For the second time in the past year, a brand-new full-power community FM station is launching in the Catskills.
Last summer saw the debut of WIOX 91.3 FM, which serves Delaware and Schoharie counties out of the town of Roxbury. Now tomorrow, it's WGXC 90.7 FM's turn to flip the switch, at an afternoon event in Catskill that is packed with performances and activities.
WGXC, which will serve Greene and Columbia counties with its brand of "hands-on radio," has been working toward this moment for years. From the station's invitation to tomorrow's "Turn Your Radio On!" event:
Our antenna has been hung, our transmitter is near-completion, and the wheels are in-motion for our studio to transmitter link. We are working on periodic broadcasts to test our FM-signal, but starting on February 26 WGXC will be officially on your FM-dial.
WGXC has come so far in the past few years, with the hands-on help of countless volunteers and supporters. WGXC’s programmers are now broadcasting their shows live on our webstream. Our News Team is producing local news reports everyday for our Newsroom blog and daily news shows. Volunteers have been working hard to finish building the station’s Hudson studio, and are drawing plans and building mock-ups for our studio at the Catskill Community Center. The Wave Farm Study Center, which will house our Cairo Studio, is nearing completion. It's time to celebrate!
The Daily Freeman is celebrating by running a nice long feature story about the station's journey from online-only experiment to full-fledged FCC-licensed airwaves enterprise. The reporter quotes WGXC organizer Dharma Dailey about how the station is managing to launch with very little money and a lot of community love:
“We’re not money rich,” she said. “We’re going on the air with just lint in our pocket, but we have really dedicated people.”
