Voice of the County

Radio station celebrates fifth anniversary

Over the past five years, the CountyFM radio station has evolved to become a vital part of life in the community. With musical selections running from classic country to the latest urban hip hop, from the Horn Trip to the Clubhouse, there’s something to suit all tastes. But perhaps the closest thing to the pulse of the County is the weekday Grapevine show. Whether it’s current events, the latest Regent movies, how to cook those weird puffball mushrooms, what’s happening in the arts scene, or maybe just that nice lady with the English accent speaking about birds, the show keeps listeners in the County up-to-date with all that is going on. On Saturday, the station celebrated being five years on-air with a harvest- themed dinner at the CAPE in Picton. Over 200 people attended the gala event, which featured a fivecourse dinner provided by the County Canteen, La Condesa, Idle Wild, the CAPE and the Crepe Escape. There was music through the evening as well. The Frere Brothers, who sang the first CountyFM radio jingle, and Instant Rivalry, who sang the first song played on-air, performed during the evening, along with Penny and John Kitchen and the rock group 62 South, while earlier Telegraph Narrows and Ella Jade performed sets in the CAPE building.

(L-R): CountyFM board member Caleb Hutton and volunteer radio host Lynn Pickering at the station’s fifth anniversary fundraising dinner at the CAPE in Picton.

The event was a fundraiser for the station, and included a silent auction with items from over 60 donors up for bids. County FM board chair Jim JJ Johnston was thrilled at the great show of support. “I was here from the beginning in terms of getting the station on the air with a super team of people,” he said. “Here we are five years later and it’s a non-profit, volunteer-driven 24/7 organization, and it takes a whole community to make it work. I’m very proud of all the efforts of everyone.” Johnston said that the station has become a much stronger organization as it has expanded in many areas. “Our news department has become very strong. We’ve become known as an essential service.

One of the things we’ve done is to make sure we have the proper equipment both at the station and at the transmitter site so that in the event of a power failure we are still able to broadcast.” Johnston is also proud that the station has become the vehicle by which the many non-profit organizations in the County can get their message out to the residents. “We continue to work to connect the County. A good radio station is always evolving, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” he said.

Station manager Craig Mills has been with the organization since January, and has had to face the challenge of the loss of two of the station’s most popular radio hosts. Mark Campbell and Bobby Gale both died earlier this year. He credits the station’s team of dedicated volunteers and the close-knit family atmosphere to helping overcome that loss. “It’s been a fantastic group of people,” he said. “Our mission is to connect the County, and that is our focus, trying to reach every aspect of the County and pull people together.”

Lynn Pickering has been part of the organization since the day it obtained a broadcast licence, several months before actually going on air. She has had a career in radio and TV as a producer and interviewer, and hosts the very popular County Writes, County Reads program on Sundays as well as a weekly Grapevine. “For me, this is like a wonderful hobby. I don’t consider myself a volunteer. I consider that I’m getting more out of this than I’m putting in. I’ve interviewed over 200 local authors and readers, and I’ve had 75 authors from away” she said. “People tune in for the music, but also for the news and for the Grapevine. We promote events, and we’ve had political debates. We’ve covered all the elections, and that’s really important when you have an older demographic and they maybe can’t get out to the debate, but they can sit at home and listen. In the five years, the station has become a really necessary and vital part of the community. It’s a community- funded radio station, so we really need the community to continue to step up and support us.”