Frankly, Charlotte, I DO give a...

"We don't get offered crises, they arrive."

- Elizabeth Janeway

I never saw it coming. No one did. The temporary loss of WNCW’s 100.3 FM was a shock, an end-of-the-year blow polishing off 2007, a year of substantial challenges for the station. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whether you rely upon the 100.3 translator to receive WNCW’s signal in Charlotte, its status is one of the last lingering challenges from 2007 that remain unresolved.

But, resolve it we will.

First, a little background…

For the last few years, WNCW supplemented its 88.7 FM main signal – which reaches parts of Charlotte – with a small translator that rebroadcast WNCW on 100.3 to areas unable to receive 88.7(mostly east and southeast of the downtown area). The translator system was located atop an office building near Colwick Ave. where it happily hummed away bringing WNCW’s unique programming to our friends and supporters in Charlotte.

Late in 2007, we received a notice from the building’s new owners requesting that we remove our broadcast tower, antennae and translator gear. The owner was about to undertake a substantial renovation project and a 60’ tower atop the building was not part of that plan. Their request - though disheartening - was legal and well within the parameters of the lease agreement. It had to be done.

So, on a Friday morning in early November, I joined a tower crew atop the building, called Morning Music Mix host Joe Kendrick via cell phone, asked him to give a legal ID for the Charlotte translator, and upon hearing it, I – with great sadness - flipped the switch that temporarily silenced 100.3. The tower was dismantled and lowered to the ground by Tower Guys, Inc. (thanks, y’all!) and I disconnected the translator and wrestled it into the back of my car. It’s here in Spindale awaiting a new home.

“Temporary” has now lasted nearly 3 months…far longer than I – or anyone else – anticipated. I’d venture to say the e-mails and phone calls asking about the status of 100.3 began within minutes of shutting off the translator and they haven’t stopped.

Our search for a new home for our tower, antennae and rack of transmission equipment continues on a daily basis. Negotiations are underway with one potential host and phone calls have been placed to others who are considering our needs.

Our needs are relatively simple. If you look at a map of Charlotte, draw a line from the central (downtown) campus of Central Piedmont Community College to our former location near Colwick Ave - that's our target area.

Any further north or west and the location won't serve those most in need of a little "boost" of our signal. Any further south or east and we might interfere with a fellow broadcaster. We're good neighbors. We'd like to avoid that.

Tall buildings along that route are of interest to us. The WNCW 100.3 translator doesn’t take up much space and our tower/antennae array is pretty small and needs little attention compared to larger broadcast systems. We seek height, security, a source of electricity, access to our gear on short notice, a long-term agreement and – here’s the fun part – either a donation, a trade-out agreement or what could be referred to as “more-than-reasonable” terms for the space.

That’s not too much to ask. Is it?

To our listeners in Charlotte, we truly appreciate your continued support, concern and patience. WE SHALL RETURN! When we do, I assure you, we’ll make a public spectacle of the event and come celebrate with you.

For the time being, please bear with us, tune us in on 88.7 when you can and stream us on the web at http://www.wncw.org/ListenLive.html when you can’t.

I want this issue resolved at least as much as you do.

The silver lining is: WNCW knows – more than ever – just how much Charlotte respects and supports what we’re doing here in Spindale. That warms our hearts and makes us want to work even harder to provide the unique, creative programming only WNCW can produce.

WNCW and Charlotte were meant for one another. We’ll be back. You have my word on that.

Tune in. Turn on. But, don’t drop out.

This is WNCW Spindale.

DEW

A Cold Winter Blast From The Past

Clearly, my previous comment about the "relatively mild North Carolina winter" was somewhat premature. We received between 3" and 8" of snow last night, depending on your location in WNC or Upstate SC.

Is this Nature's way of striking back against my anti-Kudzu campaign? One wonders...

