WERU Community Radio

Join Torchlight Media, the Belfast American Legion, and WERU’s StoryCorps One Small Step Project for a variety show, open mic, and supper at the Belfast American Legion Post #43 on Friday, November 29, at 6 p.m. The event is open to veterans, their families, friends, and the general public. The supper and show are free, though donations will be accepted. Supper reservations are highly encouraged. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Supper will be served at 6 p.m. and the show will begin at 6:30 p.m. Reserve your spot here. The variety show will showcase a number of special guests and will include On Small Step audio pieces, music, storytelling, and poetry around the theme of “hometown.” An open mic will be available, as well. Everyone is invited!

Those inspired by collaborations such as this who are interested in connecting across different communities are invited to join Battaglia and Christle for a follow-up conversation on Wednesday, December 4, from 6–8 p.m. at Torchlight Media (158 High St. in Belfast).

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WERU’s Fall Membership Drive ended on Saturday, and a great drive it was! While the goal for the week of fundraising was $28,000, we raised over $42,000!  Our great listeners, members, and business members threw their support into something important that you believe in – Community Radio! Thank you all, and thanks to our volunteers and staff for a great job!

WERU’s One Small Step Project (undertaken in partnership with StoryCorps) has been recognized by the Maine Association of Broadcasters for excellence, and at the annual MAB Awards Gala on October 26, we received First Place in the “Radio Feature” category. Congratulations to WERU, and especially to our facilitators and producers Michele Christle and Chris Battaglia! Wonderful work!

More good news: WERU has been accepted by StoryCorps as an alumni hub station for another round of One Small Step this fall! More information is available by emailing onesmallstep@weru.org, as well as at https://weru.org/one-small-step-2024.

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…

Check out this New York Times article about this StoryCorps One Small Step project, and this Bangor Daily News article about WERU and One Small Step!

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Interview by Katy Green, Member Board of Directors

DJ Coco is the host of Golden Hour, Saturdays 5-6pm.

Tell me about your path leading up to you volunteering at WERU.

I’ve been a musician for many years now and I have typically made friends and found community through playing music. Since moving to Maine, it’s been harder for me to find folks to play music with so I thought community radio might be a good way to meet fellow music lovers and I was right.

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The 2024 Word Literary Festival in Blue Hill, October 25-27, was a big success and WERU was there to record it. Listen here for fascinating conversations with authors Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Lev Grossman, as well as moving readings at Poets Aloud! with Kathleen Ellis, Dave Morrison, and Maya Williams. Thanks to Word for providing WERU will the opportunity to record and present this content!

We Are Queer, hosted by Olivia Paruk, is a monthly half hour show discussing being LGBTQ+ in Maine and beyond! In the first episode of We Are Queer, Olivia interviews Pepin Mittelhauser about their experience of self discovery and reflections on their queer identity. Their conversations cover Pepin’s queer beginnings, straight passing, and continual reflections on self. 

You can listen to the first episode in the WERU Archives, or wherever you get podcasts!