Changes to Bob’s Weather Watch

Long-time listeners know the friendly forecasting voice of Bob Mitsenbeger, providing a daily forecast for WGDR/WGDH Monday-Fridays at 9am and Sundays at 7am. 

Unfortunately, due to our limited number of live shows at 9am during the week, we are having a challenge finding volunteers to do the radio side of the weather with Bob on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 9am. A recorded option for these days is also proving to be too challenging.

We are working on getting more live programmers on the air in the next 2 months, hopefully with some doing these 9am slots with Bob, but it is challenging with work schedules and such. We may end up offering the weather a bit later on the other days, during the first live show of the day. Stay tuned for more info for broadcast weather.

In the meantime, Bob will still be heard Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9am and Sundays at 7am.

He has a daily forecast you can call in for at 802-454-7707.

Thanks for tuning in.

NFCB Profile Sowing Seeds: Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

National Federation for Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is committed to enhancing collective impact in the field of community media and leading initiatives that contribute to innovation in public media’s service. NFCB provides customized services that optimize organizational capacity and help stations navigate change.

Interviewed by Lisa Kettyle, NFCB Program Director. Interview edited for brevity.

Lisa: How long have you been working in community radio?

Llu: Between work, volunteering and music shows, almost 30 years now. It's only just recently with the launch of Central Vermont Community Radio that I actually made a job of it. I've been working with CVCR for about two years now.

Lisa: What brought you to WGDR?

Llu: It literally took a pandemic to have it all lineup. WGDR, which is the main station of central Vermont, was where I got my start when I was 13 doing community radio. It was my local community radio station. It was still very much a Goddard College station back then in the 90s. I know lots of angsty high school students find the thing that feels like it saves them from the horrors of the high school experience, but frankly, WGDR was what was my saving hobby project. It lit the fire for me – like, radio is kind of the coolest thing ever. Why isn't everybody doing this? 10 years ago, when I was at a point in my career trying to figure out, "Okay, what's next?" I made a list of the jobs in Vermont that I would want to do one day. In Vermont, because we're so small, people rarely leave great jobs. I felt it will probably never happen, but on that list, the very first job that I listed was GM of WGDR.

Goddard had started to decide, between the pandemic and losing a CPB grant, they just could not financially sustain WGDR anymore. Also, ten years ago they had taken on a second station – WGDH. The combination of running those stations and the expenses of it, they just couldn't sustain it. About two and a half years ago, the small group of the founding board got together and said, "Okay, we’ve got to figure this out – we’ll become a nonprofit and keep this going." I had heard about it through the small Vermont grapevine. I reached out and said, "Hey, I actually just built a low-power community radio station in Burlington, and it took us eight years, we learned a lot along the way, I'd love to offer up some coaching or advice totally for free to help you guys make this happen." The board took me up on it. Through that process, they quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to pull this off by themselves without some deeper help with fundraising. That's the first thing I did for them. It was a labor of love. I knew this was what had to happen at that point to make it possible. By the fall of last year, we had raised enough money to make the transition and make it to the end of the year. The board further realized they actually needed a station manager. WGDR had, at its height, eight staff members, half of them full-time, half of them part-time, and by the time the ownership transition happened, they had two full-time staff. Going from that to zero [staff] and volunteer-based was a very, very bumpy road. They asked me if I would come on as a part-time station manager, just 10 hours a week. For me, this was like, "I would love to bring all my talents and my career thus far together to make this a success for WGDR and for Central Vermont community radio."

We've slowly increased my hours since then – I'm at 20 hours a week now, hopefully a little bit more next year. That’s my WGDR origin story – the stars quite literally aligned to make this happen.

Lisa: How do you get it all done in 20 hours?

Llu: I don't. Honestly, it's not a 20-hour-a-week job, it wasn't a 10-hour-a-week job. It probably won't even be a 32. This is part of capacity building here. We've been trying to balance how we've been spending and raising money and dedicated ourselves to creating and managing cash flow so that we're not cash-poor at any point during the year. Part of what we've inherited with the station is almost 50 years of amazing history of this counterculture station that so many people have a story about. Goddard, for anybody in central Vermont between the ages of 50-75, was the place to come through for activism and social justice, consciousness-raising, and all the stuff that was happening in the late 60s and 70s. WGDR was built in 1973. It became, quite literally, the microphone for all of that. When people would come to Goddard, they came to hang out and drift off the vibe of that campus. It was the first alternative media conference that awakened a lot of people's understanding that we do not have to have this corporate media structure, we can create alternative journalism. We take great responsibility for the history of the station.

