We are pleased to feature some student work on www.watchictv.org this week. The staff of ICTV has been working with ISD 318 to provide a video class. We are proud of the topics the sixth through eighth graders chose for their PSAs. They tackled smoking, texting in cars, the social pressure of cliques and drunk driving while learning about various shots and angles of the camera. We are also featuring some of the school-year work of the Middle School art class. They worked on stop animation this spring. It always gives us a new perspective to work with the up and coming videographers. Click on our "Community Hotlinks" videos to see the work.

Next week is a very busy week at ICTV. We'll start with the last phase of our fixtures being installed. All the producers are getting work stations with a little additional space and low privacy walls. The assistant is getting a desk with a transaction table, so visitors can be greeted and have their paperwork handled efficiently. My desk (which currently curves in the center for the "working-in-a-wok effect) will be replaced and all should be right with the world. We will then be entrusted with 20 Middle Schoolers in Camp Discovery for a psa project. We'll wrap up the week at the Blues Fest. So, if you see an ICTV member next week, please boost them along. They each will be going above and beyond for public access cable television next week.

ICTV will be sponsoring a new video in town. It's not one of ours, but it is a film that involves Grand Rapids as much as every other inch along the Mississippi River. Two filmmakers took the long way to the Gulf via inflatable kayaks last summer. This year they return with their finished documentary of the journey "The River is Life." Bring your chair, blanket and friends to the Rotary Tent along the Mississippi August 9, 7 p.m. Meet the men who made the journey and see a family-friendly edit of the program on a large screen. The 90-minute film starts at 7:30 p.m. There is no admission charge. For a preview go to http://www.theriverislife.com/. ICTV is still looking for a little help to pull off this evening of film. Call 327-5866 or email ictv@watchictv.org if you can help set up, tear down or otherwise be available. By the way, we are still looking for a portapotty sponsor--not glamorous, but necessary. Hope to see you on the banks of the great River August 9.

FireworksIf you can, sleep in late Monday after the fireworks. We'd love to see you at ICTV, however, we, too, will be sleeping in. Monday is an official holiday for the ICTV office. If you need to pick up a DVD or renew your membership, we'll visit another time. Have a happy and safe holiday. (p.s. your can renew your membership or join online in your pajamas from home at www.watchictv.org.)