Radio Free JoJo

Imagine a fellow with the lavish riches of Donald Trump, the intelligence of Bill Gates, the power of any American President, and the attraction of a Hollywood A-list superstar. Everyone is drawn to him and tries to impress or placate him. He has access to anything and anyone. With all of that, he writes in his blog: “Everything is meaningless…completely meaningless!”

The fellow is King Solomon and his blog is the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. This weekend McLane Church in Edinboro is starting a series of talks called “Trivial Pursuits.”  I’m looking forward to a discussion of how we as people will go after meaning in our lives through any number of means: money, fame, sex, power. Those pursuits, which are classified as “life under the sun,” in the end will not bring fulfillment. We see that evidenced in the media all the time. We probably see that evidenced in our lives.

All of us want to live our lives with meaning, purpose. If you’re feeling a little lost on how to attain that meaning, check out the church, or hit the website this week and listen to the podcast for some insight.

I was birthed into the media universe as a 17 year old boy with a rock and roll radio show on the campus station the summer before I entered the university. 27 years, eight radio stations, one television production company, and a PR gig later I continue to contribute to the voices, but this time via a computer on my lap with more horsepower than the whole mainframe at that university years ago, and an ability to talk to the planet as opposed to nine square miles. Dorothy, we’re not at WKRP any more!

I’m intrigued by this brave new media world.  There are multiple paradoxes present that sometimes are difficult to get your arms around. Back in college we talked about the “gatekeepers,” those news directors, journalists, and publishers who decided for the masses what news was.  Now with blogs, YouTube, podcasts, and MySpace/Facebook, you are bypassing the gate, going to fellow readers with your news and views. It would seem that this democratization of media is more like real life.

However, I think that there continues to be a pecking order and certainly voices that are silent. For example, I don’t think that the American poor are well represented on Web 2.0. Blogs I’m exposed to are from mostly lefty, college-educated, middle-classed white people with a computer and Blogger account. The blogging heroes to many are Anna Marie Cox, Media Matters, and the foil-headed contributors to the Daily Kos. Of course there are many conservative voices, mine included, taking advantage of the space and we have our lions, too. But if comments and hits are the currency of the new media, there definitely exists the “haves” and the “have nots.”

I am grateful for (and a little nervous about) this outlet where I can try to make a cogent argument for a position and have maybe several dozen people read what I have to say. But what is it going to take for the disenfranchised; the poor in spirit; the meek to raise their voices? I’m not talking about hearing from some political advocacy group trying to force the government to redistribute someone else’s wealth. I mean let’s hear the true life stories of those in our country that live in the margins, between the coasts, and under the radar.

I found a website with some information that I have wondered about for many years. As I’ve learned about local Erie history, I’ve always had this sense that Erie was quite the big deal in the distant past. I ran across a report from the US. Census Bureau, detailing the population of the 100 largest cities in the US over the history of the census. Compared to many East Coast cities, Erie is relatively young, but it grew in a hurry. The city was incorporated in 1851, and showed up in the top 100 with the 1870 census, with its 19,646 putting Erie at #72. Charts and graphs below… Read the rest of this entry »

You can pretty much say that Erie’s non-profits just hit the lottery. It was announced last week that the Erie Community Foundation had received $100 million from an anonymous donor that will dramatically impact 46 local non-profit organizations. As a former CEO of a non-profit, my reaction is, like…WOW!

People shouldn’t underestimate the power and significance of this gift and its donor. First the donor, who is reported to be deceased. This person obviously led a well-stewarded life to be able to amass such a fortune in a smaller city like Erie. The agencies he designated tell you a lot about this person and who he/she cared about. The list of recipients signifies a desire to help the poor and afflicted, educate the young, and heal the sick. You see many of the values of Christ held up in these agencies, many of whom are faith-based. This person understood the value of a holistic mind/body/spirit solution to society’s ills, and this gift ensures that thousands of our neighbors will benefit.

