CVCR 2023 New Schedule Changes

New voices are coming to Central Vermont Community Radio. This will be our biggest schedule change in a long time and one that everyone at CVCR feels both proud and excited about. The new programs and voices are part of our continuing effort to put the community at the center of Central Vermont Community Radio.

It’s been three years since Covid forced us to reduce live and local programming. We know that many listeners have tuned out due to losing so many local voices. This revamped schedule will return us to majority live and local programming. Changes will occur across April and May.

We are eager to have you tune in, give the new shows a listen for a while, and then let us know what you think.

This new schedule will double the number of locally made programs, from 23 to 50 shows. We will continue to air long-loved national shows like Letters & Politics, Sprouts, UpFront Soul, All Mixed Up, Democracy Now, and many more, some with changed airtimes.

 These 27 new local programs will: 

• give voice to a diverse mix of folks of various backgrounds, social identities, and ages, including five youth!

• offer a variety of music currently not heard on WGDR: bluegrass to world, to metal to hip hop.

• dig into more discussions with listeners and members of the community. We’ll have many more shows that will take live calls and talk about various creative and cultural content. 

• You’ll hear these new shows coming on the air throughout April and May. A current schedule can be found at WGDR.org and once completed, a printable schedule will be available by June.

• For the most current schedule and on-demand listening via our archive go to WGDR.org. 

This schedule was carefully curated by the CVCR Programming Committee. This committee is made up of six community members, including three programmers, a past programmer, and former and current long-time Vermont journalists. These folks were appointed by the board and/or voted for by current programmers late last summer. The committee spent the last six months recruiting new programmers and developing a schedule that prioritizes local content, retires rerun shows, and continues airing beloved syndicated programming. They’ve also curated each day to have less long “talk blocks” of shows, shifting to music by midday, then back again for a couple of hours of talk/news programming, then back to music. The majority of the new local schedule is set, with shows coming on the air between now and mid-May. You will now hear nearly all local programming airing between 9am-11pm, everyday! Our early overnight programming is still being worked on.

You can explore the new schedule line up, with the air days and times of all current, and new shows. You will see where new shows are booked and where some syndicated shows have been moved.

In this new schedule, we are going from 23 to 50 locally-made shows and from 40 to 53 syndicated shows. In total, we’ll go from the 63 shows you were hearing to 103 shows. Indeed, we’re going to sound better than ever! From all these changes you are going to find so much more great programming in our schedule.

New Locally-Made Programs

• The Immanent Grove w/ Conni Mags - cultural music, traditions, and stories that celebrate diversity and will entertain.

• The Revel Level w/ Emma Manion-Kohr - a music show with a variety of music to make you dance.

• Kaleidoscope w/ Will Ibey - a youth-programmed music show of progressive rock and beyond.

• Blluminations w/ Stefanie Lingenfelter - a talk show focusing on healing, plant medicine, and more through interviews and music.

• Delia Gillen’s show - a music show with world, folk, cajun, and bluegrass.

• Theme Time Radio w/ Sydonia Axis - themed shows with poems, musings, and music from all parts of the world.

• Gilded Splinters w/ Kevin Titterton - a free-form music show with experimental, obscure psych rock, ambient and global sounds.

• Borderlands w/ Stefan Nickum - dance music, from house to electronic music, celebrating club culture sounds.

• Deep Blues w/ Les Mawson -a music show keeping the love of blues alive.

• All the Crooked Saints w/ DJ Sacramento - A music show featuring covers and educational content on themes and topics of the day.

• Get Fresh with DJ Llu - new music focus, featuring the latest releases in rock, R&B, and RPM each week.

• Still Life with Club Soda w/ Serena Matt - a variety show of music and talk, focused on community engagement and sharing of resources.

• Still Live with Orange Peel Ada Bowman - a variety show of music and talk, focused on community engagement and sharing of resources.

• Merry Gangemi’s Show - A talk and interview-based show (returning on the air & live!)

• Country Sounds in Modern Music w/ Barry Matthews - a music show focusing on Americana and non-mainstream country.

