Voice of the County

FM99.3 celebrates seventh anniversary

CountyFM kicked off a week-long celebration of its seventh anniversary with an energetic concert by Cue the Funk at Benson Park last Saturday afternoon. The pumping rhythms of bass and guitar, with the addition of drums, keyboard, saxophone and clarinet, plus soaring vocals from Sonya Zaback, Gabe Guadagnin and Megan Hutton kept the audience shaking and dancing to the music. Volunteers from Picton Kinsmen had hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks available by donation only, as CountyFM General Manager Craig Mills said the event was more for celebration and appreciation rather than fundraising. The radio station also sponsored the popular Scarecrow Festival by the Department of Illumination on the weekend, and on Tuesday night had a “fun” raiser at the Regent Theatre with the showing of the movie Pirate Radio. The celebration continues tonight (Wednesday) with an intimate concert at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Picton featuring Instant Rivalry, Annelise Norohna, Mark Despault and others. This is a fundraiser for the station, and the musicians have donated their time, with the concert itself being sponsored by Back Forty Productions and WarFair by Megan Hutton. On Thursday, the station will be broadcasting an all-day birthday bash, with highlights from its seven years of operation, special guests and, of course, phone-in contests.

Gabe Guadagnin gets into the funky spirit with backup from Megan Hutton.

Online bidding for more than 40 items, including such things as a writing workshop with Ken Murray or a Caribbean rum cake, will start on Friday and run through October 25. The Wellington Dukes will also be showing their support for CountyFM by donating $1 from each ticket for Friday night’s game versus the Trenton Golden Hawks. CountyFM is also sponsoring the Pumpkinfest weigh-off in Wellington and will be presenting Comedy Country night with Martha Chaves at the Regent.

Over the past seven years CountyFM has grown to become an essential part of life in the community. There is a wide selection of music, entertaining and informative hosts, and the very popular weekday Grapevine show, which provides a slice of life in the County. For the past 18 months, the station and its small army of volunteers have had to cope with the uncertainties of COVID. In the early days of the pandemic, many of the programs were remotely broadcast from the hosts’ homes. There is still some remote work being done, but about three or four daily programs are now live from the studio. “We were between survival mode and trying to do our best work,” said Craig Mills. “There was a while where people were freely able to move about and we had some advertising come back, and then it was shut down again, and then re-opened this summer, so it’s been a real ebb and flow. The volunteers have done their very best. The donors and business community, they have kept us going. Overall we are doing our best to support the community in different ways, be it in information, or in entertainment, or in attitude.” The station used to obtain about a third of its revenue from events, which have for the most part dried up, but it still receives great support from the community. Over 40 musicians donated their time for the recent Radiothon, and last Christmas 17 County churches collaborated for a non-denominational show. Mills says that the success of the station really rests on community support, and he says that many organizations have stepped up to the plate. Mills would also like to thank the more than 100 volunteers— from program hosts, to news readers, to those who toil behind the scenes—for helping to keep the station running through these extraordinary times. Please visit 993countyfm.ca for tickets or information on upcoming events.