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Recently: Radio station powered by volunteers

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Staff

By Valarie Schwartz, columnist

With a Chapel Hill-located antenna and a reservoir of volunteer sweat, Carrboro has hosted WCOM, its own nonprofit 100-watt radio station for five years. At 103.5 on the dial, the low-power FM station has proven the power of grit and gumption, providing 24/7 programming without an ounce of corporate control or advertising.

We can thank Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market, for getting the station started and for bringing in Chris Frank (of the Red Clay Ramblers), who was the only person ever on the payroll, serving as part-time station manager for a short while.

“I help out in technical ways. I built a new website and help out when things break,” Frank said. “I live close and frequently get calls and go down.”

The programming is a testament to the work ethic of this former mill town, with 57 locally produced shows covering a multitude of music genres, the black and Latino communities, journalism, local writers and what’s happening in the community, plus “Democracy Now” and “Free Speech Radio.” The station has something for everyone — on an annual budget of $12,000.

“Nobody gets paid,” said Jackie Helvey, the Friday co-host of “West End Report,” which airs every weekday at 6 p.m. “You’re committed to doing it every week, and if you can’t be there you better have something ready. It’s very unique for a town of our size to have such great programming — it’s very eclectic.”

Think about it — a town the size of Carrboro with both an independent newspaper (you’re reading it now) and a radio station, that has been streaming and pod-casting since day-one.

“It’s all fun, and I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have a ball doing their show,” Helvey said. “Whatever your show focuses on is what you consider fun.”

Tom Arnel, host of the “Placeholder Show,” thinks it’s fun to hear what music other people like to listen to on his show at 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

“The first half of the show, I share some music with the audience myself, and then turn it over to the guest DJ for the second half-hour,” Arnel said. He has had some notables, like Sylvia Hatchell, the UNC Women’s Basketball Coach, and all of the current Carrboro aldermen, as well as his neighbors, local singer/songwriters and his mother.

Perhaps his most famous guest yet, Elizabeth Edwards, is scheduled for this week, Nov. 14.

“I walked in to make a contribution and ended up marrying the station,” said Audrey Layden, Helvey’s co-host on Fridays and the co-host of “Carrboro Book Beat” with Paul Nagy at 10 a.m. Tuesdays. She also hosts a show that teaches English and Spanish as second languages and serves on the development committee of WCOM.

The focus these days, besides the continual need for donations to keep it afloat, is the search for a new venue — one with indoor plumbing.

“We’re on the Internet — anywhere around the globe you go you can get us — but we have no indoor plumbing,” Layden said of the studio, which is inside the expanded drive-through window of the building, once a bank, across North Greensboro Street from Weaver Street Market. A port-a-let stands nearby. The building (owned by Weaver Street Market) is for sale. The hope is for another storefront presence downtown that, like its current location, will be very low-rent. After all, the station is a gift to the community.

“WCOM gives you your neighbors talking about what’s going on out on the streets, what causes they’re championing,” said Layden, who had no previous radio experience except as an interviewee. “I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about being at the broadcast board. Chris [Frank] gave me two lessons, then said, ‘I’ll be around if you need any help.’ I have made just about every mistake you can make, live on the air. My biggest accomplishment was learning how not to panic.”

Though the website receives several hundred hits per day, there’s no way to estimate the listeners. But continued community support, which has been the lifeline, speaks volumes. For only $10 a month, one may become a member of the “Less Than a Latte” club, which provides a members-only bumper sticker and the satisfaction gained from supporting free speech.

“You’re going to hear something you’re not going to hear anywhere else,” Helvey said. “It’s real; you’re listening to the people of your community.”

“The essence of a free society is open communication,” Layden said. “It’s critical; not just fun and games. It’s serious, and a very important part of our democracy.”

See wcomfm.org (and be sure to read its history) or send tax-deductible donations to WCOM, 201 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro, 27510.

Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays (at) mac.com.

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