What the gift means to the various organizations is monumental. What should an agency do that will honor the donor and provide the most enduring impact of the gift? That’s where their boards and management should employ the bright minds at the Erie Community Foundation and its Non-Profit Partnership for help. Great consideration should be made toward establishing endowments that will be able to fund programming in perpetuity from the investment earnings of the gift. Consider this: many non-profits in our area have seen declining annual funding because of the shrinkage of the manufacturing base and the general reluctance of large corporations to commit to donations. The endowment can replace those lost funds to keep current programming going. Much caution should be taken before starting anything new or any great expansion of mission. For those folks that have aging buildings, perhaps building remodeling or replacement would be an efficient use of the funds, especially for infrastructure items (boilers, plumbing, kitchens) or aging equipment. For many of these agencies, this might be their only shot; they have to do it right.

I’ve already seen some typical Erie grumbling about how these organizations get a big influx of cash and they don’t pay any taxes. As I said in my Loving Erie: The Non-Profits series, the non-profits contribution to jobs and our quality of life is immeasurable. To the naysayers, I say “get over it.”

To the family of this wonderful person who although is now gone, but his or her legacy will live on I wish you God’s blessings as you cope with your loss, and encouragement at the generosity of your loved one. Finally, to the non-profits who are reeling at their windfall, albeit with smiles on their faces, “be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16) as you plan your future.

I lived in Nashville for a few years in the late 1980’s working for a secular broadcast marketing company. I was fully immersed in the radio industry, where I called on the management of some of the biggest radio stations in the world. I also had Christian recording artist friends in that hub of the Christian music industry. At that time, however, something we talked about a lot was that there really wasn’t a good contemporary Christian music station in Nashville. I believe that at that time God instilled in me a desire to design a Christian music station that would be relevant and professional.

Within several months I received a call from a family acquaintance back home in Erie. It was Ron Fuhrman, who continued to be the President of WCTL’s board. He called to say that the station manager had resigned and would I be interested in pursuing the job. As they say, the rest is history. I must tell you that it was quite the culture shock to move from a fast-moving cosmopolitan existence in Nashville to living and working on a dirt road, across from corn fields!

I started an exactly fourteen-year adventure as General Manager of WCTL in September 1990. Back then we played CCM, rock, southern gospel, and praise and worship songs, all in the same hour. We would play music for 15 minutes then stop for a 15 minute preaching program, then back to songs. We had one of the worst “time spent listening” in Christian radio. Something had to give. Soon the development of the station to realize my dream began.

There is enough material to write a book, but highlights include in 1992 the struggle then success in building a tower and moving our antenna 14 miles closer to Erie, finally making WCTL a metro Erie station. That year we hired key staff like Ron Raymond, and Bob Smith who are still serving the ministry today, with Ron doing a terrific job now as General Manager. In 1994, we moved the studios to north of Waterford providing better access for listeners by operating in the center of Erie County. Over time there was the weeding out of music and programming outside our mission and just playing great songs. It got to the point that in 1996 we became a national reporting station, which meant great promotions and connections with recording artists.

With so much going on in growing organizations, sometimes taking care of the basics gets lost in the shuffle. In late 1997, we hit a stone wall and crisis came to the ministry in 1998. I still remember that year as the absolute toughest of my adult life. But “mercy came running” that November as we held what would be called “The Miracle Sharathon.” The station was on the brink of bankruptcy, but God had another plan, and with the amazing support of people from throughout the community, our fall fundraiser raised $112,000 in three days. Not only would be survive to operate into the future, but we would be able to fund initiatives that we could only dream about!

The pages really turned after that. In 1999, we went live on the internet and had the most active stream of any Erie station at the time. In 2000, we began an amazing festival at Liberty Park called “Kingdom Bound By the Bay.” For six Labor Day weekends in a row, thousands of people came together under sunny skies to listen to great Christian music and just enjoy each other’s company. It was like the biggest family reunion you ever saw.  In 2002, TV and movie start Kirk Cameron came and spoke at the event. The momentum continued in 2003, as WCTL was noted as the #8 rated Christian music station in the country, and #1 in the Northeast in terms of audience share.

As sometimes happens, my season of life changed and I was called out of WCTL in September 2004. I continue to have strong ties to the station and its staff; these are my friends and I love them dearly. I want to do whatever I can to help further the ministry’s success and growth. I guess I hope that WCTL will continue to have a significant impact on my life throughout my days.

Happy Birthday!

