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Goddard and WGDR discuss future Goddard College and WGDR have begun a series of joint conversations about working together in the future. Two meetings have been conducted, the first in October 2009, and the second in November 2009. The second meeting featured guest speaker John Murphy, the General Manager of WHUS, Storrs CT. WHUS is a hybrid student and community radio station at the University of Connecticut. Furthering the conversation, Ginny Berson delivered the Keynote Address at the 2010 WGDR Annual Meeting held February 2010. Ginny is with the NFCB, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and her address was titled: “Community Radio in the 21st Century –How it Will Survive and Thrive.” Download or listen to audio recordings of the meetings below: First Meeting held October 21 at the Haybarn Theater mp3 listen or download: (90 min; 48 mb) Second Meeting held December 2 at the Well at the station mp3 listen or download: Part 1 (55 min 26 mb) Part 2 (52 min 25 mb) Third Meeting at the 2010 Annual Meeting Keynote Address (55min 26mb) Voices From Chernobyl The oral history of a nuclear disaster in audio drama format. Produced by Voices From Chernobyl and WGDR. Download program. 2009 Summer Party a real nice time  Laslo Cameo performs in the Well Sunday afternoon. Good times at the station Sunday Aug 2 with great music, engaging friends and neighbors, and good food. The rainy weather pushed everything but the grill indoors, but the decorations, the live music performances, and all the cheery attitudes gave the Summer Party a nice vibe. These bands played in the Well, and all the music was broadcast live. Many thanks go to the awesome performers, the volunteer setup and cleanup support, the WGDR Staff, and all the listeners and well wishers. Mark Legrand and Sarah Munro Laslo Cameo Dan Haley is a Casual Man Pitz Quatrone and the Earthman Band The Kind Buds Bossman  Dan Haley, left, Sarah Munro, center, Mark Legrand, right.
WGDR
receives national award 
2009 Spring Pledge Drive Goal $15,000
Fall Pledge Drive Goal: $15,000 Current: $13,790 (As of December 19) Didn't get a chance to donate or pledge your support during WGDR's Fall Fundraiser? There is still time for you to send in your donation and/or pledge! We will continue to accept pledges and donations towards our $15,000 goal. See Thank You Gifts See Pledge Drive pics Our sincerest thanks to all the people who called on the phone, walked into the station, walked up to the tent, sent us a letter in the mail, and generally sent good vibes our way. We hear you! Donations/Pledges: WGDR PO Box 336 Plainfield, VT 05667 Call 802-454-7762 You can use the WGDR PayPal button on this page to make a donation online. Special Election Night Coverage from DemocracyNow! Tuesday November 4, 7pm-12am Wednesday November 5, 10am-12pm  October 25, 2008 Fall Pledge Drive Goal: $15,000 Current: $12,677 To Air is Human; To Give, Divine WGDR's Fall Pledge Drive ended late Friday night, $2323 short of the $15,000 goal. Our sincerest thanks to all the people who called on the phone, walked into the station, walked up to the tent, sent us a letter in the mail, and generally sent good vibes our way. We hear you! Didn't get a chance to donate or pledge your support for WGDR? There is still time for you to send in your donation and/or pledge! We will continue to accept pledges and donations towards our $15,000 goal. Send checks to: WGDR PO Box 336 Plainfield, VT 05667 Call 802-454-7762 Use WGDR PayPal button on this page to make a donation online. See Thank You Gifts See Pledge Drive pics Live Music Performances 2008 Fall Pledge Drive Monday Oct 20 7:30pm Gordon Stone & Friends Wednesday Oct 22 7:30pm Erin McDermott and the Dixie Red Delights Friday Oct 24 8 pm Earthman Band  Gordon Stone Group performs live on the air in the WGDR performance pit Monday night during the Woodwarbler's JazzGrass program. More performance pics
October 18-24 WGDR needs your support during Fall Pledge Drive Letter from General Manager Greg Hooker WGDR PLAINFIELD is non commercial, volunteer operated, listener supported community access radio for Central Vermont. Volunteer programmers produce over 60 live local programs every week. Every broadcast day includes diverse music programs, cutting-edge alternative news, local and national analysis and activistism, and much more! WGDR volunteer programmers and their listeners enjoy a free-form radio format, which encourages wide artistic and intellectual freedom of speech and expression. WGDR needs your help to maintain and forward community access radio. The upcoming Fall Pledge Drive is a call to action for an independent, thoughtful and active community. WGDR is handmade by people who live here, for people who live here. Join