Welcome to The Order of The Golden Greenie

Honoring the Legacy of Television’s Finest
The Order of the Golden Greenie is a distinguished fraternal order founded to honor retired professionals who dedicated their careers to shaping the golden age of television. Named after the iconic “Greenie” alignment tool—a symbol of precision, craftsmanship, and behind-the-scenes mastery—the Order recognizes engineers, technicians, and innovators whose quiet expertise kept the screens glowing and the signals clear. Through fellowship, storytelling, and ceremonial tributes, the Order celebrates the legacy of those who ensured the magic of television reached millions, honoring their enduring impact on broadcast history.

About

In electronics and television repair, especially in the mid-20th century, a "Greenie" was a nickname for a small green-handled alignment tool . It was commonly used for Adjusting variable capacitors or coils in radios and televisions.Tuning circuits without causing electrical interference (non-metallic tip).Common during the vacuum tube era of TV repair and calibration. In the 1950s–1980s, before digital tuning and solid-state reliability:TVs often required manual tuning and internal alignment. Technicians would use a Greenie to adjust IF (intermediate frequency) stages, horizontal/vertical hold, or color balance circuits.
This was part of routine maintenance or repair, usually done in-home by TV repairmen or in service centers.

2025 Inductee Bill Martin - Posthumous

William A. “Bill” Martin Sr. spent more than five decades in broadcast equipment sales and the systems integration business. A Virginia Tech alumnus, he served in the U.S. Navy as an electronics and communications technician before entering the industry. In 1969 he joined Avec Electronics in Virginia and trained at Ampex School in California, the company then at the center of professional videotape technology. He later became Vice President of Professional Products, Inc. in Gaithersburg, Maryland, working with stations, government, and production clients across the Mid-Atlantic until 2003. He became President of Digital Video Group, Inc. in 2004 and help grow the company to a national brand until his passing in 2024. He was a mentor to many made a huge impact on the broadcast and television industry during his life time.

2025 Inductee Mark Turner

Mark Turner retired from Nexstar Media Group on July 1st 2025 , where he served as Vice President - Station Operations. Prior to Nexstar Mr. Turner spent twenty-nine years with Media General, led initiatives to automate or improve operations including news production, master control, traffic and graphics. where he served as Vice-President of Station Engineering and Operations. Prior to that, he served as Vice-President of Broadcast Technology for Media General beginning in April of 2011, Vice-President of Technology for Media General Digital beginning in September 2007, and Director of IT for Media General Broadcast beginning in January 1988. "Mark's contributions to Nexstar over the years cannot be overstated," said Blake Russell, Nexstar's executive vice president of Operations. “He was instrumental in the technical development, construction and roll out of NewsNation, as well as the hub for our Washington, D.C., bureau including NewsNation, The Hill, and our local stations in the nation's capital. He has helped flawlessly execute the expansion of Nexstar's station group and broadcast operating centers and consistently delivered projects on time and on budget. We will miss Mark."

2025 Inductee George Beneman

George Beneman is set to retire at the end of the month after 56 years working at Maryland Public Television. He is currently the longest-tenured employee at MPT. Beneman was raised in a Reform Jewish home, and the arts always drew his attention and were a major part of his life growing up before he got an education in television and eventually joined the station. He never looked back. Beneman holds an impressive resume as an award-winning director and production manager. He is a member of several industry technology committees and has overseen the development of MPT over the last half century.

David Thomas 2026 Inductee - Posthumous

David Thomas spent more than five decades in professional broadcast sales and systems integration. After graduating from Marshall University, he worked with Midwest Industries and later ran his own systems integration company in Washington State. He joined Professional Products, Inc. in 2003. PPI, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, designed and built television studios, master-control rooms, and related production systems for broadcast, government, education, and corporate clients. In January 2010 he moved to Digital Video Group, Inc. in Virginia, where he served as Director of Contract Sales until 2026 when sadly passed away. David will be missed my everyone who knew him and made a huge impact on the broadcast and television industry.

2026 Inductee Matt Heffernan

Matt Heffernan is a broadcast operations and technology executive whose career has been rooted in Virginia stations and group-level master-control/hub operations. Raised in Wytheville, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Virginia Tech and was recruited into the Corps of Cadets. He served as an Army Signal Corps officer from 1985 to 1998, primarily in the Reserve and National Guard, and left as a captain. He has said signal school supplied the engineering foundation that complemented his communications degree. He spent 17 years at WTVR (CBS 6) in Richmond, moving through production, programming, sales, and operations/technology leadership. In 2003 he joined Media General as General Manager of Central Broadcast Operations, a role he held through 2017. When Nexstar acquired Media General, he continued with Nexstar, first as Director of Master Control Hubs and Project Services, then Director of Broadcast Hub Services, and from January 2023 as Vice President of Broadcast Hub Services until his retirement in 2026.