A number of PBS television stations in Michigan are planning to feature the 2006 Hope College Christmas Vespers service.
Held on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2-3, this year's service was filmed by WGVU-TV of Grand Rapids and made available to PBS affiliates nationwide.
Christmas Vespers has been held at Hope College since 1941. The program of Christmas carols and anthems is presented by the college's department of music and features more than 200 students in historic Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The service was first broadcast on WGVU in 1994 and is now televised on a semi-annual basis. The 2004 production won WGVU an Emmy Award from The Michigan Chapter of The National Television Academy for excellence in Multiple Camera Field Directing, and also received an honorable mention in the 2005 Videographer Awards.
WGVU-TV 35 and WGVK-TV 52 of Kalamazoo will be broadcasting the program on Friday, Dec. 22, at 10 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 23, at 2 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 24, at 11 p.m.; and Monday, Dec. 25, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The other stations in Michigan that have indicated that they will be featuring the program are: WTVS of Detroit, on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 11 p.m.; WCMU of Flint-Saginaw-Bay City on Sunday, Dec. 24, at 11 p.m.; WDCP of Flint-Saginaw-Bay City on Monday, Dec. 25, at 6 p.m.; and WKAR of Lansing on Sunday, Dec. 24, at 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
PBS affiliates in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia have also indicated that they are planning to feature the program.