the Fall Pledge Drive Production Team WGDR relies on contributing listeners like you to survive and thrive. We're all in this together. Special Programming During Fall Pledge Drive Sat. 10/18 Saturday Afternoon Jazz w/ Daniel Marcus 2:30-4:30 pm: The Best New Jazz Releases of the Past Year Sat. 10/18 Acoustic Harmony w/ Mark Michaelis 4:30-7:30 pm: Interview with Boston-based singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson, recently signed to Red House Records Sun. 10/19 Trance-Formational Listening w/ Dennis Darrah 10 am-12:30 pm: Featuring An India/Nigeria Trance Funk Express Sun. 10/19 OldNWays w/ Jamie Duggan 7-9 pm: Interview with architect and innovator David Sellers on the Design/Build movement. David Sellers will also facilitate the Design/Build Forum coming to Goddard College Oct. 25 Mon. 10/19 Classic Country w/ Paul Betz 12 noon-1pm: “Country Covers” – Two versions each of a series of classic country songs Monday. 10/20 Woodwarbler's JazzGrass w/ Brian Aust 7:30-9:30 pm: Gordon Stone & Friends, live in the studios Tue. 10/21 Food For Thought w/ Lisa Rubin 12 noon-1 pm: Energy Saving Tips in Your Culinary World 12 Noon to 1 pm Wed. 10/22 New Folk Revival w/ Patti Garbeck and Cam Kelly 7:30-9:30 pm: Erin McDermott and the Dixie Red Delights, live in the studios Thur. 10/23 Woman Stirred Radio w/ Merry Gangemi 4-6 pm: Interview with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls Fri. 10/24 Geezer Rock w/ Jeff Lindholm 4-6 pm: The History of Steppenwolf Fri. 10/24 8-10 pm Earthman Band, live in the studios Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates to be broadcast live on WGDR Pacifica Radio will provide live broadcasts of the three Presidential and one Vice Presidential debates. These four programs will run live on WGDR, pre-empting regular programming. Each debate starts at 9 pm and runs for 90 minutes. The dates are Thursday, Oct 2 - Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday, Oct 7 - Presidential Debate - Townhall Wednesday, Oct 15 - Presidential Debate - Foreign Policy WGDR will broadcast Pacifica's live satellite feed. The programs will also be available at Pacifica's mirror webstream at http://audioport.org/live . Pacifica will also broadcast analysis and discussion in a 30 minute post-show following each debate. Concert Cancelled!  Dave Keller Dave says he's really disappointed to miss this great gig... Dave Keller Blues Band had to cancel their benefit dance concert gig originally scheduled for October 4. The good news is that Dave really really wants to play for WGDR, so we're arranging another date for him.. So, Dave Keller is still one our area's top blues performers. Check out his website davekeller.com .
August 1WGDR and NEK Music Festival  WGDR Programmer Dana Garden at the WGDR Tent during the NEK Music Festival August 1.  Evan Crandall and the Too Hot to Handle performing at the NEK Music Festival.  Fire Sculpture Burning at the NEK Music Festival. More pictures  WGDR continues its 35th anniversary celebration in early August at the 6th Annual Northeast Kingdom Music Festival, Friday and Saturday August 1st and 2nd. It's two days and nights of music, arts, camping, and fun for all generations. There are two music stages with performers in all genres, including bluegrass, folk, hip hop, reggae, funk and rock. We're delighted to provide media support for this truly community-centered festival, and hope that we'll see you there. For tickets and information: www.nekmf.com See the NEKMF video 2008 Grassroots Radio Conference  This GRC quilt is made from great community radio t-shirts. WGDR's t-shirt is second from the left and bottom. Each GRC conference the quilt is raffled, with the winner bringing it back the next year to be raffled again. WGDR staffers Jen Isaacs, Christine Farren, and David Ferland attended the July conference in Portland, Oregon. GRC -13 was sponsored by Portland Community radio station KBOO.  2008 GRC group photo July 26. more pics
Programming Committee Meeting Thursday, June 26 11am The next meeting of the newly reconfigured programming committee will be Thursday June 26Th at 11:00 AM in the conference room at the library at Goddard College. As there will likely be a few new members, I suggest the first two agenda items we cover be consensus and the mission of the committee. maybe a Little history of the committee Other items we could start to cover, a listener survey on the website, nighttime programing, what management thinks we could do to help offset labor at the station, safe harbor. Feel free to email me other agenda items you would like to add. We could also add agenda at the meeting time permitting If you know someone I missed, or if you do not want
further info about the programming committee email Charles: charlesrossell@yahoo.com.