• Rumblestrip w/ Erica Heilman - A Peabody award winning Vermont based podcast, telling the stories of Vermonters everyday lives.

• August’s Show - a youth-programmed variety of music

• Oliva’s Show - a youth-programmed variety of music

• The Jive Turkey Show w/ Turkey Joe - a youth-programmed variety of music

• Barndance Bluegrass w/ Daniel & Kellon Menucci - bluegrass music featuring traditional and local music

• Fire and Ash: Talking about Death w/ Poa Mutino - a talk-based show celebrating the diversity of ways humans age and embrace death.

• Bread & Salt w/ Maria Shuman - a story-based show of family oral histories and traditional music.

• Pollinator Report w/ Emily Lanxner - a talk show with interviews and other content focused on Vermonters focused on protecting pollinators in our state.

• Kitchen Permaculture w/ Rebecca Beidler - a talk show about local and seasonal food, cooking, growing food, and more.

• Predictably Unpredictable w/ Chris Buckridge - a music show celebrating creativity and freedom of off-beat expression in genres of rock and beyond.

• The Metal Edge w/ Willis Pratt (returning on the air!) - a music show featuring rock and heavy rock.

• Hoi Polloi w/ Damien Taylor - a variety show of music and talk focusing on activism and the issues of our day.

• The weather with Bob has also returned to its former schedule, Monday-Friday live at 9am and Sundays live at 7am.

Continuing Locally-Made Programs

• Curse of the Golden Turnip w/ Alan LePage and Steven Farnham

• Transformational Listening w/ Dennis Darrah

• Thought Pasture w/ Maura Quinn

• Spanning the Chasm w/ Peter Goreau

• Bon Mot w/ Rick Agran

• Personal & Political w/ Stephanie Fraser

• Trailing Edge w/ David Ferland

• InCommon Sounds w/ Brother B

• Gathering Peace w/ Joseph Gainza (returning live!)

• The Quilting Hour w/ Maura Quinn or Sasha Thayer

• Spawning Stones w/ Ben Bashore

• Music as Art w/ Uku Meri

• Relocalizing Vermont w/ Carl Etnier

• Hittin’ the Note w/ Bill Hahn

• Xav Wax w/ Xav Jimenez

• Flow Eclectic & Heavy Metal Radio w/ DJ Eben Flow

• Magical Mystery Tour w/ Tonio Epstein

• Long and Winding Road w/ Dave Tucker (now 3 hours!)

• Geezer Rock w/ Jeff Lindholm (now 2 hours and back live!)

• The Meltdown w/ KingTone

• Amy’s Kids’ Show w/ Amy Hornblas

• Boxful of Blues w/ John Foster

• Acoustic Harmony w/ Mark Michaelis

• The Beatdown w/ Z-Point

New Syndicated Shows

• Food Sleuth - a national program exploring food systems and challenges in the U.S.

• Green Bubble Tea - a music show focusing on the music of South-Eastern Asia

• Prison Pipeline - a national program

• Train to Skaville - a music show focusing on Jamaican music and the genre of ska

• Around 12 more new talk and music syndicated shows are to come as well starting in May.

Continuing Syndicated Shows

• Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour

• Big Picture Science Show

• Timeless Oldies Radio Hour

• Short Wave Report

• Rock Sexy

• Out of the Woods

• For the Wild

• Thom Hartmann Program (1 hour best of) - We will be alternating THP with Ian Masters’ Background Briefing Monday-Friday in the 6am-7am slot.

