Stories from our Volunteers

Steve Hedrick

My name is Steve Hedrick and I have been volunteering at Holliston Hub-HCAT for over 25 years and I love being a part of the HCAT crew and helping to create videos of local events for the Holliston community. I feel like I am helping to capture Holliston History.

I started off learning to run a camera and worked the sideline for Holliston High School football which I did for many years. My camera shots were edited into the final game video and used as replay views of each football play.

I became involved in HCAT coverage of HHS basketball because my 2 daughters, Kristen & Kate, played and then Kristen was the HHS Girls Varsity Coach for 15 years. I stepped into the role as the play-by-play announcer for HHS Boys & Girls basketball games about 10 years ago. I enjoyed doing the announcing and the players enjoyed re-watching their games at get-togethers with all their friends and teammates. It is also very rewarding to have many grandparents come up to us after games and thank us for live-streaming the games so they can watch from home when they can’t get to Holliston!

I have especially enjoyed working with/training our HHS students who show an interest in learning to do sports announcing and I gladly move from my play-by-play announcing role to Statistician Steve role keeping the game stats for our student-announcers. I am pleased that several of our student-announcers have gone on to use their HHS HCAT experience in their College and post-College careers.

I highly encourage Holliston residents to step up and volunteer at Holliston Hub-HCAT to help capture and save Holliston events on video. The Full-Time HCAT Staff cannot cover all the events happening in the busy Town of Holliston and volunteers are always needed.

Paul Saulnier

What do you do as an HCAT volunteer? I learned how to use the cameras and cover events around town using the cameras. I interview people around town about current events and businesses. I produce shows and work with other volunteers to co-produce shows on subjects that I am interested in.

What inspires you to volunteer? HCAT is important to the wellbeing of the town, keeping residents well informed and entertained. It is all about us and for us. I want to help keep HCAT successful by volunteering to do what I can. Volunteering @ HCAT also helps me improve my self confidence.

How did you get involved? As a reporter for The Holliston Reporter I often worked with volunteers and staff @ HCAT. They encouraged me to work with them on projects and to start my own shows.

Why would you encourage others to join HCAT? Volunteering @ HCAT has its own rewards. You will learn skills not available elsewhere, meet new people and make new friends, all while helping Holliston to be an even better place to live and raise a family.

John Cronin

I host Just Thinking on HCAT.  I’ve been involved as a volunteer for about four months now after taking over for Mary Greendale.  I’ve had an incredible experience working with other HCAT volunteers who pull shows together, producing and editing them for public benefit.  This role is an extension of my desire to keep involved in Town matters - talking with local officials and citizens about what makes Holliston such a special place to live.  HCAT is one of Holliston’s most important and visible voices.  Local programming that provides viewers with first hand information is a tremendous asset that enriches us all!

Deb Moore

I volunteered for HCAT because it was something I had never done before and to my surprise I found a new group of friends! I have found that after your child(ren) grow up you loose a connection to people in Holliston that you knew through them. This gave me another avenue to meet some new people & make some new friends! Everyone was so supportive and always willing to help each other! It is also a lot of fun! It has helped to fill in some of that “empty nest time”.

Dan Suhajda

I am happy to share my experience with HCAT. I’ve had nothing but good experiences. I was not familiar with HCAT until 3 years ago when our eldest son was named captain of the soccer team. One of the list of duties was to make sure e had announcers for our home games.

I met with HCAT and they told me they had the announcers covered but needed someone to help with the camera. I volunteered and came in and they taught me how to work the camera. I helped with all their home games and even taped some of their away games by myself.

Our youngest son was a captain of the soccer team this past fall. However HCAT didn’t have any announcers available so they asked if I would be willing or could find some. I do not enjoy public speaking and had never broadcast anything before so I did my very best to find other announcers. Unfortunately there were no takers so I was stuck with the job. Little did I know that I would come to really enjoy broadcasting the games. I found a friend from my gym, Steve Kirstein, who was willing to broadcast with me. We were both new to this. Steve had a lifetime of playing soccer and my contribution was knowing all the players names. We ended up working really well together and have become good friends as a result.

The thing I like most about broadcasting the games is that it allows parents and family members who can’t make the game to be able to watch the  livestream or watch it later. It is also nice when people who have listened to us broadcast tell us how much they enjoyed our commentary. One unexpected benefit was that family members that had never seen our son play were able to watch from other states. 

I have worked mostly with Tom Harmon, Bruce Gilfoy, and Lindsey Crain. They have all been wonderful and very helpful with tips and training. Bruce and Lindsey went above and beyond by helping us broadcast our last playoff game away in Duxbury.

I would encourage everyone to check out what HCAT has to offer. This includes students who may be able to take a class in HS that teaches them about broadcasting and potential career opportunities. I look forward to working with HCAT again next year.

Jay Wyman

I have covered Holliston High School sports for over 20 years. I have covered football, boys and girls basketball, some baseball and softball and even one indoor track meet. It’s fun to watch the games... whether it is a regular season contest, a playoff game or even one of several football Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium, I enjoy following the teams and watching the kids grow from Freshman players to their Senior year. And, my compensation is hearing from parents, grandparents, family, friends and alumni who for whatever reason could not attend the game and were really happy to see it on HCAT/HUB.

Al Ranieri

Here are some thoughts about my work at HCAT. After I retired from teaching, I wanted to remain active and keep busy. I searched out volunteer opportunities in the area and found out HCAT has volunteers to work the cameras. I came in, learned the techniques from Don and began working the cameras. This gave me the opportunity to find out more about the issues and community events in Holliston.

I’ve done in studio shows and on sight locations from musicals to high school graduations to town meetings. I’ve also done some studio work involving game shows.

This experience has given me the chance to try something I’ve never thought of doing. I think it would be a great opportunity for anyone interested in trying something new and at the same time devoting time to the community.