{"id":2901,"date":"2023-07-22T00:09:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T00:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2901"},"modified":"2023-07-22T00:17:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T00:17:46","slug":"from-the-vaults-free-press-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2901","title":{"rendered":"From the Vaults: Free Press Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Freep<\/a>

Ryan Garza (l) and John Carlisle (r) of the Detroit Free Press paid a visit to WOAS-FM in April of 2023<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early in the spring of 2023, John Carlisle from the Detroit Free Press called the WOAS-FM studio to inquire how our fundraising was going.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t dawn on me to ask where he had heard about our need to purchase a new transmitter but I told him, \u201cWe are just getting started on it and I will be able to tell you more in a couple of weeks.\u201d\u00a0 John is no stranger to the Upper Peninsula as he has written many feature stories about the places and the people that inhabit Michigan\u2019s \u2018true far north\u2019 (pardon my bias – it drives me nuts when people from the Lower Peninsula refer to the Traverse City area as \u2018northern Michigan\u2019).\u00a0 Carlisle is also quite familiar with the Ontonagon area;\u00a0 you may have seen his feature on Stubb\u2019s Museum Bar that went to sprint and was posted online in the fall of 2022. \u00a0 John asked if we might be interested in him doing a piece on WOAS-FM.\u00a0 He mentioned \u2018they\u2019 would be coming up in the near future and perhaps the exposure would aid in our fundraising campaign. \u00a0 The other part of \u2018they\u2019 would turn out to be photographer Ryan Garza.\u00a0 We will get back to them in a few minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the earliest days of our fundraiser, I had no idea how quickly folks would respond.\u00a0 One should not forget that Ontonagonites are a generous lot.\u00a0 Whether they have migrated to distant places or have kept their deep local roots, people from Ontonagon County will always lend a helping hand for a worthy cause.\u00a0 When John called me back a few weeks later, I had to break the good news to him:\u00a0 \u201cAh, John, about that \u2018helping with the fundraising\u2019 part of your article.\u00a0 We are already 75 percent there.\u201d\u00a0 Indeed, we ended up eclipsing our $2850 goal within a month and gained some much needed operating dollars to boot.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s great,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that was only going to be part of the feature.\u00a0 WOAS will still make an interesting story.\u201d\u00a0 To give him some background, I sent along a couple of articles detailing the history of WOAS-FM.\u00a0 We like to run something about the station\u2019s origins every few years to acquaint new listeners to our little station by the big lake.\u00a0 I just had to reach back in the archives and pluck out a couple of the more recent updates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Traveling from Detroit to the far Western U.P. isn\u2019t something one does without putting together a multi-stop tour itinerary.\u00a0 When John had finally figured out their schedule, he got back to me to let us know about the dates they had picked to be in Ontonagon.\u00a0 Once we were on the same page, I let the station DJs know the Freep guys were coming and asked them to plan on being available for interviews.\u00a0 Our engineer, Jim Bradley, is the only volunteer left on board whose history with the station goes back to the original construction of the station in 1978.\u00a0 It made sense to get him in the picture.\u00a0 The only stipulation we were given by John was \u2018don\u2019t share the details of our visit until after the piece runs in the Detroit Free Press\u2019.\u00a0 The last statement means as of July 13, 2023 the article has gone to print (and is also posted eonline) so we can now share \u2018the rest of the story\u2019.\u00a0 (One additional note:\u00a0 after sharing the link to the article, I discovered the Free Press gives free access to these articles for a day and then requests one subscribe after the first day.\u00a0 Given enough time, the link will appear elsewhere for the general public to view it.\u00a0 Search for \u2018U.P. radio station had the same dial spot for decades until bigger station took frequency\u2019 by John Carlisle for the Detroit Free Press).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Anytime the outside world takes notice of little old Ontonagon, it is a big deal for those of us living on the north terminus of US 45.\u00a0 While it is always fun to see this area covered in various forms of media, the interesting part (for me, at least) is getting to talk to the folks who come here to spread the word about our corner of the world.\u00a0 One can always learn a lot about what others think of our hometown when they begin asking detailed questions.\u00a0 Topics from ancient history to what happened yesterday can enter the discussion.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know the answer, you probably are acquainted with someone who does.\u00a0 What is it they say about there being no secrets in a small town?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Carlisle has been with the Free Press since 2013 and according to his bio on the Freep website, \u201cHe has written about people and places that few others give attention to, from small towns in Northern Michigan to inner-city neighborhoods in the Motor City.\u00a0 A Detroit native, Carlisle earned a journalism degree from Wayne State University.\u00a0 He is the author of the book <\/span>313:\u00a0 Life in the Motor City<\/span><\/i>, a collection of stories and photographs about Detroit.\u00a0 In his 10 years as a Free Press columnist, Carlisle has won nearly five dozen state and national awards for his writing, including six Emmy Awards.\u201d\u00a0 The site also provides links to 20 or so of his most recent articles, including the one about Stubb\u2019s Museum Bar.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Carlisle\u2019s partner in crime on this trip was staff photographer Ryan Garza.