As part of its 35th anniversary celebration, WGDR
presents noted folk musicians Workshop Saturday morning Cindy Kallet is a superb singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, while Grey Larsen is one of America's finest players of the Irish flute and tin whistle, as well as an accomplished singer and concertina, fiddle, piano and harmonium player. Each has released numerous albums over the past three decades, in addition to their recent collaboration, last year’s “Cross the Water” CD. SOUL,
Singers of United Lands, is a unique quartet comprised of professional
young adult singers from Brazil, Zimbabwe, the Czech Republic, and
Caucasus Georgia. Every year a new team of four singers representing
high-quality vocal musicianship and geographical diversity is formed
to share their native songs and cultures with schools and communities
throughout the U.S. and beyond. The Plainfield appearance sees them
near the end of a six-month tour around the US. May 2008 WGDR to expand broadcast range; FCC grants construction permit for new tower in Wolcott WGDR licensee Goddard College has been granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission for the purpose of building a tower, antenna and transmitter. The new facility will significantly expand WGDR's coverage area. Transmitting at 91.7 Mhz, the new signal will be heard in northern Washington County, and parts of Lamoille, Orleans, and Caledonia Counties. The call letters for the new facility have not yet been assigned. The new transmitter and antenna will be located on a Wolcott hilltop, and operate at an assigned power output of 1100 watts FM. When construction is complete, the new antenna and transmitter will simulcast WGDR's 91.1 Mhz broadcast via a telephone codec link. "We look forward to bringing our unique, volunteer driven, community-based programming to the Hardwick area and beyond, and we look forward to being good neighbors in our new communities," Greg Hooker, WGDR General Manager announced on the WGDR Forum program Friday May 2. Amy and David Goodman & WGDR co-sponsor talk and book-signing in Barre May 3 WGDR kicked off it's 35th anniversary celebrations last Saturday night with Amy Goodman and co-author David Goodman presenting their new book Standing up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times at the Old Labor Hall. The event was attended by over 300 people. Read the Times Argus article about the event. Listen Now (1 hr, 50 min) Download Now (.mp3) A successful benefit for WGDR and Democracy Now! Thanks so much to the diligent WGDR volunteers, to the folks at the Barre Opera House, Amy and David and the whole Democracy Now! crew.  Amy and David Goodman WGDR is 35! and still a spring chicken Spring Chicken Pledge Drive $15,000 goal met just around midnight May 2 WGDR offers heartfelt thanks and kudos to all
who contributed their money, time and energy. The continued support
of the community keeps WGDR alive and thriving. Total amount donated
and pledged is $15,001. 3rd WGDR Chocolate Lover's Fling; A Sweet Mud Season Thing April 12  It was elbow to elbow chocolate lovers loving chocolate at the 3rd WGDR Chocolate Lover's Fling and Silent Auction Saturday April 12. Kicking off WGDR's Spring Pledge Drive, over 175 people tasted and judged more than 50 professional and amateur chocolate creations. All attendees reported great fun, great buzz, and amazing chocolate creations. Many thanks to Dave dZendron and the Noah Young Jazz Trio for the musical frosting on the fling. The proceeds from this WGDR benefit support the on-going operation and development of community radio at WGDR. The Chocolate Lover's Fling is the kick-off of our Spring Pledge Drive beginning April 26. Michelle Lunde, owner of Delicate Decadence of Barre, Vt. won Best Looking and Best Tasting in the Professional category, Most Outrageous and The Willy Wonka Award for her “Chocolate Southern Belle.” Anne LeBrusciano won Best Tasting in the Amateur category for her Chocolate Anise Bark. Dan Dolan won Best Looking in the Amateur category for his “Good ‘N Evil” Chocolate Tree. Winner pics More Chocolate Lover's Fling pics >>