• Background Briefing with Ian Masters

• Democracy Now, 8am live show and 6pm daily rerun

• Making Contact

• Economic Update

• Full Moon Hacksaw

• Letters & Politics (Monday-Thursday)

• Deep Threes

• Rising Up with Sonali

• Alternative Radio

• The Final Straw

• All Mixed Up

• New Dimensions

• Woodwarbler’s Jazzgrass Show w/ Brian Aust (shifted to WRMW-LP as his local station during covid, not a locally-made show for now)

• And You Don’t Stop

• Oldies Time Machine

• Indigenous Music

• Afronsonic Taxi

• Upfront Soul

• Baroque and Beyond

• Counterspin

• Law and Disorder

• Peace Talks Radio

• Sprouts

• This Way Out

• TUC Radio

• Radio Free Albany Blues Show

• What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

• Planetary Radio

• The Children’s Hour

Syndicated Shows Retiring

• Juke in the Back - Retired due to violation of the DMCA law, a liability we could not risk with broadcasting and streaming the show anymore.

• Moccasin Tracks, Dark Side of the Tune - Retired due to frequent technical and length issues.

• Explorations - Retired due to no longer providing new content.

• Thom Hartmann Programm (3 hour full show, overnights)

Feedback on the Schedule

We know that these changes may not please all listeners. However, we’re confident that once you hear about these new shows, you will enjoy the freshness and diversity that it adds to our schedule. It’s a work in progress, and we’ll adjust as the need arises.

We welcome your feedback about our programming at CVCR. You can send an email to the Station Manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak at Llu@WGDR.org and they will pass it on to the Programming Committee.

These changes come as the station celebrates two major milestones. 2023 marks WGDR’s 50th year of broadcasting, an anniversary that also coincides with our second full year as a community-owned station after Goddard College gifted the licenses to CVCR. Altogether, there is so much to celebrate in community radio being made right here in Central and Northern Vermont.

Thank you for listening.

We’re About To Sound Even Better!

Friends of WGDR/WGDH -

Late last year we put out a call for new shows and wow did we get a response! Starting in March, you will begin to hear changes to our schedule as we prepare to bring on 25 new locally-made shows.

This is what you, our supporters, have so patiently waited for and what we have dreamt about since we took over ownership of the station. Our ability to train these folks this spring is also a direct result of the fall on-air drive support many of you gave us. Thank you!

How we will sound even better?

• We will more than double our current local lineup going from 23 to 49 locally-made shows.
• Live programming will dramatically increase from the current 15 live shows to 38 by May.
• There will be new genres of music to enjoy including bluegrass, Americana, electronica, jazz, northern traditional music, and international music.
• New local talk shows will expand your listening into family oral histories, local storytelling, local and statewide news, and teach you about permaculture, alternative healing, and more.
• We've got Vermonters of all ages and very varied backgrounds joining us who will help us better tune you into the diverse voices of your community.

We are so grateful to our Programming Committee of John Dillon, Erica Heilman, Tonio Epstein, Dave Tucker, Merry Gangemi, and Mark Michaelis. These folks dutifully reviewed all the show applications and decided who would be a good fit with our station mission.  Thank you to them!

Who are these new programmers?

Show Name	New Programmer	Show Type
Country Sounds in Modern Music	Barry Matthews	Music - country/roots/Americana
TBD	Will Ibey	Music - prog rock
Revel Level	Emma Manion-Kohr	Music - to dance to
Seat of the Pants Radio	Steven Farnham	Talk - guests & call in & discussion
TBD	Serena Matt & Ada Bowman	Talk - discussion, unheard voices, and a mix of music
TBD	Dave Gram	Talk - local news issues, call in
TBD	Delia Gillen	Music - variety
TBD	Daniel & Kellon Mencucci	Music - bluegrass
Blluminations	Stefanie Lingenfelter	Talk - medicinal topics, alternative healing
Gilded Splinters	Kevin Titterton	Music - jazz, freeform rock
TBD	Conni Magnuson	Music - international music & stories
Theme Time Radio Hour	Sydonia Axis	Music - world music & musings
Kitchen Permaculture	Rebecca Beidler	Talk - permaculture and veggie discussions & call-ins
Borderlands	Stefan Nickum	Music - underground electronica
A Northern Tradition	Kevin Dunwoody	Music - northern traditional music
TBD	Willis Pratt	Music - metal
TBD	Richie Walker	Music - variety
TBD	Les Mawson	Music - blues
Bread and Salt	Maria Schumann	Talk - oral history of family and memoirs
TBD	Poa Mutino	Talk - multi-generational conversations
Undercover Lover	Audrey Homan	Music - cover songs
TBD	Barry Zimmer	Talk - variety
TBD	Chris Buckridge	Music - jazz
The Pollinator Report	Emily Lanxner	Talk - pollinator and activism issues, interviews, and call in
TBD Get Fresh with DJ Llu	Damian Taylor Llu Mulvaney-Stanak	Talk - activist news, talk, and music Music - new music releases in rock, hip-hop & RPM

