52 . Friday, April 11, 1986

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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Agnes Scott has
deep roots in Detroi
and in its public
television station s
fund-raising
activities.

BY VICTORIA BLEYEU DIAZ
Special to The Jewish News

...-....

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f she were so inclined, she
might- step . outside-h-er office at
Bethune and Second, take a long
walk around this city. in which she
grew up, and conduct her own man-
and-woman-in-the-street survey.
"Do you know me?" she might
ask of the people she met.
Chances are, almost all would
answer "yes."
"What's my name?"
Now, that's a little more compli-
cated. In fact, after a period of fierce
concentration and some serious
head-scratching, most replies prob-
ably sound like this: "Hmmm. You
know, I really don't know what your
name is. I just know you're that lady
on Channel 56."
"That lady" is Agnes Scott. She's
61, lives in West Bloomfield in "an
old house," and works out of a small,
no-nonsense office at Detroit's public
television station, where she is vice
president in charge of special proj-
ects.
She likes Detroit, her job, chil-
dren of all ages, Charlie Chaplin,
and knitting sweaters.
She dislikes people with • nega-
tive attitudes, people who demand'
respect they haven't earned, and
people whose minds are closed to
new ideas. •
And, though she may have one
of the more familiar faces on local
television, ehe definitely dislikes
having her picture taken.
"Being in front of a television
camera is: an altigether different ex-
perience," she confided to a recent
office visitor (while cheerfully posing

"I just came from families where
•being ,part of the community ,_ was ,
something you got with your
mother's milk," she says.
It was Scott's volunteer work in
the community that •brought her to
Channel 56 in the first place. "Based
on my volunteer activity, a friend
recommended me to be the volunteer
chairman of the first Channel 56 au-
ction," she recalls. -
"This was late 1969, and this
thing called public broadcasting was
just coming into being. WTVS was a
small station with very low funds,
but they had heard about auctions in
other cities as a way to raise money.
So, they decided to do one here.
"We held it in the center court
out at Tel-Twelve Mall, and it just
caught on, became like a community
event, right at the beginning. I can
still remember the kick we got that
first night when we went on-air and
the telephones started to ring — the
earth moved, I think. -It was very-ex-
citing.
"That year, I think we ended up
raising about $75,000."
Present-day auction supervisor
Andi Wolfe — who also started out
at Channel 56 as a volunteer -- cre-
dits Scott with many of the selling
techniques employed at the annual
auction.
• "When I think of the auction, I
think of Agnes," says Wolfe, "be-
cause she's taught me so' much (a-
bout it). I can't think of a time when
she didn't have exactly the right an-
swer to any question I had."
"In essence, I 'think building one
of our auctions is like putting to-

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for pictures). "I can move around (on gether a retail store," says Scott.
"There's all the flow of items-and
TV). I feel at home.
"But still pictures! They really paperwork you have in a store — in
effect, you take a small Hudson's
make me nervous."
Its not hard to believe that and squash it into this • building.
Agnes Scott would feel uncomforta- Then, on top of that, you're running
ble sitting still, though — for any a 90-hour television marathon."
Shortly after that first suc-
reason.
cessful' auction, Scott was hired on
When she arrived at WTVS
1969, she was a member of the West as vice president of development,
'Bloomfield Board of Education, had putting her in direct control of all
already been president of a state co- fund-raising activities at the station
operative nursery school council and for the next 15 years.
Nowadays, auction proceeds ex-
of the Fresh Air Society, and had sat
on the board of the Women's Di- ceed $800,000 annually, and the
vision of the Jewish Welfare Federa- thrice-yearly on-air pledge cam-
tion and of the United Fund, all in paigns usually bring in about
addition to caring 'or four growing $600,000 per campaign.
Since taking on her new job of
children.

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