Earlier this year the City Council approved the awarding of art project funds to KOCT and five (5) other non-profit organizations. The Oceanside Arts Commission, consisting of 11 volunteers, had reviewed many grant applications before passing on their recommendations to the Council.

The mission of the Arts Commission is to foster the development of the performing, visual and cultural arts. The goal of KOCT’s successful grant application was to produce three programs about other successful grantees and share with our north county community our rich art culture and heritage. KOCT is thankful for the support of the Arts Commission and the City Council. KOCT will provide matching funds for this project to our City Council.

In the coming months you’ll see the KOCT camera crew at the following events:

·         The Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside’s Art of the Masters program

·         The First Friday Art Walk (May 1^st)

·         Oceanside Theatre Company’s Radio Program Series

KOCT’s objective is to share with a greater audience these short television and web programs that capture the creativity, excitement and content of our vibrant Oceanside arts community. We live in a busy, fast-paced environment and not everyone can get away from family, business and other obligations to participate and enjoy the arts. KOCT hopes to share and preserve these ‘art moments’ with a larger community and for a period of time longer than the event itself!  Donald Stump with North County Lifeline wrote in a supportive letter on behalf of KOCT: “…these programs highlight the many positive projects that take place in Oceanside and KOCT’s coverage helps to insure a larger audience for our non-profits, artists and musicians.”



KOCT camera crew at North County Lifeline mural creation for a previous "Arts & Culture" production.

Jennifer Lacy, the Board Chair of the Oceanside Charitable Foundation wrote: "We are fortunate to have such a responsive television station in Oceanside....their commitment to promoting Arts and Culture has been evident by their innovation and willingness to work with the community".

KOCT has covered the Arts in Oceanside since its inception. Here the late poet, writer and ‘artist’ Robert Nanninga & KOCT Executive Director Tom Reeser create a promo for a KOCT program about the very first ‘Days of Art’ in the late 1980’s.



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.

Next time you’re driving on Crouch Street or see the cute little church over by Heritage Park or wonder who Murray Bridge is named after I suggest you watch KOCT’s Living Legacies.   A good example is the Living Legacies featuring Edith Swaim, a local historian, who was once the Director for Heritage Park. In her interview with Host Tom Morrow she discussed an old black and white picture of three people in front of the first Oceanside Post Office and one of the citizens is the Mrs. Crouch from a family influential in the development of our town. Edith also recounts the English colony of settlers who first settled in the valley and who built that little church by Heritage Park, she mentions Reynolds Elementary School which is named after her mother and that her grandfather was the first person buried in the little cemetery at the church in 1896! Another of the Living Legacies you can watch via KOCT’s Video On Demand is with Major General Murray a man who fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and who is credited with halting the progress of the North Koreans at Chosin Reservoir.

Watching Living Legacies is more than being knowledgeable about bridges, local streets, and buildings. You can hear the story of local politicians like the late Treasurer of Oceanside Rosemary Jones, Supervisor John MacDonald or Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin. Famous musicians have also been featured on Tom’s show like the Trombonist for the Glen Miller Band, Paul Tanner as well as author Victor Villasenor and newscaster Jack White.

Because of lack of funding today the program is only produced when Host Tom Morrow is able to convince a local business or viewer to underwrite its production. (KOCT has also applied for numerous grants in order to produce the program.) This loss of Living Legacies productions means we are losing the voices and stories of many influential citizens who have contributed so much, whose story might be invaluable to future historians and no one to recount the past when future citizens wonder as they drive about our city Who? Why?  And When?

I’m grateful Host Tom Morrow has donated so many volunteer hours along with his former Producer Ted Smit; their contribution will also be long remembered. 

Wow, I just reviewed the first program in the new KOCT series, Arts and Culture and I’m so impressed. Not with just the production (more on that later!) but with the many non-profits and caring professionals who contributed to this first Arts and Culture project.

The first subject in this four-part series is about a unique collaboration between the Museum of Making Music and the Women’s Resource Center. “Hear Me & Heal Me” is introduced by Danielle Deery, with the Oceanside Museum of Art. This first program highlights a 12 week interactive, therapeutic music program for the residents of the WRC’s transitional housing. Rather than describe this wonderful 10-minute mini-documentary why not watch it by clicking here?

The Producer-Editor-Writer for this program was KOCT’s Peter Bonscher, a talented professional who continues to amaze me with his many skills. Peter is KOCT’s Program Scheduler/Senior Production Technician but he does much more than that. He’s a producer, editor, writer who comes to KOCT by way of the music world.  A life-long musician and composer, Peter is an award winning producer who brings a wealth of experience in management, finance and real estate, and is currently pursuing a degree in Communication.  Peter was the producer of KOCT’s news magazine program, Inside Oceanside. Peter has produced many documentaries including programs on the Oceanside Museum of Art and the Annual Candlelight walk by North County Amnesty International.  You’ll hear Peter’s voice on many KOCT programs and he was the perfect choice to launch this new series.

Art’s and Culture was funded by the Oceanside Charitable Foundation in 2013 and KOCT has matched their $6500 grant in order to produce the four programs in this series. KOCT will document all of the Arts and Culture programs that the OCF funded in their arts and culture 2013 focus upcoming programs will include Healing Through the Arts by North County Lifeline, Oceanside: A Celebration of our Rich Cultural Heritage by the Kid’s College and the 17^th Annual San Luis Rey Inter-Tribal Pow Wow by the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians Foundation.

We are pleased to be working with the Oceanside Museum of Art and KOCT continues to seek additional funding to continue this new series. If your business, corporation or foundation would like to help please contact me at KOCT for more information.