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Tooting Tarpon's horn, one clip at a time

Thirty happy residents willing to wield a videocamera can contribute to an hourlong WUSF documentary extolling the city.

TARPON SPRINGS - You may not be the next American Idol, but if you live in Sponge City and can spin a good yarn WUSF-TV is ready to make you a star.

The University of South Florida's public television station is looking for about 30 people who want to show viewers what they love best about Tarpon Springs. Volunteers will be featured in Our Town: Tarpon Springs, an hourlong documentary about the city scheduled to appear on WUSF-TV Ch. 16 in June.

Want to share the secrets behind the city's most savory souvlaki or prove that the Anclote River's got the best paddling around? Producers at WUSF want to hear from you soon. All you need is a home video camera - all formats welcome - and a plan.

"We want people to tell positive stories about Tarpon Springs," said WUSF producer Ken Cherry.

Volunteers who sign up by Friday's deadline will get a chance to make a two-minute video about their favorite part of Tarpon Springs. The clips will be edited together for the one-hour Our Town program. The station will provide participants with free videotape and tips on how best to shoot their stories. All topics are welcome. The program's goal is to give viewers a good sense of the city's charms and its charmers, Cherry said.

"It's not just about the place," Cherry said. "It's about the people."

Cherry already has helped produce Our Town programs on Lakeland and Sarasota. Two years ago, a handful of ordinary Sarasota citizens signed up to participate in the television production, and the results were spectacular, Cherry said. The Sarasota program aired in December 2002 and included citizen-made segments that focused on everything from the city's music scene to the famous Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

"It's really an opportunity for these communities - like Sarasota - to show off what they have to offer," Cherry said.

On April 3, volunteers will fan out across Tarpon Springs with cameras in hand. Station producers will also interview participants on camera about their stories and why they want to tell them. After that, WUSF will review and edit the material into a one-hour program. A handful of local people have already signed up, but many more are needed, Cherry said.

Tarpon Springs' outgoing Mayor Frank DiDonato is all for the program. City staff have already begun working with WUSF to coordinate the effort. Plans are now under way for a premiere of the program to be shown at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center sometime in May.

"I think it's great," DiDonato said. "People that live in our community are very proud of Tarpon Springs and certainly have a lot good things to say about our town."

The registration deadline to take part in the Our Town: Tarpon Springs program is Friday. Taping will take place April 3. For more information about the program or to volunteer, call WUSF-TV Ch. 16 producer Ken Cherry at (813) 905-6928.