Thank you, B Lewis and Prais. I have read posts in the past from both of you, and I know that you have long backgrounds in radio.
I began in radio in 1979, at a small AM on 1450, WTAL in Tallahassee. I was about as green as a kid could be. But I did everything they asked - overnights, helping file the music (mostly 45s) in the music area - board op for ball games..you name it, I did it - and learned a lot. After the station sold, I returned to Florida State University to finish my degree, and worked for them as a staff writer for 3 1/2 years.
In late 1983 I went to work for then-Christian-formatted WCVC. I ended up working for them three separate times - the last as station manager, until I got married in 2001, at which point I stepped down a notch to operations manager.
In 2004 WCVC was leased to a Catholic group and I found myself "on the beach." I've spent the last several years doing a little freelance writing, and homeschooling my two step-grandsons, now 6 andd 7 years old. Their mother is now a stay at home mom with them...
And I found myself needing something to do. I'm in the middle of taking a grant-writing course. In the midst of that course, I came across the Pepsi promotion. It took a couple of months to even get the application submitted.
I chose $50k in hopes of either obtaining an LPFM, or getting one of the licensed and silent AM stations (one is near Thomasville, GA and the other is in Chattahoochee, FL). Both are silent 10kw AMs. Chattahoochee's AM is a sole service. I'm located in eastern Leon County but outside of Tallahassee. I'm in Lafayette, which doesn't usually show on a map, and near Chaires.
Now I am a realist. I know that the Pepsi competition is tough. So it's not an "if I don't get the Pepsi deal I'll just give up" kind of thing. It just would make an over-the-air station more of a possibility.
I'm also a fighter. I was born with cataracts and was supposed to end up in the Florida State School for the Deaf and Blind. I didn't, went to mainstream school and managed to pass, without ever being able to read a thing on the chalkboard. I still can't read them, nor the screens in the churches that seem to be in use everywhere. Life has been a big mountain to climb. I am still legally blind. I've been through all the operations possible.
In the meantime, I'm doing a morning show. It's only on the stream - but it still has listeners. I receive PSAs from local folks all the time. Sometimes I get a few real ads.
The station is getting a building of its own, a mobile office trailer. I'm painting the baseboards now. It has ISO soundboard on the walls, and will overall have a more professional image than having the station in a couple of spare bedrooms.
I used to interview someone from the community every Friday morning on WCVC. I will have the capability of doing that via phone very soon.
I'm not very politically connected, though. I'm a simple country boy and live on part of the family horse farm. We often struggle to survive. Since I don't drive, I need to work from home, as I also help on the farm.
But I know radio. WTAL was "full service" back when I was there. It's a satellite feed now, often with dead air. Same with WCVC.
I know radio can be better, and serve the community, while also becoming a successful business.
It doesn't happen overnight. It has taken me two years to turn dead AMs around in the past.
Thank you all for your support! I do appreciate it!
Alan