Today, Oct. 3rd, is the 40th anniversary of WCTL Radio. According to their website, wctl.org:

In 1967, 21 Christian businessmen and pastors committed themselves to bringing Christian radio to the Erie, PA area under the vision of George Smith, a local radio engineer. After looking at available new frequencies to apply to the FCC for, they found four-month old WBVB, a 250-watt FM station in Union City. The Inspiration Time board reached agreement to buy WBVB from owners William Baker and Virgil Brown for $17,500 payable over the next few years. With a down payment of $1,000, Inspiration Time became a 49% owner of WBVB. On October 3, 1967, George Smith took over the daily operation and management of WBVB. This date marks the beginning of what is known now as the WCTL radio ministry.

This radio station has played a significant part of my life for probably over 30 of the last 40 years. My earliest memories go back to the mid-1970’s when my brother-in-law, now Pastor Mike Watson (of Grace Baptist Church) had a 15-minute Christian rock radio show on WCTL called Street Level. That’s back in the day when the station was all block programming, and they stuck it in the afternoon right after “Tips for Teens.” Rev. Richard Frank was the General Manager back then, and Mike would record the show in his spare bedroom on reel-to-reel tape, and drive it down to Union City to the station’s trailer on Lincolnville Road. Eventually, the Street Level Radio Show went national, and was aired on over 50 secular Album Rock stations across the country. I used to play the weekly half hour right after my Counterpoint Radio show on Gannon’s WERG Sunday evenings while I was in school in the early 1980’s.

Even though I went to school for Communication Arts, I really didn’t have a desire to get into Christian broadcasting, which at the time professionally, left a lot to be desired. So I went on to be a Top 40 DJ, but still very much loving the contemporary Christian music I was raised on and played on my college station. In the middle 1980’s, dozens of Christian businessmen would have lunch together Fridays at the Mannechor Club downtown in a meeting called TGIF. One of the initiatives that came out of those discussions was the lack of a Christian music station in our area. Now WCTL had been plugging away for almost 20 years at that time, but the signal was week and the programming must not have met the felt need of those men. I’ll never forget when then manager Bill Baker and board chair Ron Fuhrman came to the lunch to talk about the station, basically saying “don’t abandon us, but join us.” It wouldn’t be too long for those businessmen to wait.

**Part Two-tomorrow

Note: this is the final day of the WCTL 40th Birthday Sharathon. I would encourage you that if you appreciate that the station is available for people to be encouraged in their lives, that you support it with a donation. You can do it online now.

I am enthralled with the latest film effort by Ken Burns entitled “The War.” This fifteen-hour saga on PBS tells the stories of troops from four American towns as they coped with the true ugliness of war, both on the battlefield and on the home front.

I have always been captured by Mr. Burns’ style, which draws you into the narrative and helps you understand the horrible toll of violent war, as well as the lighter moments, and the sheer boredom that the troops often faced.

One fact that alarmed me right from the get-go was how unprepared the US was to the growing threat from Germany and Japan in the late 1930’s. Even as Poland and France were annexed by the Nazi’s, the fighting force of the United States had a census of less than 200,000 men. It was only when Hitler began the blitz on Britain did Roosevelt engage the draft, and eventually 16 million Americans would wear the uniform through 1945. I can’t help but make the comparison of the isolationist 1930’s with the distracted 1990’s, when we had a President who “loathed the military,” and bombed aspirin factories instead of building up a terrorist defense infrastructure. It’s ironic to me that our government was as unprepared for 9/11 as we were for Pearl Harbor, and we lost about the same amount of citizens from both attacks.

The film also shows that even with excellent planning, and all the right intentions and motivations, things in war often go terribly wrong. Bombers miss their targets, boats get stuck on the sand bars, even sometimes rogue soldiers do unspeakable things to the dead or prisoners. Again the parallels are strong with current events.

What I already knew about the Second World War that “The War” confirms is that the country made extreme sacrifices for the freedom of the world. A striking statement is made in the first episode: the US didn’t have to go to Europe, but it did to liberate our allies and to ensure our freedom. I shudder to imagine what our world would be like if the US stayed out of the conflict. The cost to everyone was high, but the rewards from the sacrifice of those brave souls are unquestionably evident even now, 60 years later.