If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then Amesbury is drop-dead gorgeous in Larry Frost's gaze.
The 57-year-old massage therapist didn't set out to be the chronicler of all that is good in his hometown, but that seems to be they way it has turned out and he's not uncomfortable in that role.
Frost is the host of "Our Town," a local access cable television program that spotlights Amesbury's people, insitutions and attractions. It is seen on Comcast's Channel 12, but because the local programming schedule is somewhat fluid, "Our Town" hasn't settled into a consistent time slot yet. But it's got a theme song | written and performed by local musician Lucian Parkin | and Amesbury High School student Patrick Powell mans the camera when Frost is in front of the lens. Frost does the editing on equipment at Comcast's studio at 194R Main St.
The program that evolved into "Our Town" started last December. Frost was trying to think of a present for his father's 89th birthday.
He had an idea: He would take his dad on an aerial tour of the town | without leaving his home.
"The idea was to make my dad think he was in an airplane," Frost said.
He had made one previous local access TV ad for his business, LRF Massage, so he had some familiarity with the Comcast studio. After deciding on his gift, he received the cable company's standard training on the use of its equipment, hired a pilot and a plane and took off.
"I wanted my dad and mum to see what's going on around town because they never get out," he said.
The result turned into the first edition of "Our Town" after Frost went public with his narrated flyover.
It occurred to him that his parents weren't the only people in town with limited mobility | and he decided to show those residents their community.
"My intended audience was nursing homes, old people, people who couldn't get out," he said.
Not all the programs since then have the spectacular visuals of the aerial tour, but Frost says the basic goodness of the town and its people comes through consistently.
A Newburyport native who moved to Amesbury in the 1970s, Frost has interviewed people in many different lines of work, including Mayor Thatcher Kezer, police officer Tom Hanshaw and Ted Stanwood, who repairs municipal vehicles in the Highway Department garage.
The interviews are obviously unrehearsed and Frost always accentuates the positive. "What do you like about your job?" and "What do you like about Amesbury?" are typical interview questions.
"I see a lot of people who are really trying," he said. "People are really working hard here."
Sometimes he eschews interviews and voiceovers and just lets the camera tell the story, as when Marine Corps Sgt. Earl Day spent a day at Cashman Elementary School in April after his fourth tour of duty in Iraq.
In the show, called "A Humble Hero," Frost introduced the story, then got out of the way. Instead, he recorded Day's arrival at his parents' Clarks Road home, then the next day's flag raising ceremony at the school and the sergeant's spirited question-and-answer with a class of young students. Until Frost came back on camera for a brief wrap-up, all the dialogue was from the participants on the screen.
Another technique Frost uses on "Our Town" involves juxtaposing old black-and-white photos with color images of the same scenes today.
"I work with the camera and old photographs to take people back in time, even if it's just for that one minute," he said. "I'd like to be able to show people that if they had been standing there that's what they would see."
"Our Town" is continually evolving, Frost said.
"It's grown into a show where people are asking me to cover more events," he said. Frost tries to accommodate those requests, since he's self-employed and can set his own schedule.
But whatever method he uses on an individual show, the goal for Frost is to portray Amesbury's best qualities.
"This is my way of giving back to people, to show them the beauty," he said. "I want to let them appreciate what's here."
Host Larry Frost and his camera operator Patrick Powell, 18, a junior at Amesbury High, tape a segment for their cable program "Our Town," which features stories about life in Amesbury and its residents. Ben Laing/Staff Photo(Click for larger image)