The picture is of the "satellite dish garden" behind our facility here at Isothermal Community College. The footsteps are mine and those of Earl, one of ICC's always-helpful security guards. Here's the story:

Back in the early 1980s, when I was the Jr. Broadcast/Production Engineer at WXXI-FM in Rochester, NY, one of my responsibilities was to periodically climb a ladder and - using a push broom - sweep out accumulated snow and ice (which caused deterioration of our signal) from the NPR satellite dish. To say that I detested this duty is an understatement. When I left Rochester for the much more moderate winters of Charleston, SC in 1984, I couldn't help but torment my ex-supervisor (and one of my most prized mentors) - the late (and great) Garry Warren - by calling him up in the dead of winter (knowing he was freezing his handlebar mustache off in Upstate New York) and lamenting that I'd been forced to "sweep all the sunshine out of my satellite dish" that morning.

Garry would curse me profusely over the phone in response.

Well, here it is over 20 years later and guess who was standing in the freezing rain and 4" of snow reaching with a push broom to clear the snow and ice out of a satellite dish this morning?

Garry, wherever you are, I hope you got a good laugh out of watching me today.

Yes, the weather was foul, the streets were dangerous, the College was closed and the temptations to stay snuggled beneath the warm covers were difficult to deny. But, I have to tip my hat to WNCW's Morning Music Mix host Joe Kendrick, our part-time fill-in host Brad Watson and Program/Operations Director Dave Kester for joining me as survivors of the "Great Isothermal Blizzard of 2008." Kudos, gentlemen! And to you, too, Earl! And, let's not forget, to Senior Producer Kim Clark, whose POPAsheville interview was a fine addition to our "snow day" programming.

WNCW - if you'll pardon the mangled grammar - is great people.

And we all owe a debt of gratitude to Garry Warren - may he rest in peace - for giving me a marketable winter skill, which I somehow retained after more than two decades in the subtropics of South Carolina and Texas. As long as I know how to sweep out snow and ice from a satellite dish, I will be of some value to a radio station. Because of Garry Warren, WNCW was able to maintain its satellite connection and the BBC, NPR news headlines and World Café made it to your radios and computers.

Thanks, Garry.

Tune in. Turn on. But, don't drop out.

This is WNCW Spindale.

DEW

Public Radio and the Art of Kudzu Warfare

You may note that I established this blog near the beginning of Winter. My logic - that of a newly-transplanted, "naturalized" Texan who expected "winter" anywhere north of Waco (that's Waco, Texas...not Waco, North Carolina) to be nasty, fierce and brutal - was that the anticipated horrid weather here in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains would provide hours - if not days - of forced idleness during which I could contentedly tap away at my keyboard expounding upon the virtues of WNCW, its programming, staff, and supporters.

Clearly, that has not been the case.

Instead, the relatively mild Western North Carolina winter weather has - thus far, at least - afforded me the opportunity to spend my non-office hours outside performing somewhat familiar tasks such as clearing brush and attempting to remove "invasive species" from around the immediate area of our home.

Now, any of you readers who may have known me during my years in the Lone Star State will probably recall that I would occasionally launch into a vitriolic rant about my most-hated natural enemy...the mesquite tree. Because of the mesquite's ornery nature, mind-bending robust root system, long, sharp thorns, ability to gather unto itself moisture and nutrients needed by other plants and trees surrounding it, extremely hard (though tortured and twisted) wood, and its nearly-impossible-to-eradicate stubbornness...not to mention the number of lawn tractor tires that were sacrificed to those previously-mentioned thorns - I grew to despise the mesquite. Many times, I compared it to the game of golf, another of God's creations which seem to exist to either humiliate or humble Mankind.

Mesquite, I came to believe, was God's way of reminding Texans who was really larger than life.
Here in North Carolina, I've discovered God's regional version of the Texas mesquite tree: Kudzu.

Now, kudzu is often referred to as "the vine that ate the South." It matches mesquite's stubborn streak and root networking capabilities, but exceeds - by unimaginable lengths - the mesquite in invasive growth and destruction of surrounding plants, structures, highway signs and other living things that either move slowly or not at all. Left on its own, kudzu will overtake nearly everything in its path - including tall trees - strangling its victims with tentacle-like vines or overtaking and smothering them like a living, growing carpet.

