Congrats, Station Award Winners!

Last year we started a new tradition at the station recognizing folks who have done outstanding things in the past year to move the station forward. Nominated and voted on by their peers, programmers, and volunteers were awarded in three categories: Best in Show, Niftiest Newbie, and Vitalist Volunteer.

Awarded in late December and presented with custom engraved radio microphone trophies, the winners were presented their awards by the previous year’s awardee. 

Vitalist Volunteer 2024: Mark Michaelis

Awarded for outstanding work on behalf of the station in a volunteer capacity. The nominees were volunteers Charles Rossell, Bill Hahn, Delia Gillen, Mark Michaelis, and Dave Tucker.

Mark was recognized for his four years as CVCR’s first board chair, and volunteer of all trades as Chief Operator, co-Music Director, and lots of things in between. Last year’s winner was Dave Tucker.

Niftiest Newbie 2024: Stranger & Deininger

Awarded to the most excellent new show to come on the air this year. Nominees were Stranger & Deininger, Spiral Galaxy, Discoverances, Jagler Katz Worm Hole, Listen Up, Soul Joy, and Audio Ergo Sum.

Tosh Deininger’s show Stranger & Deninger won for its infusing of local folks’ life stories through music. A wonderful hour of community radio, every Thursday from 11am-noon. Please note, the show is on a brief radiobattical until May! Last year’s winner was Magpie in the Morning with Delia.

Best in Show 2024: Barndance Bluegrass

Awarded for doing a mighty fine community radio show, bringing the best of what we got to give on the air. The nominees were Barndance Bluegrass, Relocalizing Vermont, Xav Wax, Geezer Rock, the Meltdown, Jagler Katz Worm Hole, Deep Blues, Still Life with Cloud Soda, Boxful of Blues, Future Reflections, Relocalizing Vermont, and Acoustic Harmony.

Barndance Bluegrass is exactly how a week should end and a weekend should start. Mixing family banter, bluegrass, and a different barn location every week into a truly mighty fine community radio show enjoyed from the mountain tops to the valleys and well beyond the borders of Vermont. Last year’s winner was Curse of the Golden Turnip.

Congrats to all our nominees and winners, thanks for all you do on the air and beyond.

New shows & schedule shifts.

Our Programming Committee continues to work hard to provide access to the airwaves for as many local Vermonters as possible. We’ll continue to curate our schedule slots to include those still underrepresented or not heard on the air at the station from our diverse community, as well as keeping an ear to types of content we lack or need more of (local news, deeper conversations, discussions on the issues we face right here in Vermont, and more). We’re excited about what’s to come!

For now, we are bringing 12 new local shows and 2 new syndicated shows on the air in February. Here are the anticipated start dates and where current syndicated shows are shifting to make room for more local, live shows. Our schedule is always the most current lineup for any week.

February Show Start Dates & Moves

Monday, February 3

• 10am: Peace Talks Radio (new airtime, moving from Tuesdays at 9am)

• 10:30am: Sprouts (new airtime, moving from Tuesdays at 9:30am)

• 11am: A new rotating slot with Blluminations, a local talk show hosted by Stefanie moves to the first Monday 11am-noon slot of the month. Stefanie will share this slot with the new local show Cuneiform Radio hosted by Kyle Schlesinger, on the 2nd & 4th.

Tuesday, February 4 at 7am:

• Eastern Dawn - A show focusing on the stories and lives of youth, hosted by educator Luke Lampugnale, Tuesday mornings at 7am.

Wednesday, February 5

• 6am-7am: Project Censored, from KPFA, a weekly public affairs show about independent journalist, media censorship, and deconstructing propaganda.

• 11am-1pm: Spawning Stones with Ben Bashore expands from one our to two to look deeper at the climate crisis and more.

• 1pm: The Rubber Room - a new locally made music show hosted by Dan Towner. This show will “swing across the genres” with music from various genres. Tune in Wednesdays 1-2pm.