When will we hear it?

New programmers will begin training in March, with special live-on-air "shadow slots" occurring for 3 weeks as part of the process. This is the best way to teach folks the studio and introduce them to listeners. If you catch one of these training shows, please call in and welcome the new folks to the WGDR/WGDH community. They are excited, but also understandably a little nervous. New shows will start appearing in the schedule throughout April, with a full new schedule running by May 1.

Many of our current programmers are helping us train these new folks beyond studio time, mentoring them, teaching them about broadcast rules, and how we collectively make the station a success. We are so grateful to all who are part of making this a warm welcome for new programmers.  

Schedule changes are to begin in March.

• "The Long and Winding Road," with local host Dave Tucker moving to 3 hours, 1-4pm on Fridays.
• "Geezer Rock," with local host Jeff Lindholm, moving to 2 hours and returning live to the airwaves, 4-6pm on Fridays.
• Temporarily we will rerun "Afronsonic Taxi" 1-2pm on Fridays and WGDR/WGDH's "New Music Mix" Saturdays 12-1pm. New local shows will take over these slots by April.
• These changes mean the Friday rerun of "Woodwarbler's Jazzgrass Show" and "Gathering Peace," as well as the Saturday rerun of "Geezer Rock" will retire.
• By April we will also say "see you again soon, thanks for all the tunes" to the long-running music show "InCommon Sounds" with local host Brother B. This great thematic music show has inspired many of our new local shows. We will miss you Brother B and hope to have you back on the air again in the future.
• Once the new schedule kicks in, we will have the beloved "Bob's Weather Watch" return to its prior Monday-Friday 9am and Sunday at 7am regular schedule too.

All Syndicated Programs Are Sticking Around

Even with all this new local programming, we will still have room in the schedule to air all the syndicated shows you have come to enjoy. We had to heavily rely on these shows to help fill the schedule during covid and the station ownership transition. Now, we get to retire runs and adjust the schedule to prioritize locally-made shows during the most listened-to times of the day. The syndicated programming will find new airtimes during the week and all our content can always listen on demand through our archives.

Exciting things are happening on the air at Central Vermont Community Radio.

Stay tuned!

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak

WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Central Vermont Community Radio is the non-profit managing WGDR/WGDH. Our community-owned stations broadcast at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located in Plainfield, Vermont.

Follow us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT

Station Update: WGDR is 50!

Friends of WGDR/WGDH -

This is a huge year for us. WGDR is turning 50 years old!

5 decades ago WGDR, Plainfield (then WGOD), went on the air at Goddard College at 91.1 FM on the local radio dial. In the years that followed, the station became not just the heart of the local community, it became the voice of generations of Vermonters sharing their stories, thoughts, and love of music.

We are looking to celebrate this milestone in creative and connective ways and we need your help.

We want to hear your stories about how WGDR has impacted your life.  Why do you keep listening? How has WGDR connected you to the community and happenings locally, in Vermont, and around the world? Send us an email or leave a voice message after hours on our office line at 802-276-0365 and we’ll share your stories on the air throughout the year.

We’re looking to party too! If you want to help us plan ways to celebrate the station, email station manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak and get involved in the fun: Llu@WGDR.org.

New Local Shows Are On the Way

It may still be winter here in Vermont, but we're already feeling a sense of spring renewal and growth here at the station. This is because our Programming Committee just approved 24 new locally-made show applications, which doubles the number of locally-made shows on the air. There is an amazing mix of show ideas, proposed by Vermonters of diverse backgrounds. These folks will be in training for the next few weeks, with a big schedule change coming in April. Get excited about what's to come!