A lot of our equipment has not been maintained and it was not upgraded. We are always one big gear failure away from a big price ticket. We actually already weathered one of those, about six months into ownership. Our transmitter died at WGDR, which is a very key piece of equipment. We’d just finished all the fundraising for 2021 and I was very nervous to ask people for another $11,000 to fund the replacement and installation of the transmitter, but we pulled it off. To me, it speaks to the dedication and listening love that our community has toward the success of the station. We have listeners who have long ago left Vermont but still tune into us online. That's part of what we're trying to balance – making sure that we are being very fiscally conservative, slowly building our capacity, and also simultaneously, investing in volunteer training. It's almost like a co-op model, in a collective sense, that the only way we're gonna be successful is not just by raising money, but by raising people's talents. We said, "let’s figure it out, let's learn it, let's divvy up the duties." That's the point that we're at right now. I joke around that this is like inheriting a 50-year-old radio station with startup problems. Like a true startup where you've got limited cash flow and limited general resources, you're trying to build the team from the ground up. Yet, we've got all these 50-year-old infrastructure problems and bills. And you know what? We’re pulling it all off.

I truly believe in the power of community radio to transform people's lives, not just the way that it did for me, but also, now more than ever, having community media be a regular part of people's lives is critical to our success as a democracy. Our strength is our communities and a sense of connection. And so to me, this isn't just a job, this checks all those other boxes – it's part of activism, it's part of being a community-minded person. These are all important values to me.

Lisa: To replace your transmitter is no small feat. Congratulations on getting that done.

Llu: Honestly, I thought the transmitter would be a hard thing that actually was easy. We were able to buy it and our engineer coached us on how to install it over the phone. He didn't even need to come up to do it. A thing that was hard to change was more about the 50-year-old problems we inherited. For example, we still had a copper phone line as our studio line. All of the new equipment to replace it does not talk to copper lines, there's no analog anything anymore. It's all digital, it all has to be VoIP on the internet. The process to do that was hard.

It was massive project management that included building our own network, getting off the Goddard College grid with security and firewall, re-wiring, IP addressing, and then getting the phone to work. The most community radio component of it is that we did it, we pulled it all off. It's all behind the scenes. Nobody really knows the details of it besides the people involved.

The hardest part of all of this was [change management]. It's hard for people to learn new things. Human error is the thing that that hangs you up. It’s a humbling process. I think it speaks to the need for nearly every community radio station, that I'm aware of, to rely on volunteers to be ready to do new things, ready to be uncomfortable with the learning curve that comes with that stuff, and also to get to the other end of it and be able to stop and celebrate that we pulled this off. We did this because we are a team. Being able to rumble together when we're in disagreement, that's equally tough, but the victories are made much more sweet because people have a shared investment in the success and therefore have a shared sense of that feeling of accomplishment.

Lisa: What's your approach to change management?

Llu: I think the best strategy for change management is modeling and persisting, and being very patient. In my career, I've not always been successful. I've always been at organizations, for one reason or another, that have been in an inflection moment, a change moment. I see what's happening here – people are uncomfortable because we're trying new things. Sometimes people want to quickly be critical because something didn't work, as opposed to reflecting and saying, "Hey, why didn't work, should we just toss it out? Should we try again?"

The thing that's helped me most at this point in my career is that I'm a parent now. I've got an almost five-year-old who has deeply taught me patience. Again, the pandemic also has added to that level of investment in the power of patience, and it has really helped me steady myself and be the solid rock that people need during big changes. The challenge is this – how do we hold space for all of that, but also be accountable, and not allow negativity and resistance to impact moving forward – because, you're not going to get everybody to always agree, and at the end of the day there still needs to be someone who's in charge of making decisions. We still have a very active founding board and the board is going through its transition now to a more traditional board role, being able to focus on policy and strategy, and resource development, as opposed to getting in the weeds.

Nobody likes getting things wrong, nobody likes having tough conversations. The whole point of community radio is right in the title – community. You've got to come together and be in space together. Also, we've been accomplishing it all while we're still working remotely.

Being able to authentically connect with each other [remotely], and building relationships and trust has by far been the weirdest part of this because all the other change stuff I've done was in the before times. We would sit in meetings together, and get a cup of coffee with somebody to build that relationship. This has just been a totally different way to do it. And yet, I see many signs of the success of these moments. I feel like radio could be, dare I say, fun, and most importantly, we are putting out a product that we're all feeling really proud about. That's the direction I keep trying to move people in.

