The May 17 th party will launch a fundraising campaign to help cover general operation costs, the training of individuals, and help local organizations develop video programs to support their missions. Along with a wide array of live music, there will also be a silent auction with items donated by community members, local arts groups, and eco-friendly businesses such as: Boulder County Eco-Cycle, The Book Cellar, Lafayette Music, and The Art Underground. These organizations will have displays, special discounts and information on upcoming events and classes. Food and drink will be provided by local businesses at this zero-waste event.

Music will include: Deep Intuit Jazz Quartet, Boulder Taiko HIBIKI drummers, Papa Juke Blues group and Zydematics, a bluegrass/zydeco combo headlined by Hal Linden, producer of CCTV54's Rocky Mountain Hayride. There will also be a teen music group sponsored by Lafayette's Doghouse Music and world music performances produced by award winning local musician and teacher Joe Diamo.

Howard Zaremba, CCTV54 board chairman, said, "Locally sponsored media is a valuable community asset. TV stations like CCTV54 provide provocative programming from diverse sources not available on conglomerate controlled commercial channels. The Internet and low cost video equipment have created an explosion of local media and we tap into that. We offer training and volunteer opportunities for individuals of all ages and backgrounds to produce programs and express their own creativity."

CCTV54 shows are aired in Erie, Lafayette, Louisville and Superior. For the past two years the station has provided East Boulder County with a public-use channel for an entertaining and informational lineup of shows in arts, lifestyle, music and politics - and local, state, national and international programming and coverage. Currently, it's the only full-time, community access television station in Boulder County since Boulder's Channel 54 (BTV) went off the air in November of 2007.

CCTV54 shows include: Boulder Vidcast, Common Sense, Democracy Now!, East County Live!, Eckenkar, Free Speech TV, Guitar 101, Jazz World Alternative, JVonD Radio, Lafayette Youth Advisory Council Live, Mosaic, Nothing Sacred, Rocky Mountain Hayride, Shifting Dimensions, Spirals of Wisdom, The Poet's Corner and Tuesday Blues.

The station offers volunteer driven community media and has 11 board members and more than 100 volunteers including producers, directors, hosts and a production/technical staff. Its mission is to "Reach out to the community to encourage and support local citizens and organizations in producing a lively lineup of community programs of particular local interest."

"CCTV54 was founded in 2004 by a small group of Louisville citizens who were concerned about national media consolidation and the loss of local, community media," says producer Peter Stewart. "The station relies on volunteers for operations and our community for financial support."

The station recently became a participating station with Alliance for Community Media, an organization based in Washington DC committed to expanding the reach of community access and the nationwide network of media channels and programs for the public benefit.

In addition to its comprehensive programming, CCTV54 provides in-studio training on TV production basics, lighting, control room, audio mixing, editing, camera operation, and on-site video recording. Volunteers are always welcome and there are many opportunities to learn and help with productions, as well as fundraising, outreach and programming. CCTV54 board meetings are open to the community and held the 1 st and 3 rd Wednesday of every month at the CCTV54 Studio in Louisville. The station is in Christopher Plaza (on the second story) and located at the NW corner of HWY 42 and South Boulder Rd.

For more information go to: www.cctv54.org.