Miller Chat Show Celebrates 12 years on Shrewsbury Cable Access Television

"One day in January 1999, I called Shrewsbury Media Connection to inquire about how to produce a show on disability issues. I wanted to create different shows on persons with disabilities that did not depict them as heroes or stories of inspiration but as regular people like you and I. I was told that I needed to be trained on how to use their equipment. For the moment, I was a little beside myself since I did not go to graduate school to learn such skills. I got past my ego and decided to take two hour classes for five weeks to learn how to produce my first show."

I will be celebrating my 12th anniversary on cable access television on May 12. I will be taping a new show with my co-host Doris Livesay. Livesay joined as my co-host in 2005. Since 1999, I have produced over 250 shows on different topics pertaining to elders, families, and persons with disabilities. In 2006, I won a national award from the Alliance for Community Media with Sonya Perduta for the show, "Promoting Olmstead: The Need for Community Based Services." Sonya and I interviewed several people who were former residents of local nursing homes who talked about how their quality of lives improved after living in their communities with services in place. The proceeds from the sale of this video was donated to the REDD (Rights, Equality, for the Dignity of the Disabled) group. REDD is a local grassroots advocacy group dedicated to promoting the civil rights for persons with disabilties. One person commented "How this video spoke from the heart."

In 2007, I won my second video award for the video entitled, "Forgeworks Farm-Ride with Pride" with Doris Livesay from the same organization. Ted Mahan, owner of Forgeworks Farm talked about how he trains his retired horses to work with children and adults with diverse disabilities. Mahan offers different riding programs for these individuals to participate. He runs several fundraising events a year to raise money to defer the costs for many families. Both of these clips can be viewed on youtube.

Furthermore, several of my other videos on disability sensitivity are now being sold here. It took me nine long years for someone to listen to my spiel to sell my videos for their clientele.  Persistence paid off for me.

Over the years, I have grown to be less camera shy by focusing on the purpose and mission of my show. My work is my contribution to my community. I hope my son, EJ, follows my legacy when he is older enough to work a camera and be comfortable to be on television.

I want to thank Doris Livesay for being my co-host for the last six years, my guests, my friends, and the staff at Community Media Connection. I want to also thank my parents for raising me to do the right thing by standing up for myself. Most of all, I want to thank my husband for being my support, my critic, and my biggest fan.