  Syndicated show schedule moves: Indigenous Music will move from Wednesdays, 12-2pm to Saturday mornings, 10am-noon in rotation with a new local music show. All Mixed Up, from Saturday mornings, will move to Wednesday nights at 11pm and Moist Fluids will move from Wednesdays 11am-1pm to rotate with the return of locally made Metal Bedtimes Stories with Mac, Sundays, 12am-2am.

Thursday, February 6 at 11am:

• New syndicated show, Tectonic, a show from WFMU about AI and issues in this increasingly tech world. This will run for four months while Stranger & Deininger is on a short radiobattical.

Saturday, February 8

• 9am-8am: A Special One-Time Airing of - "From the Outside”  - a Community Library of Voice and Sound Archive Remix project by Khonsu X

• 10am-noon: The start of locally made music show, Pitter Patter Radio with Pat Kantner, featuring music from queer artists and more. Catch the show on the second Saturday of the month, with Indigenous Music rotating the rest of the month.

Sunday, February 9

• 12am-2am: Metal Bedtime Stories, a locally made metal show returns, with DJ Mac. 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, rotating with the syndicated music show Moist Fluids.

Monday, February 10

• 11am: A new rotating slot with the new local show Cuneiform Radio hosted by Kyle Schlesinger, on the 2nd & 4th Mondays of the month.

• 2-4pm: The Monday Drive at 2, an all-vinyl locally made music show hosted by Corey Flynn.

Syndicated show schedule moves: Upfront Soul is moving from Mondays, 2-4pm to Friday nights 11pm-1am.

Tuesday, February 25

• 12-2pm: Mermaid Avenue - a locally made music show hosted by Trevor Ziegler, Tuesdays 12-2pm. New Dimensions will move to air on Tuesdays at 10am instead and Afronsonic Taxi will move to Sundays at 4pm, rotating with Discoverances every other week.

Thursday, February 27

• 6pm: Into the Issues with Steve Pappas from the Times Argus. A collaboration show between WGDR/WGDH and the Times Argus to feature local news and a deeper discussion the issues facing our communities. This show will air bi-weekly, the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month, replacing the rerun spot for Democracy Now on those Thursdays.

Coming up in March!

• Saturday, March 8 at 9am: Civic Radio - A Vermont Community Foundation-funded partnership with the Civic Standard in Hardwick. This show will record the sounds, people, and concerts of the town, produced by a Civic Standard crew of volunteers. They’ll have a 6 month limited run, starting in March in the Saturday 9am monthly rotation, the 2nd Saturday.

• Thursday, March 20: Radio Round Up - 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month, 6-7pm. A new show hosted by a rotating crew of programmers, staff, and other members of the station. Each month we’ll update you on the latest going on behind the scenes at the station. During the 3rd Thursday, we will also include a short interview with the staff of the “Creative Campus” at Goddard, the folks who are working to redevelop the campus for all sorts of uses. The first Radio Round Up will air on Thursday, March 20. This show, along with the new Into the Issues, will replace the rerun of Democracy Now on Thursdays at 6pm.

New local shows still coming up, start dates TBD:

• Good Ways Reggae Show - Hosted by Kind, you’ll hear a range of reggae music from their Jamaican roots. Tune in Sundays at 6pm. Adagio will be moving back to its overnight slot Fridays at 1am.

• Poa for the People - Hosted by Poa Mutino, this show will explore grief and how we connect to each other in the monthly Monday rotation at 11am (3rd Mondays).

• Yardscrap - A story-based, community-centered show focusing on all that is happening around us, hosted by VT Digger editor Yardain Amron on Tuesdays, 9-10am.

Syndicated Shows that are retiring from the rotation for now: Green Bubble Tea, Dancehall/Reggae, the Final Straw, For the Wild, and Alternative Radio.

Call for new station art!

This is a call for artists far and wide!

We’re looking for art pitches for two station items this year - a new sticker and a limited edition block print design.

We’ll use these stickers all year long as station freebies, thank yous, and more. The limited block print will be part of our fundrive donor incentives, starting in March for the spring fundrive and again in October. This is a nice thank you to donors who give a certain amount. We’re excited to partner with the new print shop, Hard Pressed in Danville on this project.

