WERU will host its Community Gathering this spring at The Alamo Theatre in Bucksport, on Saturday, April 20, 12-3 PM, for fans and friends of WERU. You’ll find plenty of pizza and socializing in the lobby, and in the theater we’ll have entertainment from several talented WERU folks: GRAY (songs), Eddie Adelman (essays), Sara Trunzo (songs, and will also serve at MC), Chris Pirsos (saxaphone), and Gus La Casse and Pepin Mittelhauser (fiddle and guitar). The event is free and open to the public, so we hope to see you at The Alamo (85 Main Street, Bucksport) on April 20 for a celebration of community radio! (RSVP not required.) Read more for schedule of performers!
Station News
Upcoming Community Advisory Board Meeting
The WERU Community Advisory Board will hold a listener feedback meeting on Monday, April 29, from 6 to 7:30 pm, at The Crumpet coffee shop, Main Street in Bucksport. This meeting is open to the public as a forum for listener comments and questions about WERU’s programming and our presence in the community. Feedback can always be emailed to [email protected]. The CAB is a group of listeners who provide input and advice to our Board of Directors and station management. Topics at past meetings have ranged from appreciation to disappointment with particular WERU programming, from strategic planning to community events, and from fundraising to questions about our volunteer DJ training process. It’s WERU and there’s lots to talk about!
WERU Benefit Concert featuring Casey Neill – June 29 at Barncastle in Blue Hill
Join us for a WERU benefit concert on Saturday, June 29 with critically acclaimed indie folk singer-songwriter Casey Neill, at Barncastle in Blue Hill!
Doors open at 6:30pm to access the bar and seating, and the show begins at 7:00pm. Space is limited, so get your tickets now by clicking here!
Volunteer Profile: Kristie Billings
On the March edition of Conversations from the Pointed Firs, host Peter Neill sits down with Kristie Billings. A wearer of many hats, Kristie is a long-time volunteer DJ of Daydream Nation on WERU (Saturday’s 6-8pm). From small-town grocery clerk to working in a fish market, owning her own shoe store, being an Arts Educator at a local theater, a lobster fisher, and an antiques seller, Kristie has done it all.
Most of all, Kristie is a collector. Of stories, of emotions, of dolls, of feelings, wigs, mannequin parts, record albums, memories, beauty, laughter, vintage clothing, scallop shells, barnacles, and hermit crabs. She is an observer, as well. She has been writing poetry since childhood, and taking pictures forever with her old Nikon and other cameras she’s amassed over the years.
Her latest book, “Sea Witch: Photographs, Poems and Forget Me Nots from a Mainer Growing Up” (Seaport Books, Nov 2023) is filled with images and words of the sea, nature, folk art, dolls, loss, grief, love, acceptance, rage, music, and life.
Thank You Rick Foster!
After a radio career that began in 1962 and lasted over six decades, including two runs at WERU, Rick Foster has decided to unplug and hang up the microphone and headphones and retire from DJing. We are so fortunate that six years ago Rick came back to WERU, after retiring from WDEA 1370 in Ellsworth, Rick’s radio home for many years, to bring us the oldies from the 50’s and 60’s on At the Hop. During his previous time at the beginning of WERU, Rick played big band records on the popular show Jukebox Saturday Night, from May 1988 to December 1993.
Rick’s love of music, his offbeat humor, and his mastery of the art of radio are unsurpassed, and we will really miss being entertained by him over the airwaves. Thanks for everything, Rick! (Rick’s last show was Saturday, March 2, 3-5pm, which you can listen to here. If you’d like to thank him email [email protected].)
Joel Raymond RIP
Joel Raymond, who died of pancreatic cancer this week, was a phenomenal musicologist and dedicated WERU volunteer DJ, hosting Friday’s edition of On the Wing for the past thirty years. He was passionate about the music and all the people involved, and was a great friend to many at the radio station, most recently welcoming new volunteers just getting started at WERU. Joel will be terribly missed by all, not the least of which are his many listeners and fans. Stay tuned for tributes to Joel in the coming weeks, which will be many because he was a great member of our family, a consummate programmer and host of “a little thing, we like to call… On the Wing.”
Maine Takes One Small Step
Back in June 2023, we put out a call. We were looking for people who were willing to come together for an hour-long facilitated conversation with a stranger with different viewpoints, during which they would be invited to get to know each other as people, through listening to each other’s stories. As you can imagine, the response was mixed. But by the end of 2023, over a hundred people had signed up to participate…
Click here to listen to the Live Special Broadcast with One Small Step Facilitators Chris Battaglia and Michele Christle, and Station Manager Matt Murphy, that took place on January 31, 2024. Participants and community members joined the conversation by phone, and joined in discussing experiences with the project, personal takeaways, and how the project has affected them since.
New Short Feature: Climate & Community
Climate and Community: Maine Voices for Action with A Climate to Thrive is a new five minute weekly short feature that will illuminate stories of climate courage, solutions, and resilience-building action from across the state, with a focus on communities leading the way right here in coastal Maine. You can catch it live on Thursdays at 8:30am, or in the WERU archives.
Talk of the Towns: Town Planning for Climate Resilience
Maine’s fishing communities are first in line to deal with rising sea levels and warming ocean temperatures, affecting their economies and their infrastructure. And, as Maine’s port with the highest volume of lobster landings, Stonington is working hard for a more climate resilient future.
This month on the next Talk of the Towns, co-hosts Ron Beard and Liz Graves invited Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings and Linda Nelson, director of community development, Susie Arnold, of the Island Institute, and Carla Guenther of Maine Center for Commercial Fisheries to share their observations and experience as they work to adapt to changes in the climate.
Check out the WERU App!
Can’t get WERU on the radio? Don’t like to listen on your computer while you work? Then why not listen on your phone using WERU’s mobile app?
Download it at your favorite app store, and check it out! You can also let us know what you think about it using the handy “Contact WERU” button in the menu. And as always, thank you for listening and for supporting WERU, whether you tune in on the app, Internet, or FM airwaves. It’s all good, and it’s all Community Radio!
Featured Artist of the Week
“Morning Maine” Featured Artist of the Week: AMYTHYST KIAH
Amythyst Kiah is our “Featured Artist of the Week”! Tune in each weekday morning at 7:45 AM (ET) to hear our volunteer disc jockey play at least one cut from her latest recording and then give you a chance to win a FREE pair of guest list passes to see her on Wednesday, May 1st at 7:30 PM in the Strand Theatre (345 Main Street in Rockland)!