SALISBURY – Salisbury Community Television Executive Director Lance Wisniewski recently retired after nearly 18 years serving his community.
The Salisbury resident has been with SCTV since its inception back in 2008 and previously served on the organization’s first board of directors before resigning to take up the role of interim director.
After a search process, Wisniewski was officially named the station’s first executive director and has been at the helm of the organization ever since.
Wisniewski has done extensive work in the community from ensuring town meetings continued virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic to more recently acquiring and operating radio station, WXBJ-FM Cool 94.1.
Last week, Wisniewski officially stepped down and said in his retirement he will miss the people of Salisbury.
“It’s really the ability to harness a lot of my skills and work with really good people to make SCTV what many people consider a model organization in the field,” he said.
The feeling is mutual for Salisbury residents, as a number of people attended the Dec. 22 Board of Selectmen meeting in which Wisniewski was honored for his years of service and the town hall’s TV control room was dedicated to him.
Wisniewski said he was touched by the turnout of people, many of whom had been involved with SCTV in some capacity.
“I was stunned and warmly pleased to see people who had been members of our board and really helped us grow over those years,” he said.
Gil Medeiros, Salisbury select board member and SCTVMC Board of Directors chair, praised Wisniewski for his commitment to SCTV.
“He was the first one to apply for the executive director’s job and held it ever since, and he’s done an amazing job for our town,” he said.
Through his tenure as executive eirector, Wisniewski said he was able to see his town through a new lens.
“We televise most of the meetings in our town. And I, for years, personally covered the Conservation Commission. So, I certainly go to see how that works and offer some perspectives, but gain many perspectives on how democracy works,” he said.
Now, with Wisniewski officially retired, Chris Donnellan, who has worked as operations director for SCTV for the last 10 years will be taking the reins.
Donnellan assumed the role of executive director in mid-November and through a built-in overlap period, he and Wisniewski were able to ensure the transition was a smooth one.
Wisniewski said Donnellan has long had the experience necessary for the job and together over the last ten years, the pair have tackled challenges that came SCTV’s way.
“It was certainly my idea that he should take over, and although the board practiced their due diligence to put out a search and got to interview several candidates, it seemed clear to me that Chris was the overwhelming choice for the job,” he said.
Now, as Wisniewski enters retirement he said he plans to tackle projects like releasing a memoir about his early days working with cable TV and renovating a house.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said of his retirement.