Longongtime WCET-TV volunteers Barbara Kellar and Sharon Roehm were honored at the PBS annual meeting last week for their dedication to public broadcasting in Cincinnati.
Kellar, a volunteer for Channel 48's first Action Auction nearly 50 years ago and host of CET's weekly arts "Showcase with Barbara Kellar," was presented the 2016 Outstanding Volunteer Leadership Award by the National Friends of Public Broadcasting.
Roehm, CET’s unpaid full-time volunteer coordinator for the last 14 years, was recognized with the National Friends of Public Broadcasting's 2016 Distinguished Service Award.
Barbara and Larry Kellar of Hyde Park serve on multiple committees at the station, including the "LIVEon CET!"fund-raiser (Sept. 21 at Jack Cincinnati Casino).
“CET has been a major part of my life for almost 50 years and I love the station and the programming. There’s hardly a night when there isn’t something interesting to watch – even if the show is about something you didn’t know you’d be interested in learning about," Barbara Kellar said in the station announcement.
When Roehm took early retirement from her career as a registered nurse, she began volunteering more and more before and after the Action Auction. Now she manages Auction data entry, soliciting donations and picking up items. She also recruits volunteers for the Action Auction and quarterly pledge drives.
“I was watching my granddaughter four days a week, but I was bored on Wednesdays. So I called CET and said, ‘I’m bored… do you have anything that needs done during the day?’ Over the years they kept giving me more and more to do." said Sharon, a Springfield Township resident, in the CET release.
"CET makes a great impact on our community – it is good clean programming and it’s what my kids and grandkids grew up watching. I keep coming back because the mission is important and the staff and other volunteers are amazing to work with. I’m proud to be a part of what CET does and honored to be recognized with the Distinguished Service Award,” Sharon said.