Mayor Declares It Bob Kelly Day In Newton

NEWTON, MA — If you've been in Newton or Waltham for a while there's a good chance you've been impacted by changes that Robert Sean Kelly has helped implement in community media over the past three decades. On Wednesday, the Newton mayor declared Feb.12, 2020 Bob Kelly Day in Newton in honor of Kelly's achievements and dedication to both Newton and Waltham.

NewTV, the city's community media station where Kelly is executive director, threw him a surprise celebration to mark his 30 years in community television. Kelly worked for 18 years at Watham's cable access, before taking the reins of NewTV. In both capacities, he helped transform the stations and earned accolades, with what colleagues describe as his determination and warm wit.

Under Kelly's direction, NewTV has won several awards - including Best Community Media Center in the United States five times by the Alliance for Community Media. And not one or two, but 13 Emmys. Yes, those Emmys.

Kelly has roots in both Newton - where he went to school - and Waltham, where he was born and raised. He grew up on the same street as Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, who was on hand at the celebration to remember snowball fights and to give her own proclamation to Kelley. McCarthy, was the one who first hired him - on Feb. 12, 1990, he said.

"I thought I'd only be there four or five years," Kelly said Wednesday.

When he was the executive director for Waltham Community TV, he moved the non-profit to a new location, started an annual auction that raised more than $500,000 for news and youth internship and scholarship programs.

He started off with a bang in Waltham in 1990, he remembers. The head of the American Legion there had contacted with the Embassy in Russia and planned to go over to march in the May Day parade in Moscow and Leningrad, he said. "We sent a camera crew over from the Waltham Channel to go capture it," he said. "I was green, "Kelly" green as a matter of fact," he said, but he was off. Shortly after that, he went to Springfield as a delegate at the Massachusetts Democratic convention in Springfield. He happened to bring a video camera with him and happened to capture the Springfield police picketing the event. His video made it onto network television, and he was getting a reputation around the station.

"That was early on. Since then, I'm just happy that we're able to adapt and adjust to the consumers times and format changes," he said. "What's happening is that people are seeing the growth of our industry go from public access ... to really being something that people rely on to keep up with what's happening in their community. Not only with government meetings, but football games, or sports or chamber of commerce events. "

Colleagues describe him as not only an advocate for community media, but as "outspoken," "truthful," "driven" and "full of ideas."

"Bob is a very funny and warm boss and also a very driven and accomplished boss," said Elizabeth Flood whose worked at NewTV for almost two years.

When she says accomplished, she's referring to his bio that doesn't fit on one page. From 1996 to 2004 Kelly was the Ward 1 City Councilor in Waltham. He was also president of the City Council for two terms, until 2004. He co-founded Historic Waltham, and he co-founded Y.O.U, Youth Opposed to Using, a drug-free club for school-aged students supported by the business community.

In May 2008, Kelly become the executive director of NewTV, Newton's community cable access. In 12 years, Kelly transitioned the station from analog to digital, completed a re-brand, created lasting community partnerships, started annual events like the Teamwork Trivia Challenge that raise money for NewTV’s scholarship and internship programs, coordinated the creation of a new website, and overseen the expansion to streaming platforms like Facebook and Vimeo.

Kelly is also the CEO of Another Age Productions, an Emmy award-winning production company that specializes in producing corporate videos, television commercials, and original programs. Another Age’s original program The Folklorist, a show that you can watch on NewTV, has won nine Emmys. Another Age’s other programs have won four other Emmys.

Kelly co-founded the non-profit council arm of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce and served six terms as the President of MassAccess, which acts as a resource for community media centers across the state.

Watch Mayor Ruthanne Fuller present the special day:

At the end of the event, Kelly thanked everyone and then came back to specifically thank his wife Lori Nahabedian Kelly.

"I wouldn't be here without the support of my wife, the love of my life," he said.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).