I'm such a 90s kid, but I think about Captain Planet a lot. The concept of the powers combined. He doesn’t have his power unless all five people come together with their elements. I often think about that as an analogy – I cannot do this by myself. The concept of power hoarding, which is often what people run up against, is of no interest to me. I think the trick about change management is reminding people that they've had the power all along. That's what makes successful organizations. Finding that sweet spot, when there's power-sharing, when people feel empowered, and when they actually are empowered. I’m inspired by a powerful quote from Adrienne Maree Brown: “What we give our attention to grows.”

Read other NFCB Newsletters.

Year Wrap Up - December 2022

Friends of WGDR & WGDH -

We are reflecting on all we experienced and accomplished over the last year. Wow! It was a lot. We were able to meet every challenge and stop and celebrate our many wins alongside so many from our community. Here are just a few of our highlights:

• Celebrations: The life of our dear programmer and beloved community member Ken Feld, reopening the station for live guests and more live programming, and great appreciation for the years of great shows from Ruth Wilder, Sasha Thayer, and (soon) Will League who all have stepped away from shows this year.
• Growth: A new mission statement, our new Programming Committee (which includes award-winning journalists and current/past station icons), more community-generated content with event postings and PSAs on the air, new and renewed partnerships with the VT Historical Society, Vermont Arts Council, Spruce Mountain Inn, and Cabot High School, and support from 29 Vermont businesses and organizations.
• Broadcast Capacity Building: We've invested a great amount of time and funding in upgrading outdated and broken gear. A new transmitter at WGDR, numerous WGDH updates, a new station network, a second broadcast studio for increased Covid-safety, a new phone system, and so much more.
• Increased Community: We knew when we went independent from Goddard that running the station would take hard work by many hands. We are so amazed and thankful that so many have stepped up and in to help us. In total, 47 individuals have come together to help at every level of making CVCR a success this year: 16 non-programmer volunteers helping with high and lo-tech projects, including 3 young adults from Spruce Mtn. Inn (pictured helping "clear the pit," 15 of our programmers taking on small to significant operational duties, our 25 programmers making such great local content, 1 intern from Cabot High School, and 1 paid, part-time station manager and our 4 board members providing guidance and direction. We've also had 260 donors (so far this year), 48 as sustainers, and 78 new donors. Together, we are infusing more community into our stations of WGDR and WGDH and we think you can hear it and feel it. Thank you.

The Top Ten Songs We Played in 2022

Thanks to our Music Directors, Dave Tucker and Mark Michaelis, we've got our top spins of the year. If you missed them, check them out.

Listen to cuts from these albums on our CVCR Spotify playlist.

Holiday Gift Idea! Support Those Who Underwrite WGDR/WGDH

We are very grateful to the 20 different underwriters who supported the station through paid on-air mentions over the last year. First Step Print Shop, Sara Bea Art, DDY Design, Lost Nation Brewing, Hardwick Community TV, Buchspeiler, Woodbury Mountain Toys, VSECU, Green Mountain Community Fitness, Bear Pond Books,  Noyle Johnson Insurance, ORCA Media, Onion River Animal Hosptial, Guitar Sam, Black Bear Biodiesel, West Barnet Woodworks, East Hill Tree Farm, Hunger Mountain Co-op, and the Vermont Arts Council.

We also appreciate the in-kind donations from 9 Vermont businesses for our On Air Drive prizes this year: Higher Ground, The Barre Oprea House, Guitar Sam, Waking Windows Festival, Bread and Puppet, Good Heart Farm, Dave's Community Fitness, artist Julian Soberano, and Nataraja Dance Studios.

Looking Ahead to 2023

We've got 24 new show applications in progress (with more coming in each week). You can still apply to be considered. Decisions will be made in January, with training and new shows coming on the air in the weeks that follow.

It will also be our 50th year broadcasting as WGDR, 91.1 FM. We've got big ideas for how to celebrate and welcome any community support in helping to mark this significant milestone for the station.

We'll also continue to diligently build the capacity of the station, through people power, diverse funding streams, and other resource generation. As always, your support keeps us going. Thank you for listening.

Stay tuned,

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Llu@WGDR.org, 802-276-0365

p.s. If you have yet to give this year, please consider a gift before December 31. Every dollar we raise goes directly to supporting the programming you love and rely on.

WGDR/WGDH broadcasts at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located at the Eliot Pratt Center on Goddard College campus at 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.