Changes to Bob’s Weather Watch

Long-time listeners know the friendly forecasting voice of Bob Mitsenbeger, providing a daily forecast for WGDR/WGDH Monday-Fridays at 9am and Sundays at 7am. Due to volunteer limitations, we need to scale back the live forecasts temporarily while we await our slate of new programmers to join us.

For the next couple of months, Bob will be doing live weather with our programmers on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9am and Sundays at 7am. For all other days, you can call in for his daily forecast at 802-454-7707.

NFCB Features Our Approach to Creating Change In Community Radio

Back in December NFCB interviewed our station manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, about all the changes happening at WGDR/WGDH and how Central Vermont Community Radio has approached the work. The full interview is available on our website. Here is a snippet:

Lisa: What's your approach to change management?

Llu: I think the best strategy for change management is modeling, persisting, and being very patient. In my career, I've been part of organizations, for one reason or another, that have been in an inflection moment, a change moment. People are can get uncomfortable trying new things. Sometimes people want to be quick to be critical because something didn't work, as opposed to reflecting and saying, "Hey, why didn't work, should we just toss it out? Should we try again?"

The challenge is this – how do we hold space for all of that, but also be accountable, and not allow negativity and resistance to impact moving forward – because, you're not going to get everybody to always agree, and at the end of the day there still needs to be someone who's in charge of making decisions.

The whole point of community radio is right in the title – community. You've got to come together and be in space together. We're building authentic connections, relationships, and trust with each other at the station, even remotely. I see many signs of success in these moments. I feel like radio could be, dare I say, fun! Most importantly, we are putting out a product that we're all feeling really proud about. That's the direction I keep trying to move people in.

I'm such a 90s kid, but I think about Captain Planet a lot. The concept of "the powers combined." He doesn’t have his power unless all five people come together with their elements. I often think about that as an analogy – I cannot do this by myself. The concept of power hoarding, which is often what people run up against, is of no interest to me. I think the trick about change management is reminding people that they've had the power all along. That's what makes successful organizations. Finding that sweet spot,  when people feel empowered and when they actually are empowered."

Central Vermont Community Radio is the non-profit managing WGDR/WGDH. Our community-owned stations broadcast at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located in Plainfield, Vermont.

Follow us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT

Changes to Bob’s Weather Watch

Long-time listeners know the friendly forecasting voice of Bob Mitsenbeger, providing a daily forecast for WGDR/WGDH Monday-Fridays at 9am and Sundays at 7am. 

Unfortunately, due to our limited number of live shows at 9am during the week, we are having a challenge finding volunteers to do the radio side of the weather with Bob on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 9am. A recorded option for these days is also proving to be too challenging.

We are working on getting more live programmers on the air in the next 2 months, hopefully with some doing these 9am slots with Bob, but it is challenging with work schedules and such. We may end up offering the weather a bit later on the other days, during the first live show of the day. Stay tuned for more info for broadcast weather.

In the meantime, Bob will still be heard Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9am and Sundays at 7am.

He has a daily forecast you can call in for at 802-454-7707.

Thanks for tuning in.

NFCB Profile Sowing Seeds: Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

National Federation for Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is committed to enhancing collective impact in the field of community media and leading initiatives that contribute to innovation in public media’s service. NFCB provides customized services that optimize organizational capacity and help stations navigate change.

Interviewed by Lisa Kettyle, NFCB Program Director. Interview edited for brevity.

Lisa: How long have you been working in community radio?

Llu: Between work, volunteering and music shows, almost 30 years now. It's only just recently with the launch of Central Vermont Community Radio that I actually made a job of it. I've been working with CVCR for about two years now.

Lisa: What brought you to WGDR?

