PORT TOWNSEND — Nearly one year after its first broadcast, KPTZ 91.9 FM Radio is planning to celebrate.
The all-volunteer station, which began broadcasting May 14, 2011, has fulfilled its promise as a community radio station offering a diverse mix of music and information — one that translates local talent and enthusiasm from volunteers and makes it available to everyone within the sound of the station’s voice, said KPTZ board President Colin Foden.
“The nicest surprise we’ve had during our first year is the incredible support we’ve received from the community and volunteers,” Foden said.
“The response has been great, and whenever we’ve needed something, the right person has come through the door.”
A party is planned from
7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at the Oscar Erickson Building at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St.
Tickets are on sale at the Port Townsend Food Co-op, 414 Kearney St., or at the door for a suggested donation of $20. Children 12 and younger will be admitted free.
Live music, with interludes of tunes spun by KPTZ disc jockeys, a dance contest, snacks, bar and door prizes are planned.
The station is leading up to the party with a First Anniversary On-Air Fund Drive. The fundraising campaign began Tuesday and will continue through Saturday afternoon.
Station board members and other volunteers hope to raise $15,000 for air conditioning at its studio — located in a portable classroom at Mountain View Commons, 1919 Blaine St. — as well as new technology to improve the broadcast signal.
“Last summer several times, the equipment just stopped working,” Foden said.
“We need to put air conditioning in here to protect the equipment and our staff because when everything is on, it can get really hot in here.”
The station has signed a five-year lease on its building, which is provided rent-free by the city of Port Townsend.
KPTZ program Director Larry Stein said the station is planning to expand its news and public affairs programming in the coming months.
“We want to fill the time between noon and 1 p.m. and 6 [p.m.] and 7 p.m. with informative local interviews and discussion,” Stein said.
Additionally, Stein pointed to KPTZ’s expansion of its live performance capability.
This will require some re-engineering of the performance studio.
Listener donations will help pay for this upgrade, volunteers hope.
No one at the station draws a salary.
Its operation is sustained by more than 60 active volunteers.
Anyone with the motivation to learn and participate can be trained on the equipment, and there are 27 people who are cleared to work as disc jockeys.
In a big-city radio station, these tasks are divided, with on-air talent on one side of the booth and an engineer who manages the technical side on the other.
“It’s not particularly difficult to operate the equipment on its own,” Foden said.
“But if you are talking on the air at the same time, it is a lot to think about.”
While the short-term goal is to buy new equipment, Foden eventually would like to “raise enough money so we can get paid for doing this.”
Volunteer Barney Burke, a former newspaper reporter and current president of the Jefferson County Public Utility District commission, has his own blues show Friday nights and has served as a disc jockey on several other shifts.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Burke said.
“I can’t be the only aging baby boomer who saw those ads for the Columbia School of Broadcasting and wanted to join up.”
Burke doesn’t regret his decision to attend the University of California at Berkeley instead of broadcasting school but said the KPTZ experience “has exceeded my expectations.”
The signal from the 190-foot broadcast tower at the north end of Jacob Miller Road covers the east and central Strait of Juan de Fuca region — from Sequim to Whidbey Island.
On the actual one-year anniversary, May 14, the station will hold a ribbon-cutting at its studio at 3 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
To pledge, visit the website at www.kptz.org or phone 360-554-4430 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.
More information about the station is available on its website or by phoning 360-379-6886.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
