The Kick Off Celebration for the new KOCT series The Adobes & Ranchos of North County was a big success. Over 50 people attended-- some from as far away as Orange County and Temecula. Also in attendance were many of the 'stars' who were interviewed in these historical documentaries.

KOCT wants to thank the Oceanside Library and staff (Sheri Noel and Brad Penner) for the great accommodations, Christine Loyola of Petite Madeline Bakery for some AMAZING cookies and Kristi Hawthorne who shared her love of history with the audience.

Kristi Hawthorne, President of the Oceanside Historical Society

Audience at The Adobes & Ranchos of North County Premiere

Attendees saw a highlight reel of the new 6-part historical series

Left to Right -Tom Reeser, Executive Producer "Adobes",  Lola Sherman,Scriptwriter and 

Co-Producer, Janene Possell Sheperd-Friend of KOCT

Miguel Blanco received a special award for his editing skills in the making of "Adobes"

"A Really Big Rancho - The Story of the Kelly Family" featured interviews with Susan Kelly and Marvin Sippel

KOCT has received a number of phone calls asking how to see this new series:

It will air every week at 7:00PM on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays on KOCT channel 19,  Cox Cable in Oceanside, county wide on AT&T's U-Verse (ch 99 and then surf to KOCT-ch 19). You can also watch it as video on demand via KOCT.ORG each week we'll release the latest episode—this week we are featuring:  “The Story of the Marron Family".

                

Here is the schedule for release of the 6 program series: 

Week of

2/24 - The Story of the Marron Family

3/03 - A Really Big Rancho - The Story of the Kelly Family

3/10 - The Story of Rancho Buena Vista Adobe

3/17 - The Story of Rancho Guajome Adobe

3/24 - The Story of Las Flores Adobe and the Santa Margarita Rancho

3/31 - The Story of Laura Marron Steiger & the John Steiger Family

       

You can also purchase a DVD. Each DVD has three (3) 30-minute programs: $25.00 for one or $45.00 for two (6 programs total). We will also be sending free copies to the Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad libraries and we will let you know when they are available for check out.

One final note: Even though this new series is available in high-definition there is even a higher resolution version you should check out: Go visit these historical sites with your family and friends. There's nothing like exploring the past in person and you could visit at least five of our local Adobes in one day! And if you watch one of KOCT's programs first you'll be able to impress your visitors with your vast knowledge of North County history.

Does your business have a favorite non-profit that you support? Do you donate, volunteer & help a non-profit with the good work they do in our community? KOCT has a great way for you to help that charitable organization, church or fraternal organization. Sign them up for KOCT’s Oceanside Spectrum—a 30-minute television show hosted by the amazing Elaine Swann. It’s free and a great way to share with our north county community upcoming events or the need for volunteers, donations or awareness.

If you live, work or go to school in Oceanside, you are invited to call the station at (760) 722-4433 to reserve a free five-minute interview. This is a very popular show so you’ll need to reserve your space well in advance of the event you wish to promote (45-60 days in advance!).

KOCT is so lucky to have a skilled host like Elaine Swann to interview your non-profit representative. Elaine has also been seen on the “Today Show, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News” as a Social Media Commentator. Elaine is a special correspondent on San Diego’s NBC 7, has a syndicated column and offers workshops and seminars. Besides being on camera, Elaine is an Author, Speaker and Etiquette Consultant. She will make your guest feel comfortable if they are on camera for the first time and remember: Oceanside Spectrum airs numerous times throughout the month on KOCT’s channel 18 as well as on our website: KOCT.ORG. You can add a link to the program in your civic organizations newsletter, blog or e-mails and make sure your supporters see your publicity efforts.

Oceanside Spectrum is taped at KOCT’s Oceanside studios at 3038 Industry Street, Suite 101. KOCT is a nonprofit, non-commercial television station and Oceanside Spectrum is prohibited from advertising commercial events or businesses. To schedule an appearance on Oceanside Spectrum contact  Angela Miranda at  (760) 722-4433 or e-mail her at: amiranda@koct.org.

Thanks to San Diego U-T Reporter Linda Mcintosh for a great story about our Tuesday, February 24^th event to celebrate the launch of our new documentary series: “The Adobes & Ranchos of North County”! Hope you can attend and make sure to watch these programs on KOCT. We all love north county because of the waves, weather and environment—this new series will give you reasons to love north county for its rich history too.

2014 has been a great year for community television. KOCT produced 132 programs for, by and about our north county community. We had two elections this year and KOCT produced 12 in-depth programs to help voters make informed choices.

Thanks to generous grant donors KOCT was able to produce Community Health Matters—in both English & Spanish, an Arts & Culture series and a new series on Bike Safety called Bike Shorts. Our thanks to Tri-City Medical Center’s board of directors and the Community Healthcare Alliance Committee, the Oceanside Charitable Foundation and SANDAG for their support of quality community television.

We are also in the final editing stage of a new series called the Adobes & Ranchos of North County—funded by the Parker Foundation. Look for a community event to celebrate this new historical series in February 2015!

KOCT worked with youth and produced two High School Spectrums (El Camino & Oceanside High Schools) and covered the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship event at Janet Bledsoe-Lacy’s home (and Janet was also featured in a Journalist Roundtable program when she announced her decision to step down from the OUSD Board of Trustees) We also sent a News Brief crew to cover the opening of the new Veterans Information Center on MiraCosta College & to Carlsbad High School to cover their amazing morning news show television program.

KOCT celebrated 30 years of service to the Oceanside community in 2014, since our inception KOCT has produced over 6,134 programs! It’s a challenging and exciting time for community television. Challenging because our standard definition channel placement means viewers no longer see our programs if they only ‘surf’ the high-definition tier of programs. Exciting because our many high-definition programs can be viewed via KOCT.org’s video-on-demand service—anywhere in the world!

As 2014 draws to a close I want to thank the KOCT staff, Board of Directors and volunteers who support the station and helped us to produce our unique mix of north county programs. And thanks to our viewers too!  If you value KOCT please consider becoming a Friend of KOCT in 2015. With your support we can continue to provide quality community programming for another 30 years.

KOCT has begun field shooting of our new 6 segment series on the Adobes & Ranchos of North County. The production of these 30-minute programs was made possible by a generous grant from the Parker Foundation. Our first shoot a few weeks ago was for an interview with the Captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseno Indians, Mel Vernon at the historic El Salto falls in Oceanside. His segment was for the mini-documentary about the nearby Marron Adobe. This is the only Mexican land-grant in California that is still occupied by one of the direct descendants.

Our most recent shoot was at the Marron Adobe where we filmed one of the many school tours that Shelley (Hayes) Caron conducts as her contribution to California history and for our community.

We look forward to our interview with Shelley and to learn more about her family and their journey to the tranquil Buena Creek valley adobe.

Other programs in this series will include the Los Flores Adobe on Camp Pendleton, the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe in Vista and the Rancho Guajome on the border of Oceanside and Vista.  Our script writer, Lola Sherman is well known in North County and will also help KOCT to tell the story of the Kelly Family in nearby Carlsbad as well as the Leo Carrillo rancho which was once part of the Kelly Rancho.

We love this partnership with the Parker Foundation because their grant for this project is in harmony with the KOCT Mission to produce programming for, by and about our North County Community and to preserve the past for future generations.  We hope to begin airing this new series in the late spring. You won’t want to miss it.