Llu: It literally took a pandemic to have it all lineup. WGDR, which is the main station of central Vermont, was where I got my start when I was 13 doing community radio. It was my local community radio station. It was still very much a Goddard College station back then in the 90s. I know lots of angsty high school students find the thing that feels like it saves them from the horrors of the high school experience, but frankly, WGDR was what was my saving hobby project. It lit the fire for me – like, radio is kind of the coolest thing ever. Why isn't everybody doing this? 10 years ago, when I was at a point in my career trying to figure out, "Okay, what's next?" I made a list of the jobs in Vermont that I would want to do one day. In Vermont, because we're so small, people rarely leave great jobs. I felt it will probably never happen, but on that list, the very first job that I listed was GM of WGDR.

Goddard had started to decide, between the pandemic and losing a CPB grant, they just could not financially sustain WGDR anymore. Also, ten years ago they had taken on a second station – WGDH. The combination of running those stations and the expenses of it, they just couldn't sustain it. About two and a half years ago, the small group of the founding board got together and said, "Okay, we’ve got to figure this out – we’ll become a nonprofit and keep this going." I had heard about it through the small Vermont grapevine. I reached out and said, "Hey, I actually just built a low-power community radio station in Burlington, and it took us eight years, we learned a lot along the way, I'd love to offer up some coaching or advice totally for free to help you guys make this happen." The board took me up on it. Through that process, they quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to pull this off by themselves without some deeper help with fundraising. That's the first thing I did for them. It was a labor of love. I knew this was what had to happen at that point to make it possible. By the fall of last year, we had raised enough money to make the transition and make it to the end of the year. The board further realized they actually needed a station manager. WGDR had, at its height, eight staff members, half of them full-time, half of them part-time, and by the time the ownership transition happened, they had two full-time staff. Going from that to zero [staff] and volunteer-based was a very, very bumpy road. They asked me if I would come on as a part-time station manager, just 10 hours a week. For me, this was like, "I would love to bring all my talents and my career thus far together to make this a success for WGDR and for Central Vermont community radio."

We've slowly increased my hours since then – I'm at 20 hours a week now, hopefully a little bit more next year. That’s my WGDR origin story – the stars quite literally aligned to make this happen.

Lisa: How do you get it all done in 20 hours?

Llu: I don't. Honestly, it's not a 20-hour-a-week job, it wasn't a 10-hour-a-week job. It probably won't even be a 32. This is part of capacity building here. We've been trying to balance how we've been spending and raising money and dedicated ourselves to creating and managing cash flow so that we're not cash-poor at any point during the year. Part of what we've inherited with the station is almost 50 years of amazing history of this counterculture station that so many people have a story about. Goddard, for anybody in central Vermont between the ages of 50-75, was the place to come through for activism and social justice, consciousness-raising, and all the stuff that was happening in the late 60s and 70s. WGDR was built in 1973. It became, quite literally, the microphone for all of that. When people would come to Goddard, they came to hang out and drift off the vibe of that campus. It was the first alternative media conference that awakened a lot of people's understanding that we do not have to have this corporate media structure, we can create alternative journalism. We take great responsibility for the history of the station.

A lot of our equipment has not been maintained and it was not upgraded. We are always one big gear failure away from a big price ticket. We actually already weathered one of those, about six months into ownership. Our transmitter died at WGDR, which is a very key piece of equipment. We’d just finished all the fundraising for 2021 and I was very nervous to ask people for another $11,000 to fund the replacement and installation of the transmitter, but we pulled it off. To me, it speaks to the dedication and listening love that our community has toward the success of the station. We have listeners who have long ago left Vermont but still tune into us online. That's part of what we're trying to balance – making sure that we are being very fiscally conservative, slowly building our capacity, and also simultaneously, investing in volunteer training. It's almost like a co-op model, in a collective sense, that the only way we're gonna be successful is not just by raising money, but by raising people's talents. We said, "let’s figure it out, let's learn it, let's divvy up the duties." That's the point that we're at right now. I joke around that this is like inheriting a 50-year-old radio station with startup problems. Like a true startup where you've got limited cash flow and limited general resources, you're trying to build the team from the ground up. Yet, we've got all these 50-year-old infrastructure problems and bills. And you know what? We’re pulling it all off.

