WTNK Hartsville Needs Help In Wake of Flooding

[nashbear]

This is a repost from the Engineering thread....

A wonderful family has made their mark on the small county seat of Hartsville, TN, in the small county of Trousdale. They lost their building, but saved most of the equipment. 1090am and their FM Translator at 93.5 are back on the air.. They did lose some vital underlining things like furniture and basic processing equipment. Also, they could use a UBS for brief outages. Gary Frank (who passed away with cancer) did all he could, along with his wife to keep this one electronic and only modern media voice on-the-air in Hartsville... 1090am went from an AM daytimer to having just enough watts to cover town at night. Then in the past year, received the go ahead and the put the FM Translator on at 93.5.. As of last week, they were scared that this might be the end of that voice for Trousdale County, TN. Some folks have come forward to help Ms. Franks get the building back to norm (in good time).... But, the most important thing is the stuff that got soaked... I am asking, if you have some furniture (old stuff works well) and maybe an old UBS unit or older processing gathering dust and bugs in the back room, let me know! If you are in Mid-Tenn, Northern Alabama or Central Kentucky, I would be willing to get the rental truck and pick them up and take them right to WTNK.. Or if you can send them to them, it would help!

Lisa Frank, General Manager
WTNK-AM/FM
165 Marlene Street
Hartsville, Tennessee 37074
(615) 374-2111

"Skipper T." Spence
910/"TheDuck/Your Fox Sports Affiliate
WMRB-AM/Columbia-Spring Hill, TN
(931)-982-2399
[email protected]

 

[KG6VSW]

Thanks for putting the word out about WTNK, Skipper.

I dropped by the studios today with a UPS, and talked to Jerry Richmond and Bobby Lynn about the situation there.

Aside from the broadcast booth, the building is completely gutted and virtually empty. In terms of furniture, Bobby told me they lost all their office desks & chairs, as well as a couch and refrigerator (I'm not sure that this is a complete list, this was just off the top of his head). They do not need anything new or fancy, just basic furniture (old or new) will be fine.

Also, the phone number posted above isn't working at the moment. I was told the only operational phone line is 374-9865.

 

[DToTheJ]

I first read about WTNK's plight in T-R-I last week. For this to happen on the heels of the station's owner passing away, I can't imagine what they are going through right now.

Here's a story about the situation on the Channel 4 website:
http://www.wsmv.com/weather/23548718/detail.html

 

[skippertthomas]

Looks like Frank Forti is coming to the processing rescue (from his Telos/Omnia headquarters in Cyahogaland, Ohio)... Thanks, Frank!

 

[Lancer]

Is there a fund setup where cash donations may be made?

 

[skippertthomas]

Lancer,

I would call Bobby Lynn (who runs the little station for Ms. Frank, who works full time at Comcast)... I was in Hartville, yesterday and had lunch with FEMA folks and popped by to see her sister and brother-in-law working on putting in new flooring.. The power supply that goes with their FM transmitter was washed out and they have a loaner... The Audiomax FM has bugs and pops 's'es and high clips...

The number to call is:

Bobby Lynn
(615)-767-4971

He's a good ol' local boy who loves his town..... Used furniture is the most needed item...

"Skip" at "TheDuck"

 

[KG6VSW]

I will be there later today and will try to ask about a cash donation fund.

If you are in the area, there is a benefit concert for WTNK this evening in the Hartsville City Park, from 3-7 PM. I'm not sure of the exact details of who is playing and such, but they will be accepting cash donations there.

 

[skippertthomas]

They still need an old FM processor, if anyone has an old one laying in the back room.. Sunday May 30th...