A rewind of 2023 at WGDR & WGDH.
Friends of CVCR -
What a year of building more community on the radio! We are profoundly grateful to every single one of you for helping these beloved stations continue to thrive. As you can see from this year's stats, hundreds of our neighbors are stepping up to provide the time, funding, and energy it takes to power your community radio stations.
As we look to the end of the year, here are a few highlights of 2023:
In the spring, the schedule transformation was one of the biggest in the history of the station. We added a ton of new local and syndicated shows, bringing you new perspectives, stories, and musical genres. A number of our brand-new local shows are now some of the most streamed shows each week, a testament to the dedication they have brought to what they produce for you each week.
By the summer, the entire station took on a new sense of togetherness, especially in the wake of the summer flooding. We asked programmers to rise to the moment and they did just that for you. Providing resources and relief from the unrelenting clean-up and recovery efforts.
This sense of station teamwork rolled into the fall, where we truly made the fall drive a FUNdrive, with amazing special programming, cross-hosting, and more. You could hear just how much fun everyone was having, and it paid off, raising over $14K for the station, and blowing away all other CVCR drive records.
The community has turned it up too, helping us raise money (Worst. Song. Ever.!), transform the station with a new paint job, buying and rocking our station swag around town, and underwriting the station.
Listeners have not only tuned in more, but they've let us know what they think. We are getting close to 100 entries for our listener survey. If you have yet to take part, please do.
We spent all year celebrating the huge milestone of 50 years of WGDR being on the air. Did you know we are the 2nd oldest community station in the country and the oldest and biggest in Vermont? While we had to postpone the party, we are in the works of a 51st party for this coming spring. Stay tuned!
We also want to again extend our deepest gratitude to weather guru Bob Mitsenbeger who retired from his near-daily live forecast with us, to CVCR founding board member Joseph Gainza who completed his term, and to Eamon Dunn, our first paid summer intern.
Best Tunes of the Year from WGDR/WGDH Music Hosts
Top tunes from "the Grassers," host of Friday night "Barn Dance Bluegrass."
Friday afternoon's "the Long and Winding Road" best tunes by host Dave Tucker.
Best songs from "Hittin the Note," hosted by Bill Hahn on Thursday afternoons.
Host Barry Matthews, of "Country Sounds" on Wednesday nights has top non-country and top country tunes for you.
"Gilded Splinters" host Kevin Titterton (3rd Monday nights) brings you a top ten of his favorites this year.
A completely unpredictable top ten from Chris Buckridge, host of Saturday morning's "Predictably Unpredictable."
And a top ten in new singles released in 2023 from DJ Llu, host of "Get Fresh" on Tuesday afternoons.
We mean it when we say it. The station not only sounds different, it feels different to be part of this place. We are creating a sense of connection, care, and fun at the station, all while talking directly to and with you, our community, about what is happening right here in our communities. Thank you to everyone who is making this happen.
Stay tuned for 2024! We have 10 new local shows preparing to come on the air, plans in the works for a redo on WGDR's 50th (err, now 51st) party, and lots more engagement in and with all our listening communities.
