Day festival.
And finally, “Now Entering … Hagerstown,” shares its connection with Hagerstown, Maryland, the support for the Little League World Series team, the importance of Welliver’s and Abbott’s Candies and what events are being planned for the eclipse.
Some of those storytellers will be in the Ball State PBS studios on March 14 for a live pledge program to talk about their experiences and take phone calls.
Other towns that have been featured in the series include Portland, Pendleton, Knightstown, Upland, Alexandria, Tipton, Winchester, Rushville, Hartford City, Fortville, Eaton, Cicero, Yorktown, Union City, Anderson and Elwood.
For more about “Now Entering…Hagerstown,” visit ballstatepbs.org/nowentering.
A version of this article appeared in the March 6 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.