We will provide a modest artist stipend for the winning pitch for both projects of $100 each. The design will become fair use for the station for any purpose, but the artist can retain use as well (portfolios, etc.). This work will be seen far and wide, and will credit the artist in all the places we use the art!

To submit a pitch please scroll down to see the sticker and, further down, the block print specs.

We’re looking for designs that capture the power of community radio and the uniqueness of WGDR and WGDH. We are particularly looking to uplift visual Vermont artists with this project, so please no submissions from out of state. Cartoonists, block printers, drawers, doodlers, go for it!

Send your one design idea, per project (ex. one sticker design), along with a very brief blurb about you, your work, and any helpful links to Llu@WGDR.org by Friday, February 14. We’ll ask programmers and listeners to vote on the winning designs, via our website, and announce the winning pitches by February 28.

Feel free to reach out to Llu with any questions too and spread the word to your arty friends!

For sticker design ideas: we need a print-ready, digital design. This can be either hand-drawn and well-scanned to a digital copy or a digitally designed graphic. It can be black and white or color. The image should be within a 4” by 4” design area (nothing much smaller than that). It can be a die-cut design (cut out like our 50th edition cows were (see below) or a traditional square or rectangle design. These are meant to be true, fun sticker art and do not need to have our logo incorporated. The sticker does need to include the following text: Central Vermont Community Radio, WGDR at 91.1 FM, WGDH at 91.7 FM, and WGDR.org. Besides that, have fun with it!

For the block print design ideas: these need to be able to be easily hand cut into a print block at the print shop, either by the originating artist or someone replicating the original design by carving. The more intricate, the more we encourage the artist to do the carving too (please!). This can be a one ink print or multiple inks and should also include the basic lettering text of: Central Vermont Community Radio, WGDR at 91.1 FM and WGDH at 91.7 FM, and WGDR.org. We’re looking for a mailable size of a print piece, so something just under the standard 8”x11” would be ideal. See the fabulous print Mary Azarian did for us for our 30th below as one block print example.

What’s up with all the disclaimers?

Hey listeners!

As you know, nationally things are changing at a rapid pace, with various public institutions being challenged, threatened with funding cuts, and more actions. Community radio, by design, is meant to protect free speech and give all of us access to the airwaves, free of censorship or other threats to an individual or a station. And yet, all our stations hold federal licenses from the FCC, which can be pulled for review at any time due to complaints or challenges to a station fulfilling its duties and obligations to FCC policies.

One of the biggest protections we have to protect the license and be compliant with FCC policy is the use of a station disclaimer. This allows a programmer to share their views but does not necessarily represent the station’s position on any matter. A disclaimer is a neutral statement that reminds all listeners - including the FCC in a review - that the station has a neutral position as a media outlet.

So, you will hear us using the disclaimer - “The following (or preceding) program presents the opinion of its participants and producer. It does not reflect the official opinion of WDGR-WGDH or its licensee, Central Vermont Community Radio." - for every show - talk, and music. This will ensure that any potentially objectionable content aired during a show - local or syndicated too - is not presumed to be the position of the license holder, Central Vermont Community Radio.

Thank you for your patience with this new practice on the air. We are trying to keep it mixed up and creatively used during a show - still protecting us, but lessening the potential annoyance factor.

Most importantly, thank you for listening to and supporting this vital public institution of community radio!

New Online Listening Experience

As part of our dedication to improving the reliability of station systems and the overall listener experience, we are transitioning our live stream and archive (on-demand) listening platforms to new services as of February 1, 2025. Our past services frequently dropped out with no notification or, often, clear cause, and were sometimes out for hours or even days. We’ve vetted, tested, and are excited to integrate with two new service providers to improve online listening. We welcome feedback or comments about this change (or if you find something to not be working!): Llu@WGDR.org.

Livestream

To listen online most listeners won’t notice the difference! Just click the “listen live” anywhere on our website and the stream will start.