WGDR Annual Meeting and Potluck well attended March 22 WGDR’s Annual Meeting was Saturday March 22 from 2 to 5 pm. The meeting and potluck celebration took place once again in the Haybarn Theatre at Goddard College in Plainfield. We welcomed Ursula Ruedenberg from WBAI in New York City and the Pacifica Radio Network. Ursula works in news and public affairs, outreach, and affiliate relations for Pacifica. Ursula spoke of Pacifica and its network of 130 non-commercial, community radio stations like WGDR. Also at the annual meeting, WGDR
programmers elected new representatives to the Policy Advisory Committee,
and the Community Advisory Board members recognized. Goddard President
Mark Schulman spoke of his commitment to community radio in general,
and WGDR in particular. WGDR General Manager Greg Hooker spoke of the
state of the station in general and WGDR Operations Manager David Ferland
gave a technology update. All the speakers answered questions from
the audience. A native of Barnstable, MA on Cape Cod, Matthew and his two brothers were raised in a traditional Irish-Catholic household. He says his parents weren’t particularly interested in music, but Matthew was from an early age, listening primarily to soul, funk, and reggae. “I’ve always been connected to the spiritual references in reggae music,” he adds. His teen years were challenging, according to Matthew, in part because of his parents’ deteriorating marriage, so the music was a refuge which “helped me to find myself.” After going away to school in Connecticut at the age of 16, Matthew’s journeys eventually took him to the South American nation of Peru, where he remembers hearing Toots and the Maytals performing “Country Road, ” and the impact that it had on him. In 2002 he returned to the U.S., settling in Central Vermont and beginning work at both the Littlewood Farm and the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield. Those associations led him down the road to Goddard College and WGDR, where he began apprenticing with former programmer Papa Roots. Matthew’s passion for reggae is reflected not only on his WGDR program, but also in his work as a concert promoter for Rise Up Productions of Mendocino, Calif. In that role, he is helping to put together the Rise Up Vermont Roots and Culture Fest at the Bundy Center in Waitsfield, Saturday Sept. 29. This will be an all day event, noon to 11 pm, tented for rain or shine, and featuring the Midnite Band, Niyorah, Jah-n-I, Dmoja, House of Rastafari, Satta Sound, and much more, including a kids tent and natural and local vendors. Hear “The Manna Sound” with Matthew Delorey Mondays from 4-6 pm on WGDR. Learn more also by searching Satta Sounds- Matthew Delorey at www.myspace.com September 2007 Ferland hired as WGDR Operations Manager General Manager Greg Hooker announced last week that David Ferland has been named the new Operations Manager for WGDR. As our listeners know, Dave is a long-time station volunteer who has co-hosted, with his son, the Dave and Tyler Show since 1995. Earlier this year, Dave also oversaw the design and launch of this, the new WGDR website. He also is a veteran Goddard College employee, most recently serving as Technical Services and Systems Librarian. Dave is a 1982 graduate of Lyndon State College where he majored in Broadcast Production.  David Ferland July 2007 Bert moving on "Thanks, good luck, and see you soon” to WGDR Operations Manager Bert Klunder. Bert is off to Illinois to enroll in graduate school and pursue his doctorate. Bert has been a central figure in WGDR’s evolution over the past decade. He enrolled at Goddard College in February 1998 and soon thereafter got involved with the station. He hosted shows on Tuesdays, then Sunday nights, and Friday nights, commuting from as far away as Burlington and Northampton, MA, programming rock and jazz shows primarily. He also co-hosted the Saturday morning children’s show with Britten Traughber -- a partnership that’s stronger than ever, as Bert and Britten together head to Illinois State University for their graduate studies. Somehow, in addition to earning both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Goddard, Bert managed to devote even moretime to WGDR. He was appointed Assistant Manager of the station in 2002, later Operations Manager, and twice has served as Interim General Manager. He has contributed tirelessly to the growth and future sustainability of WGDR, and heads west with our thanks. Happily, too, he plans to stay involved with the station in a volunteer capacity, both from afar and on his occasional return trips to his family’s home in the Northeast Kingdom. |
