Holiday Greetings teams to visit KMC

  • Published
  • By the 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs office
KAISERSLAUTERN MILITARY COMMUNITY, Germany --  Taping for one of the most recognizable holiday programs in America will begin soon, months before wreaths are hung and lights are strung in homes across the country.

Members from the Joint Hometown News Service in San Antonio, Texas, will film holiday greetings from ID card holders and their families at six locations in the Kaiserslautern Military Community. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the program.

Those eligible to send holiday wishes are military service members, government civilians, retirees, Department of Defense Dependent School staff and family members who will be stationed overseas during the holidays.

The greetings will be taped at the following times, dates and locations:
-9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 17 in front of the dining facility in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center
-8 to 10 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Parade Field on Panzer Kaserne
-11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Kleber Kaserne Dining Facility
-4 to 7 p.m. Sept 18 at the Java Café on Rhine Ordnance Barracks
-10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Vogelweh Military Complex Commissary
-10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 22 and 23 at the KMC Center on Ramstein Air Base

According to Erich Schwab, this year's holiday greetings coordinator, when a team sets up in your area, there are just a few guidelines to follow to ensure family and friends back home see your personal greeting on local television.

· Make sure to bring your address book. You'll need family members' names, city, state and phone number. No street address is needed this year, but station managers need phone contact info to let families know when your greeting will air.

· Service members need to be in uniform. Work uniform is fine. Family members should accompany their sponsor, unless their sponsor is deployed. And, of course, don't forget the props: Santa hats, pets, banners and Christmas attire.

· Depending upon where you're stationed, there is a good chance there will be waiting lines. Lunch time and after work are normally prime times, so if you can break away for a few minutes during mid morning or mid afternoon, you can avoid the wait.

· In front of the camera: There aren't a lot of rules, but here are some tips to make the experience go smoothly. The top three: relax, relax and relax. So what if you'll be seen by a million TV viewers. When you're taping, it's just you and the camera.

· Try to be cheerful and in the holiday spirit. It doesn't show well on camera if your teenage daughter looks like she'd rather be at the mall than wishing grandma happy holidays.

· Try to keep hand gestures to a minimum. When you're giving your greetings, don't say "Happy Thanksgiving." Most greetings will begin to air on Thanksgiving Day and will quickly become obsolete if that day has come and gone when your greeting airs.


· You don't need a teleprompter or a script, but try writing down your main points on a 3-by-5 card. Sometimes nerves can cause a bout of forgetfulness, so jot down your family members' names and the points you want to get across. If you have family in more than one area, you can do several greetings. You've got 15 to 20 seconds per greeting, more than enough time to get in your holiday wishes to those closest to you.

According to Mr. Schwab, three teams comprising three members per team will travel to the Pacific, Europe and Southwest Asia theaters, setting up their cameras in more than 60 locations. Additionally, they have partnered with military broadcast organizations in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide coverage for those locations.

When the teams return to San Antonio in late October, Mr. Schwab says production will run 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. Video and audio greetings are separated by state, and in some of the more populated states such as California, Texas, Florida and New York, stations will receive the tapes or DVDs based upon region. Stations normally will begin running greetings on Thanksgiving, and continue through New Year's Day. Mr. Schwab says many greetings air multiple times during the holidays and usually on more than one station.

For more information, call the public affairs offices at 486-8144 for the LRMC location: 484-8104 for the Kleber and Panzer locations; 493-4072 for the ROB and Vogelweh locations; and 480-2458 for the Ramstein location.

You can view the teams' schedule online at http://www1.dmasa.dma.mil/hometown/master 2009 calendar v2.pdf.  You also can follow the teams on Twitter @hometownnews1.  Happy holidays!

(This article was compiled with information from Rich Lamance at the Joint Hometown News Service in San Antonio.)