Follow us on social media at on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT

Season of Gratitude: Our Programmers

Friends of WGDR & WGDH -

These are (some) of the faces of the programmers you have come to know and love over the years at our station. Their wit and creativity are what make WGDR and WGDH’s programming so eclectic, dynamic, and unique. They can brighten days with just the right music track or deepen thinking from a discussion on the issues of our day.

These 25 individuals have also been instrumental in our success as a station since our ownership transition in 2021. Each one of them has stepped up in small and big ways to make a difference. From troubleshooting tech issues to helping to consider new programmer applications, to fundraising, to helping with the day-to-day operations of scheduling, cleaning, and fixing. This has become a station that is not only now community-owned, but community-operated.

You can feel the sense of pride and excitement at the station about not just where the station is going, but how we are doing it—together.

As we begin to wrap up the day, we wanted to say a hearty thank you to the folks who make what you hear on the air possible.

Thank you, programmers!

You may have noticed our schedule is undergoing going some changes as we prepare for the new slate of programmers in 2023. Some of our current shows have swapped days and times. You can always find the current airtimes on our schedule or listen back to shows in our archives.

We are also still accepting applications for new shows. So, if you want to join this amazing mix of people, please get your application in soon. We will begin reviewing the first round before the end of the year.

Stay tuned,

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Llu@WGDR.org, 802-276-0365

WGDR/WGDH broadcasts at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located at the Eliot Pratt Center on Goddard College campus at 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.

Follow us on social media at on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT

Please consider giving to CVCR this season.

Friends of WGDR/WGDH -

On this Giving Tuesday, many organizations ask for your support. We're asking too, but we can assure you, gifts of even the most modest size go further with us than anyone asking you today.

With a budget of just under $100,000, we are frugal with how we spend your donations. We are investing in upgrades in gear, long-deferred maintenance, and new programming, by bringing more locals on the air.

• $30 powers one day of WGDH costs.

• $50 supports a week of music licensing expenses.

• $100 helps to fund new programmer training costs.

• And a gift of just $9.11 a month, as a new sustainer helps keep it all going all year long.

Please consider making a quick end-of-the-year gift to Central Vermont Community Radio today and help us.

You will literally hear the difference you are helping to make as we work toward continued improvements and new programming in the coming year.  

·     To donate by check: make it out to “CVCR” and mail it back in the enclosed envelope. Donating by check saves us processing fees!

·     To donate online: go to WGDR.org and click the donate button.

·     To become a sustaining donor: Set up your giving at WGDR.org today. The impact of giving monthly is huge for us. Our 40 current sustainers fund 13% of our annual budget. This is a way to make your gift have the strongest and most reliable impact, all year long. Think of it like a subscription service.

Thank you for considering a gift this year and for tuning in to your community-owned WGDR/WGDH.

Stay tuned,

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Llu@WGDR.org, 802-276-0365

p.s. We're still accepting new show applications!

Call For New Shows

Friends of WGDR/WGDH -

We are overjoyed to invite members of our listening area to (finally!) apply to do a new show with us. If you are interested, we encourage you to apply or to pass it on to someone who'd be great. We also ask that you help us spread the word on your Front Porch Forums, social media, and at the general store by word of mouth. Here is the shareable link: https://bit.ly/WGDRWGDHNewShowApp.

We especially want to reach communities of folks who are underrepresented voices on the air with us: youth, women and non-binary folks, folks from various class backgrounds, BIPOC folks, queer folks, and more Vermonters who's lived experiences will help expand our programming.

The short new programmer application takes about 10-15 minutes to fill out and asks you for a basic show idea and how it aligns with the CVCR mission, a bit about you, and a rough idea of availability for show times.

Our Programming Committee will begin reviewing the first batch of show applications in December. We expect to have lots of interest, so don’t delay applying.

We have a finite amount of space in our schedule, but invite any and all to apply from our listening area of Central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom. No prior experience is required. If you were previously a programmer and left on good terms with the station, you can apply as well. We are accepting applications for live or remotely made shows and audio content.

If you have questions or need help with the application such as translation, have it given verbally, or provided through any other accommodations, contact Station Manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak at Llu@WGDR.org or by phone/text at: (802) 276-0365.

You can also print the PDF version of this whole app, fill out by hand, and mail it back to us. Info on how to do this is in the PDF. If you are unable to fill this application out online or print it to send in, contact us and we can mail you one.

After you submit your app, we will be in touch as part of the application process about openings and appropriate next steps.

We are excited to see what ideas you have and to expand our current family of 26 local programmers.

Let’s make some great radio together!

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Llu@WGDR.org, 802-276-0365