FTV: A Tower Tale – Part 1
In the late spring of 2025, we ordered the last pieces of our puzzle. The ‘puzzle’ was our four year quest to obtain a new frequency (91.5 FM) for WOAS-FM and the equipment we would need to go forward. Losing the old frequency had been quite a shocking surprise back in 2021. In the end, however, we were blessed to have so many supporters from all over the country pitch in and donate the $19,000 we needed to update the station’s electronics. The last pieces, the four tower bays tuned to the new frequency, chewed up the last $7,000 we had left from our 2023 fundraising campaign. In June of 2025, when engineer Al Harrison returned from a trip to Iceland, we were all set to get them mounted on our tower adjacent to the Ontonagon Area Schools gym.
The first step in the process was to remove the bush that had grown up inside the cyclone fence enclosure surrounding the base of this 100 foot tower. Al looked down and said, “Oh no, we have a problem.” The base of the tower’s three legs had several splits in them. It was obvious that water had infiltrated these steel tubes and the freeze-thaw cycle from many winters was the culprit. The tower has stood on this location since 1978 and was ‘pre-owned’ by the County Road Commission before that. Jim, Al, and I looked down at the problematic tower base and waited for the air to completely drain from the balloon of enthusiasm that we had a few minutes earlier.
There were things to consider and many options to talk about. The questions came fast and furious: “Can it be fixed? If so, how? Does this mean we might be tower shopping? Are we now in for another round of fundraising?” None of us had the expertise to evaluate the structure’s condition so the first step was to find a tower consultant. Range Communications came up as the closest company that deals in such things so we made preliminary contact. With their tower expert on a fishing expedition, a message came back that he would give us a call when he got back to the office the next Monday.
Al had recently worked to take down a tower at a hospital in the area which sparked an idea. Our local hospital had shut down all ER and in-patient services in 2023. The building remains and is used as a clinic. We wondered out loud if they might be interested in donating the radio tower they had used for their ER and emergency flight services to WOAS. The idea seemed too good to be true so we decided to wait and see what the Range tower guy would have to say the next week. Al and Jim went to lunch and were still pondering if it might be possible to find a used tower.
A couple of hours later, my phone jangled. It was Jim, “Hey, I think I may have found a tower.” Jim had stopped at a local contractor to inquire about a crane if and when we would need it to put up a new tower. There he found the old hospital tower in 20 foot sections sitting on a trailer. It became a possible option, but the lowest section had been damaged when it was still standing at the former hospital. We still needed to get a consultation by a tower expert.
Matt from Range Communications in Marquette called me back. I filled him in about the age of the tower, why we were changing the elements, and (obviously) our reluctance to make the change without a professional assessment of the damage to the lower legs. Had this been a video call, I don’t think I would have even seen him blink. Matt knew all my questions before I asked them and indicated that he wouldn’t give me any false hope without seeing the tower up close and personal. He also said, “If it is the make that I think it is, that manufacturer has not changed their tower design in thirty years. There may be options to repair the damage, but don’t get your hopes up. Towers do have a finite life span.” When he found out we were school affiliated, he gave us a very reasonable price for his trip here to evaluate the problem.
We could not have found a better tower professional to seek an opinion from. During his visit, we learned that Range is a multi-generational company. He wondered out loud if his father or grandfather had done any work on either of the towers he looked at. Matt himself had changed the signal lamps on the old hospital tower when it was still operational. His trained eye took one look at the base of our old tower and he deemed it DOA – too much damage and too old to fix. We turned our attention to the dismantled hospital tower being stored at the contractor’s bone yard.
Matt was a little surprised there was no identification stamp on the base of the used tower. Just by eyeballing the type of welds and construction used on the braces and mounting plates, he was pretty sure it was a Rohn tower manufactured in Illinois. Matt and Jim looked through the Rohn catalog he had with him and took measurements he could reference later. The damage to the bottom 20 foot section was visible but not extensive. When he left for Marquette, Matt said he would get a hold of the company and track down the information we would need. Matt’s professional opinion was that the upper four sections were sound and suggested we inquire about getting a new base section to replace the damaged one. It was also possible that the Center of Radiation (COR) that the FCC wants us to maintain can be obtained without using the damaged bottom segment. The all steel construction (as opposed to the tubular steel of the failing tower) would be viable for a long time – it could outlive all of us and maybe even the school building.
The path forward began to clear up. There would be multiple steps we would have to integrate into a coherent plan. The first step – get together with the Ontonagon Area Schools Board of Education Operations Committee. The discussion we had with the OC was wide ranging and of course one of the first topics discussed what funding options might be available. Budgets are always in limbo until the State clarifies next year’s budget. The only thing we knew for sure is that the district’s sinking fund account can not be used for the tower. With the All-School Reunion right around the corner, we were given the green light to start a fundraising campaign with the understanding that we let people know we are working on the plan forward and raising money at the same time.
