WFHB rings the gong

On Jan. 4, 1993, a gong borrowed from Herman B Wells and the John Waldron family sounded on WFHB radio 91.3 to signify its official kickoff. A week ago, the gong sounded again in celebration of 15 years of community broadcasting.\nWFHB Fire House Broadcasting programs feature music, news and public announcements and are broadcast in Bloomington and the surrounding parts of Southern Indiana. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the station will be hosting the 15th Anniversary Masked Ball at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at Tutto Bene Wine Cafe and More. \nThe station began broadcasting in 1993 out of the tiny, unheated cinder block shack outside the transmitter tower, said Chad Carrothers, news director of WFHB. \nThen about a year later, with help from the community, Herman B Wells and the Waldron family, WFHB moved to its current downtown location at the historic former Bloomington Fire Department at 108 W. Fourth St., said Jeffrey Morris, WFHB engineer. \nMorris said the station has grown since its beginnings in 1975, from switching to a digital broadcast to the news shows the station has broadcast in the past few years.\n“We’re still in the process of developing and refining what we do,” Morris said. \nAnother marker in the station’s growth is the addition of two translator towers – one in Ellettsville and one in Brown County – which will pick up WFHB’s 91.3 and broadcast it over 100.7 FM in Nashville and 106.3 FM in Ellettsville. \nWFHB’s programming includes “Bring It On!”, a radio program that explores African-American views and culture, “EcoReport,” which offers news about the environment, “Hola Bloomington,” dedicated to Spanish language and news, and “Interchange,” which features interviews and roundtable discussions with local community members. \n“Community radio is one of the last bastions of true democratic representation available in a media arena that is largely run and controlled by corporations,” said Helen Harrell, host of bloomingOUT, a program that supports the GLBT community, and member of the WFHB board of directors. “It is in this venue that we can listen to the voices of our friends and neighbors and still are about what is happening to individuals and our community.” \nHarrell said she has been a listener and supporter for about 15 years.\nThe station is volunteer-run except for a small staff of paid members. It boasts over 200 volunteers, mainly from the Bloomington area. \n“If I had all the time in the world, I would volunteer there,” listener Christy Campoll, 29, said, “but it seems like they have a healthy roster of volunteers anyway.”\nWFHB plays a diverse mix of music because each of the 105 volunteer DJs chooses the music they play in their individual time slots, rather than one person choosing all the music.\n“It’s always been the same idea,” said Music Director Jim Manion. “We like to present a broad alternative to other stations in the area.” Morris said he’s always impressed by the level of experience all the volunteers bring with them to the station, and the work the station does.\n“It’s the community talking to itself,” he said. “We play things that no one else does.” \nFor more information visit www.wfhb.org.