\u00a0 Ryan\u2019s bio is a bit less expansive than John\u2019s, stating he is a, \u201cFlint-based Emmy award-winning photojournalist working for the Detroit Free Press\u201d followed by a link to a visual photo-essay on the Flint water crisis.\u00a0 Maybe it is a good thing we didn\u2019t know we would be fielding questions from two Emmy award winning journalists.\u00a0 That knowledge may have made us a little nervous, but it also makes us kind of proud that the Free Press sent us a couple of their best to do the feature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The last television news coverage WOAS-FM got was back in the winter term of 2022 when Matt Price from WLUC-TV 6 in Marquette came to town.\u00a0 Matt paid us a visit to document our seventh year of the Strive 4 a Safer Drive \/ Don\u2019t be Distracted Public Service Campaign.\u00a0 Like John and Ryan, he spent the better part of a full day roaming the halls of the Ontonagon Area Schools building.\u00a0 Unlike the Freep guys, Matt recorded all his material with a rather large tripod mounted camera and microphone.\u00a0 One could see the wheels turning in his head as he filmed short segments of the campaign banners, displays, and student art work done as part of this yearly event.\u00a0 It all seemed rather random until he got a couple of our student volunteers in front of the camera; \u00a0 at this point his mental organization of the topic began to emerge. .\u00a0 If they were nervous, it wasn\u2019t apparent because Matt walked them through some questions about the S4SD program and let them tell him a lot more information than he would be able to use in the final report aired on TV6.\u00a0 It all made a lot more sense when he had edited it down to the final form that aired on the news.\u00a0 Matt ended up summarizing his piece while seated at the WOAS-FM broadcast board.\u00a0 It was a nice way to remind viewers the local S4SD – DbD program was put together by the station\u2019s DJ staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John and Ryan came as a package deal, although they both drove to town separately.\u00a0 In fact, I met Ryan first and thought he was John because I had not met either member of the tag team coming to do the story.\u00a0 Both asked a lot of questions and took enough photos to fill an entire scrapbook.\u00a0 The number of photos used in the actual Free Press (which I had not seen as of this writing) would no doubt be fewer in number than the ones posted online if the Stubb\u2019s article is any indication.\u00a0 The student DJs accounted themselves well and showed a lot of poise although one confessed afterward they had been a \u2018nervous wreck\u2019 (there were no indications of this state of mind during the time he spent with John and Ryan).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Engineer Jim Bradley was on hand to fill in some of the information about the original construction of the station in the late 1970s.\u00a0 I did not get involved with the station at first and therefore, I know more about the history from the mid-1980s to the present.\u00a0 Our Friday evening DJ, Lee \u2018The Nightflyer\u2019 MacCaffrey also stopped by to give them some impressions on what we call \u2018the nightshift\u2019 (the students, of course, are the \u2018dayshift\u2019).\u00a0 I tried not to be a fly on the wall during these interviews, but I did hear them asking Lee why he got involved in the first place.\u00a0 By now, you have probably realized that I am not going to cover everything that\u00a0 appeared in the Detroit Free Press article.\u00a0 John said he will send us a copy or two of the paper (the Freep is more difficult to find around here these days with no local distributor for the Free Press in our area).\u00a0 We will leave it to our readers to decide if they want to find it online.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The one topic we spent a lot of time on was the reason we had to fundraise for a new transmitter to begin with.\u00a0 As I have previously explained over the past months, our Class D non-commercial frequency was purchased at a Federal Communication Commission (FCC) auction by a Class A non-commercial licensed station out of Marquette in November of 2021.\u00a0 We knew nothing about this turn of events until the Marquette group finally sent us an email detailing their plans.\u00a0 The FCC does not notify those being displaced and the auction winners are not legally bound to do so, either.\u00a0 John wanted to know how this made me feel and I told him, \u201cAt the time I was angry.\u00a0 I did not know that much about the process of allocating frequencies so I contacted the FCC for clarification.\u00a0 Some have asked \u2018How can the FCC do this to you?\u2019 but it wasn\u2019t their doing.\u00a0 The way educational frequencies are allocated, ours is unprotected even though we have used it for 45 years.\u00a0 It could have been worse:\u00a0 the new owners could have simply constructed their tower in Rockland and overpowered us completely – now that would have really been a surprise. I began as a volunteer at WOAS and inherited the manager\u2019s job when former GM Mike \u2018Zenith\u2019 Bennett had to leave the area to pursue other opportunities.\u00a0 As a newbie to the radio game, I will admit there are many things I still am not up to speed on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to the consultant who recommended the Marquette group bid on our frequency, there are many frequencies available for us to move to.\u00a0 This left me somewhat mystified – why 88.5 was their \u2018best choice\u2019 (as he framed it)?\u00a0 We asked this very question several times but the answer was always the same:\u00a0 \u201cOur consultant said it is the best one for us.\u201d\u00a0 With the help of the FCC (who have been great to work with, I should add), a path forward became more apparent.\u00a0 For WOAS-FM to continue, we would have to apply for a new section of band width.\u00a0 When a window opens for us to apply to upgrade from Class D to Class A, we will consider it to lock in our new home.\u00a0 To move up in class, we would need to up our power so it was also logical for us to replace our 25 year old (and once repaired) transmitter with a new one running at 100 watts. \u00a0 Rather than dwell on what happened, we are looking forward to moving on.