So, I have traded the delicate, avoid-the-needle-like-thorns surgical approach to temporary removal of mesquite for the saw-though-vines-larger-than-Popeye's-biceps, unwind, untangle, and pull-with-all-your-strength, yet-still-temporary removal of kudzu from various trees on our property. I realize that - at best - all I can do is battle my new nemesis to a draw, once I am able to free my trees from its seemingly ceaseless growth. It is generally accepted that kudzu cannot be eradicated. Like diamonds, kudzu is forever.

What does this have to do with WNCW? Well, battling kudzu - like my long, seemingly endless battle with mesquite - is a solitary activity. Some people find solace and inner peace by running for miles. Others climb mountains, practice tai chi, go fishing or hiking. Me? I engage in mortal combat with invasive plant species.

While I struggle to untangle and "de-strangle" my trees and hillsides, I think about the daily challenges we face at WNCW. I theorize, prioritize, turn various questions and challenges over and over in my mind and - occasionally - attempt to vent my frustrations (the ongoing quest for a new location for our Charlotte translator being my current bugaboo) while chopping, sawing, uprooting or pulling kudzu vines out of trees and dragging my prey down - trailing behind me in defeat - to the burn pile.

Among the many the thoughts that crossed my mind today is an article a friend recently sent me forecasting - if not the outright "death" of radio - the rapid decline of the medium to which I've dedicated my entire career. It seems that due to the growing number of personal digital audio storage and playback/delivery systems available these days - iPods & other mp3 players, satellite radio, Internet streaming & downloads, etc. - there are some who feel that "good ol' radio" is growing increasingly irrelevant.

Now, I'm about to celebrate a half century of existence, so I have every right to be a "crabby old man" and dismiss this as the machinations of a crazed, younger generation raised on technology that ridicules the transistor radio I used to listen to under the pillow when I was growing up. Well, that is, if they even know what a "transistor radio" is.

But, I also work in an industry that is technology-dependent. So, I've witnessed, installed (I'm a former Technical Director) and utilized new gear and technologies that still blow my mind. The little boy listening to the transistor radio has seen some mind-blowing changes. So, if you don't mind me saying so, I have a little experience in this area.

If you think radio is dying, you're not listening to WNCW.

Personal audio devices are everywhere. There's no denying it. But, do they turn you onto the latest releases? Do they talk with you as though you were the only person listening? Do they have the knowledge, interest, and sense of humor of a Joe Kendrick, Martin Anderson, Roland Dierauf, Kit Strecker or Sander Morrison? When was the last time your iPod blew you away by stunning you with a song you hadn't heard since you were riding the bus to school in the late 1960's? Can satellite radio duplicate the mainline connection to The Bluegrass Nation that Dennis Jones and Jerry McNeely provide each Saturday? Has your MP3 player turned you onto a new regional act like Local Color's Kim Clark does each week? Has it ever asked for your opinion on the Top 100 releases of the year? When was the last time satellite radio gave you an opportunity to attend the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Bonaroo Music Festival, MerleFest or send you on a Caribbean cruise with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin and a host of other stellar singer songwriters?

Those are just a few of the reasons we here in Spindale believe there's room in this cutting-edge technology world for eclectic, personal, intelligent, compelling, listener-powered radio...the medium that still trusts and believes in people - to both program and support the station.

Yes, Virginia, there is real public radio. It exists at 88.7 on your FM dial or at www.wncw.org on your web browser.

Is there room in your world for iPods, satellite radio and a transistor radio under your pillow? We think so. But, don't let new technology overtake you like kudzu. Break free of the tentacles. Join us on-the-air or online for programming you may have forgotten existed. A person playing music for you, talking to you, connecting with you, getting you to and from work, and getting you through your day, into the night...and beyond.

Tune in. Turn on. But, don't drop out.

This is WNCW Spindale.

DEW