For internet radio listeners (with an internet radio device), you will need to enter in the new direct URL to your settings:

https://wgdr.broadcasttool.stream/wgdr_128

Archives

To listen back to past shows, go to our schedule page and you will see a new WGDR/WGDH archive player at the top of the schedule and at the top of all show pages. To listen to a specific show, enter in the date and time it starts and hit green play. You can also click on that show, in the weekly schedule, and go to the show page to listen to the most recent show. To go back two weeks, enter in the date and time of the show, wherever you see the archive play box. To fast forward, enter in a few minutes ahead in the playbox, like 10:15am. We no longer can “scrub” fast-forward by a few minutes, but that was technically illegal anyway, so we’re happy to be compliant now as part of this change!

New Year, (more!) New Local Shows

We’re kicking off 2025 right, by filling the airwaves with even more locally made shows. This month, you’ll hear these new folks getting trained on the air with some of our current community members. As they are ready, the following shows will join us on the air in the weeks to come. Please give them a warm welcome when you hear them on the air (they may be a little nervous). Give a call to the studio, a chat through the website, and let them know you’re listening.

Here are the dozen new shows coming on the air, bringing us up to 60 locally made shows!

• Civic Radio - A Vermont Community Foundation funded partnership with the Civic Standard in Hardwick. This show will record the sounds, people, and concerts of the town, produced by a Civic Standard crew of volunteers. They’ll have a 6 month limited run, starting in March in the Saturday 9am monthly rotation, the 2nd Saturday.

• The Rubber Room - a music show hosted by retired Johnson State professor, Dan Towner. This show will “swing across the genres” with music from various genres. Tune in Wednesdays 1-2pm.

• Pitter Patter Radio - Hosted by Pat Kantner, this music show will feature a range of genres, focusing in on queer artists and more. Catch them in a monthly rotation on Saturday mornings 10am-noon.

• Cuneiform Radio - Hosted by local poet, print shop printer, and professor, Kyle Schlesinger. Join Kyle on a new Monday morning monthly rotation at 11am (2nd and 4th Mondays), for prose and poetry assignments for listeners.

• The Monday drive at 2 - Hosted by Corey Flynn, featuring records from his extensive collection, crossing all sorts of genres. Catch the spinning Mondays, 2-4pm.

• Good Ways Reggae Show - Hosted by Kind, you’ll hear a range of reggae music from their Jamaican roots. Tune in Sundays at 6pm.

• Poa for the People - Hosted by Poa Mutino, this show will explore grief and how we connect to each other in the monthly Monday rotation at 11am (3rd Mondays).

• Yardscrap - A story-based, community centered show focusing on all that is happening around us, hosted by VT Digger editor Yardain Amron on Tuesdays, 9-10am.

• Eastern Dawn - A show focusing the stories and lives of youth, hosted by educator Luke Lampugnale, Tuesday mornings at 7am.

• The Wild Kindness - Hosted by Trevor Ziegler, this music show will explore the more off beat and obscure music you don’t hear anywhere else. Tune in Tuesdays, 12-2pm.

• Special One-Time Airing of - "From the Outside”  - a Community Library of Voice and Sound Archive Remix project by Khonsu X, in partnership with WaveFarm and the Oral History Summer School. Part Horspiel with a Brechtian construction, this is a crip punk primer underpinned by all the personal trauma and triggers brought up by doing oral history investigation. Weaving archival footage and field recordings, this piece also includes two original songs written and produced by Khonsu X. “Au Revoir” and “3Peat” were his anchors in creating transmission art that attempts to honor the voices who lent themselves and the emotional turmoil of oral storytelling. Visit https://www.libraryofvoiceandsound.org to experience the original interviews and sounds influencing “From the Outside”. Airing December 11, 2024; 5pm ET on WGXC.org // 90.7 Acra, NY, Hudson. Hear this one-time airing on Saturday, February 8, 9-10am.

As always, we do our best to re-curate the syndicated programming we’ve aired (where these local shows are airing instead). Look for some minor changes to the lineup for where some of those shows will have gone (or retired). Thanks to our Programming Committee for giving such careful thought to how we continue to improve our programming to draw in even more Vermonters to tune in.