I truly believe in the power of community radio to transform people's lives, not just the way that it did for me, but also, now more than ever, having community media be a regular part of people's lives is critical to our success as a democracy. Our strength is our communities and a sense of connection. And so to me, this isn't just a job, this checks all those other boxes – it's part of activism, it's part of being a community-minded person. These are all important values to me.

Lisa: To replace your transmitter is no small feat. Congratulations on getting that done.

Llu: Honestly, I thought the transmitter would be a hard thing that actually was easy. We were able to buy it and our engineer coached us on how to install it over the phone. He didn't even need to come up to do it. A thing that was hard to change was more about the 50-year-old problems we inherited. For example, we still had a copper phone line as our studio line. All of the new equipment to replace it does not talk to copper lines, there's no analog anything anymore. It's all digital, it all has to be VoIP on the internet. The process to do that was hard.

It was massive project management that included building our own network, getting off the Goddard College grid with security and firewall, re-wiring, IP addressing, and then getting the phone to work. The most community radio component of it is that we did it, we pulled it all off. It's all behind the scenes. Nobody really knows the details of it besides the people involved.

The hardest part of all of this was [change management]. It's hard for people to learn new things. Human error is the thing that that hangs you up. It’s a humbling process. I think it speaks to the need for nearly every community radio station, that I'm aware of, to rely on volunteers to be ready to do new things, ready to be uncomfortable with the learning curve that comes with that stuff, and also to get to the other end of it and be able to stop and celebrate that we pulled this off. We did this because we are a team. Being able to rumble together when we're in disagreement, that's equally tough, but the victories are made much more sweet because people have a shared investment in the success and therefore have a shared sense of that feeling of accomplishment.

Lisa: What's your approach to change management?

Llu: I think the best strategy for change management is modeling and persisting, and being very patient. In my career, I've not always been successful. I've always been at organizations, for one reason or another, that have been in an inflection moment, a change moment. I see what's happening here – people are uncomfortable because we're trying new things. Sometimes people want to quickly be critical because something didn't work, as opposed to reflecting and saying, "Hey, why didn't work, should we just toss it out? Should we try again?"

The thing that's helped me most at this point in my career is that I'm a parent now. I've got an almost five-year-old who has deeply taught me patience. Again, the pandemic also has added to that level of investment in the power of patience, and it has really helped me steady myself and be the solid rock that people need during big changes. The challenge is this – how do we hold space for all of that, but also be accountable, and not allow negativity and resistance to impact moving forward – because, you're not going to get everybody to always agree, and at the end of the day there still needs to be someone who's in charge of making decisions. We still have a very active founding board and the board is going through its transition now to a more traditional board role, being able to focus on policy and strategy, and resource development, as opposed to getting in the weeds.

Nobody likes getting things wrong, nobody likes having tough conversations. The whole point of community radio is right in the title – community. You've got to come together and be in space together. Also, we've been accomplishing it all while we're still working remotely.

Being able to authentically connect with each other [remotely], and building relationships and trust has by far been the weirdest part of this because all the other change stuff I've done was in the before times. We would sit in meetings together, and get a cup of coffee with somebody to build that relationship. This has just been a totally different way to do it. And yet, I see many signs of the success of these moments. I feel like radio could be, dare I say, fun, and most importantly, we are putting out a product that we're all feeling really proud about. That's the direction I keep trying to move people in.

I'm such a 90s kid, but I think about Captain Planet a lot. The concept of the powers combined. He doesn’t have his power unless all five people come together with their elements. I often think about that as an analogy – I cannot do this by myself. The concept of power hoarding, which is often what people run up against, is of no interest to me. I think the trick about change management is reminding people that they've had the power all along. That's what makes successful organizations. Finding that sweet spot, when there's power-sharing, when people feel empowered, and when they actually are empowered. I’m inspired by a powerful quote from Adrienne Maree Brown: “What we give our attention to grows.”