We discussed the future of radio in general and Jim and I provided a brief history of the station’s origins and where we are headed in the future. It is true that young people are getting more of their entertainment from the internet, but much of WOAS FM’s local audience still tunes in on the radio. Online audio and video has been a nice addition to the station’s lineup, but the future of over the air broadcasting is still bright. Having spent the better part of $15,000 (raised in 2023) on new equipment to broadcast over the air, we weren’t going to let a little thing like needing to replace our tower hold us back. Indeed, putting up a new tower will NOT be a simple operation, but we are not going to shy away from learning a few more skills in our ‘how to manage a radio station’ handbook.
By the end of July, we had both the preliminary research and fundraising underway. It just so happened that the kick off for the fundraising took place the same week as the Ontonagon All-School Reunion. On Friday, July 25, 2025, we held an open house at the station during the reunion registration period. With the last available 88.5 hats and shirts on display, it only took about thirty minutes before the first friendly face popped around the corner. Kevin Countryman and his wife stopped by and were our first visitors. Kevin’s first comment was, “It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in that chair,” he said as he pointed to the DJ’s seat in the studio. As we had nowhere else to store the cable reel, connectors, and tower bays until the new tower issue is resolved, these items are taking up a good share of the floor space in the studio. When I apologized for the disarray, Kevin laughed and said, “It looks just like I remember it.” Kevin and his better half left with some station swag and door prizes and had they been the only visitors, I would have called the day a success.
The next visitors in the door were Jon and Jackie Schneck. Both were former students and Jackie and I had been teaching colleagues before she relocated to downstate Owosso. Like Kevin, Jon was a member of my first seventh grade class (who graduated in 1981) and both were involved in building WOAS-FM under Tom Lee’s guidance. Hearing first hand stories of the raising of the original tower from volunteers who were manning the ropes was of great interest to me. I was still teaching down the road at the ‘old school’ when WOAS was first being assembled. Jackie gets special mention because she made the first donation to the new tower fund and for that she gets a star by her name on our list of donors.
The last visitors before we closed up shop were Brady Guilbault and his significant other. Brady pioneered the concept of ‘team radio’ with a program he called ‘Let’s Be Serious’ along with his posse of radio buddies. Brady is the latest in our line of former DJs who worked in the industry both in Marquette and Ontonagon. He was a fixture here for a number of years after Jan Tucker retired from WUPY and her show morphed into The Superior 906 show. Even though a job opportunity in Lansing took Brady off the air a few years ago, he was excited to report he will be doing broadcasts of Ithaca, Michigan Yellowjacket football games on radio come fall. Brady left with the last two old school 88.5 promo hats and shirts. With the end of the open house, we began the waiting game to await the response to our new fundraising efforts.
The beginning of August came in with a one-two punch of good and bad news. Contact from former students Jamie Gollakner and Mark Pantti in Marquette gave the project a new twist. Jaimie offered to rally some of his resources to help us raise funds. Mark, as it turned out, has works with Matt the tower expert at Range Communications. Together they found a 100 foot tower that they plan to donate to WOAS. They promised to get back to me in a few days and when I called Jim to give him the good news, the bad news took me back a few steps. Jim had suffered a stroke and was on the way to Marquette. When he called me the next day, he said he would probably be in the hospital there for about a week. Obviously this turn of events trumped the good news and I let him know we stood ready to do anything on this end to aid him in his recovery.
In order of progression, the next step was a second session with the board’s Operations Committee. The groundwork having been laid, the project would not be able to move forward without the full board’s consent. Prior to the regular August 18, 2025 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Lisa Johnson and I met with Mark Pantti to look over siting options. The tower Range Communications is donating would be 100 feet tall and require a triangular footprint for the supporting guy wires to be planted 60 feet out from the tower. A new concrete foundation roughly 4 feet by 4 feet by 7 feet would have to be poured and they have pre-made cement anchors for the guys. With final approval to move forward from the Board granted, the project pieces began to fall into place. As soon as a final plan and costs are assembled, the Board will make the final decision about moving the project from planning to building at their September meeting.
By the time the full Board met, our fundraising had already brought in $2,000 toward the new tower project. Approval of a building permit and a meeting with the Zoning Commission will follow. When first confronted with the tower problem on July 3, it felt like we had just hit mile 20 of a marathon and we were now facing the final six mile run that was going to be all uphill. Then Mark called and said, “Matt and I will do everything we can to get your tower issue fixed. You know how much WOAS means to me.” Suddenly, the road to the finish line looked much flatter and wasn’t going to be so daunting after all.
WOAS-FM will begin the new broadcast year on September 22. We will be broadcasting online via our web site www.woas-fm.org as we continue moving forward with the new tower project. In Part 2, we will pick up the Tower Tale but only after we are broadcasting from our new tower. In the meantime, we are thankful for the support everyone has given us up to now. The race isn’t over yet, but we now have found our second wind. We will keep you posted. We are still taking tax free donations for the tower at WOAS FM 701 Parker Ave, Ontonagon, MI 49953.
Top Piece Video: Like Rush, WOAS-Fm has The Spirit of Radio