\u00a0 Thanks to you, dear readers, we now have the finances in hand to do just that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Once the Free Press article was released, an amazing series of events began, proving to me that radio is still an important medium (even with the number of entertainment choices available on multiple platforms).\u00a0 The first was a call from a couple in Detroit who had seen the article and asked where they could send a donation.\u00a0 Several people had asked previously if we had a GoFundMe site, but as a school owned station, we needed to keep it on an old fashioned \u201cIf you wish to send us a check, that would be great\u201d level.\u00a0 The same goes for setting up any form of electronic money transfers.\u00a0 A woman from Dearborn, MI summed up the sentiments of the majority of the new contacts when she wrote, \u201cWhat a great \u2018feel good\u2019 story about the determination and community love for WOAS radio.\u00a0 What we <\/span>all<\/span> need to hear about these days.\u201d\u00a0 With in the course of a day, more inquiries about making donations came via email, including one from another Detroiter who wished to donate by purchasing station \u2018swag\u2019 (either a T-shirt or ball cap).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My answer to these inquiries was the same as we put out at the beginning of our fundraising efforts:\u00a0 \u201cA check made out to WOAS-FM sent to 701 Parker Avenue, Ontonagon, MI\u00a0 49953 works for us.\u00a0 We get our shirts and caps made locally so they can be obtained by sending $20 for either with size, shirt color, and logo color specified for shirts (ball caps are gray with a maroon logo).\u00a0 At this point, the logos will all be \u2018legacy designs\u2019 featuring our original 88.5 FM.\u00a0 When the frequency changes, so will the design on our colors..<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As I was replying to the emails, the phone rang and a voice I did not recognize asked if I was Ken Raisanen from WOAS.\u00a0 I confirmed my identity and my jaw dropped a bit when he asked, \u201cWould you be available to do a phone interview with Mitch on WJR AM at 5:35 this afternoon?\u201d\u00a0 I had a sneaking suspicion who he was talking about but I still had to ask, \u201cMitch who?\u201d\u00a0 He replied, \u201cMitch Albom.\u201d\u00a0 Me:\u00a0 \u201cOh, the Detroit Free Press guy!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sure enough, the same voice called me later in the afternoon, asked how to pronounce my name and said, \u201cYou will be on after the break.\u201d\u00a0 Through my phone, I could hear Mitch and his partner (sorry, missed his name) talking about how a lot of radio folks got started in college radio.\u00a0 They discussed their college radio experiences and then turned their attention to John Carlilse\u2019s article about WOAS.\u00a0 Thus began a three way conversation where I was asked to describe what was happening, how it happened, how we felt about it, etc etc etc.\u00a0 It was a pleasant (and humorous) ten minutes that flew by – talk radio people have a knack for putting their guests at ease and Mitch Albom is definitely a pro.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The next afternoon, I got an email from a young lady from NBC Universal.\u00a0 She asked me to call her so she could ask some questions about the radio station.\u00a0 When we connected, she told me she wanted more information so she could pitch our story to her team to see if it could be worked up for the NBC Nightly News.\u00a0 It was another pleasant conversation and she asked if she could call back for more information as needed.\u00a0 Less than an hour later, she sent me an email that said, \u201cThe team liked my pitch!!!\u00a0 Would you be available to be interviewed early next week?\u201d\u00a0 She made no promises about a segment being aired, but she was genuinely excited and mentioned she saw this as a \u2018feel good\u2019 story to help balance some of the less happy news aired nightly.\u00a0 As shocking as the news about our frequency being bought out was (when we found out in April of 2022), we had no way of knowing how far the news about our little station would resonate with people.\u00a0 This is truly a case of making lemonade out of lemons.\u00a0 The latest site to spread the word about the story came from Fred Jacobs Media – it is too long to relate here but Fred is a long time radio guy and his JacoBlog isn\u2019t hard to find.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I noticed the Marquette Mining Journal ran an abbreviated version of the story on their website based on John\u2019s article.\u00a0 The title (and information) used was taken directly from the Freep article, but so many details were omitted from this version that even I had a hard time following it.\u00a0 As this piece is being prepared to go to print, I don\u2019t have all the answers to how this new found media attention will play out.\u00a0 We have found ourselves a whole new batch of supporters and friends and we will be eternally grateful to John and Ryan for covering our story.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Piece Video – Okay, Detroit plays big in this story, so how about a little\u00a0Rock and Roll . . .<\/em>performed by that good old Motor City boy Alice – well, at least Detroit got Alice early on and he pays tribute on his latest album, including this Mitch Ryder cover.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Early in the spring of 2023, John Carlisle from the Detroit Free Press called the WOAS-FM studio to inquire how our fundraising was going.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t dawn on me to ask where he had heard about our need to purchase a new transmitter but I told him, \u201cWe are just getting started on it and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-local-music-news","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2901"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2905,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2901\/revisions\/2905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}