Read other NFCB Newsletters.

Year Wrap Up - December 2022

Friends of WGDR & WGDH -

We are reflecting on all we experienced and accomplished over the last year. Wow! It was a lot. We were able to meet every challenge and stop and celebrate our many wins alongside so many from our community. Here are just a few of our highlights:

• Celebrations: The life of our dear programmer and beloved community member Ken Feld, reopening the station for live guests and more live programming, and great appreciation for the years of great shows from Ruth Wilder, Sasha Thayer, and (soon) Will League who all have stepped away from shows this year.
• Growth: A new mission statement, our new Programming Committee (which includes award-winning journalists and current/past station icons), more community-generated content with event postings and PSAs on the air, new and renewed partnerships with the VT Historical Society, Vermont Arts Council, Spruce Mountain Inn, and Cabot High School, and support from 29 Vermont businesses and organizations.
• Broadcast Capacity Building: We've invested a great amount of time and funding in upgrading outdated and broken gear. A new transmitter at WGDR, numerous WGDH updates, a new station network, a second broadcast studio for increased Covid-safety, a new phone system, and so much more.
• Increased Community: We knew when we went independent from Goddard that running the station would take hard work by many hands. We are so amazed and thankful that so many have stepped up and in to help us. In total, 47 individuals have come together to help at every level of making CVCR a success this year: 16 non-programmer volunteers helping with high and lo-tech projects, including 3 young adults from Spruce Mtn. Inn (pictured helping "clear the pit," 15 of our programmers taking on small to significant operational duties, our 25 programmers making such great local content, 1 intern from Cabot High School, and 1 paid, part-time station manager and our 4 board members providing guidance and direction. We've also had 260 donors (so far this year), 48 as sustainers, and 78 new donors. Together, we are infusing more community into our stations of WGDR and WGDH and we think you can hear it and feel it. Thank you.

The Top Ten Songs We Played in 2022

Thanks to our Music Directors, Dave Tucker and Mark Michaelis, we've got our top spins of the year. If you missed them, check them out.

Listen to cuts from these albums on our CVCR Spotify playlist.

Holiday Gift Idea! Support Those Who Underwrite WGDR/WGDH

We are very grateful to the 20 different underwriters who supported the station through paid on-air mentions over the last year. First Step Print Shop, Sara Bea Art, DDY Design, Lost Nation Brewing, Hardwick Community TV, Buchspeiler, Woodbury Mountain Toys, VSECU, Green Mountain Community Fitness, Bear Pond Books,  Noyle Johnson Insurance, ORCA Media, Onion River Animal Hosptial, Guitar Sam, Black Bear Biodiesel, West Barnet Woodworks, East Hill Tree Farm, Hunger Mountain Co-op, and the Vermont Arts Council.

We also appreciate the in-kind donations from 9 Vermont businesses for our On Air Drive prizes this year: Higher Ground, The Barre Oprea House, Guitar Sam, Waking Windows Festival, Bread and Puppet, Good Heart Farm, Dave's Community Fitness, artist Julian Soberano, and Nataraja Dance Studios.

Looking Ahead to 2023

We've got 24 new show applications in progress (with more coming in each week). You can still apply to be considered. Decisions will be made in January, with training and new shows coming on the air in the weeks that follow.

It will also be our 50th year broadcasting as WGDR, 91.1 FM. We've got big ideas for how to celebrate and welcome any community support in helping to mark this significant milestone for the station.

We'll also continue to diligently build the capacity of the station, through people power, diverse funding streams, and other resource generation. As always, your support keeps us going. Thank you for listening.

Stay tuned,

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, WGDR/WGDH Station Manager

Llu@WGDR.org, 802-276-0365

p.s. If you have yet to give this year, please consider a gift before December 31. Every dollar we raise goes directly to supporting the programming you love and rely on.

WGDR/WGDH broadcasts at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located at the Eliot Pratt Center on Goddard College campus at 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.

Follow us on social media at on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT