STATION NEWS

WERU Board of Directors Meeting

The WERU Board of Directors usually meets on the third Monday of the Month at 6 p.m.  Board meetings take place at WERU, 1186 Acadia Highway/U.S. Route 1 in East Orland, Maine.  Board meetings are open to the public.  The first fifteen minutes of each meeting are reserved for public comment by any individual or organizational representative from the communities served by WERU.  Please email manager@weru.org or call 469-6600 with questions about the next scheduled board meeting or to obtain a copy of the meeting agenda.

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  Quarterly Station News Update

This article is written by Matt Murphy, WERU General Manager and reprinted from the latest issue of Salt Air.  For more info about Salt Air, click here or scroll down.

Salt Air Article for SPRING 2009

By Matt Murphy, General Manager

When you listen to WERU, either regularly or once in a while, you hear a great variety of interesting music and informative public affairs programs, presented by an assortment of engaging local, national and international voices. You hear the voices of local DJs, reporters and musicians, as well as those of world-renowned journalists and performers. You get a wide range of offerings to dance to, think about and respond to, be it during the long winter or the warming days of spring. Community Radio moves along with you and the seasons.

This winter we organized a couple of nice off-air community events (thanks to great volunteer power), including the Valentine’s Day Reggae Dance Party at the Maine Grind Building in Ellsworth and the annual “WERU Goes to the Movies” documentary film series at the Belfast Free Library. We had young people learning about the station, from two separate groups of Bucksport Tiger Scouts visiting WERU, to George Stevens Academy junior intern Vesta Davis working in all departments of the station, to Sam Spruce, a student intern/volunteer and senior at MDI High School who was recently awarded a Governor’s Youth Volunteer Exemplary Service Award. (We are glad he got the award, as Sam, who has cerebral palsy, works very hard in our new music library). Finally, you might have also heard about WERU’s collaboration with students in the Spanish Department at the University of Maine in Orono to produce the US-El Salvador Report, which airs in Spanish every Saturday morning at 11:30AM during the Spanish/Latin program Gracias a la Vida. The report covers a wide range of issues and subjects in and about El Salvador, and it’s relationship with the United States.

There were a number of special on-air events such as the memorial programs dedicated to Bangor-based social justice activist Jim Harney, coverage of Sears Island development/preservation plans, and coverage of the Camden Conference and this year’s topic of “Global Leadership and the U.S. Role in World Affairs.” (You can find audio archives of these events at our website.)

We also aired a special edition of Indigenous Voices, sadly, to memorialize the life and work of Rhonda Frey, who passed away suddenly in February. Rhonda was a WERU volunteer and host of the monthly public affairs program, Indigenous Voices. She was a member of the Penobscot Nation and an alumna of the University of Maine. Rhonda was dedicated to her work and people and she is greatly missed at WERU.
Also this winter we had two big events that most every listener heard about: our February and March transmitter repairs and our March Funathon Membership Pledge Drive.

After experiencing the failure of our high power transformer in the transmitter on January 24 we operated at low power (600 watts) until February 18 when we were able to replace the transformer. This part weighed well over 200 pounds and required the use of an ATV and several strong backs to transport the part up Blue Hill Mountain and then into the transmitter building. Everything went well (see picture in this issue) and we were back up to full power. However, a couple days later other parts failed (that had been weakened by the transformer problem) and we had to back off to half power (6000 watts). Those problems were soon repaired and we were back up to full power again, that is, until a few days later when a power surge from the electric company tripped our main power breaker putting us off the air again. We repaired that problem and hoped we were in the clear for a while, but just for good measure there was a thunder and lightning storm late on March 29 that put us off the air for the next day by knocking out our dedicated audio phone lines between the studio and the transmitter. The lines were actually on the ground, disconnected at the base of Blue Hill Mountain. We got that fixed and cleared up in the next twenty-four hours to end March on a positive note. Let’s hope the technical waters are calm for a while, as all these repairs cost the station over $5,000 during the first quarter of the year.

Happily, our March 7 – 14 Funathon Membership Pledge Drive went quite well, reaching our first quarter membership goal $56,000 from approximately 1000 pledges, 130 new members donations (including 18 new business members) and 18 new sustaining members (those who make automatic monthly donations). This is a positive way to start the year’s fundraising and we hope, with your loyal support, to be able to continue to meet our fundraising goals for the rest of the year. Our membership goal for the year is $260,000. WERU thanks all the volunteers and members for pitching in! (And just in case you were wondering, our next membership drive starts June 6th.)

Coming up this spring are a number of events that WERU is either organizing or supporting as a community partner. On April 18 WERU will have an outreach and “coffee and cocoa” table at the end of the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race - one of the things we are doing to connect with listeners in the Greater Bangor area (where we improved our broadcast signal this past fall). Also on April 18 we helped publicize the Hike for the Homeless fundraising walk for the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. On April 25 WERU will have an outreach table at the HOPE Festival & Green Expo at the University of Maine (featuring Elliot Coleman and David Mallet) and the very next day is another event we have partnered with, the Emmaus Homeless Shelter Spring Fest in Ellsworth (featuring Paul Sullivan).

May 2 brings the WERU Birthday Open House, 12 – 5 p.m. right here at the station in East Orland. We’ll have free event will feature live music, station tours, radio interviews, WERU apparel for sale, all kinds of food (both potluck and catered) and a used music and jewelry/accessories sale. (Please see Page 5 for all the details on this fun and fundraising event.) Finally, get your sea legs ready for the 2nd Annual WERU Boat Talk Cruise on June 27 out of Northeast Harbor. Information on these and other community events can be found online at http://weru.org/ and by keeping an ear peeled to WERU.

WERU is always in need of volunteers to help run the station, frommailings, cleanings, and phone answering to presenting a friendly face at the many events we have at outreach tables every year. Right now volunteers are needed for the WERU Archives Project. Volunteers are asked to help preserve thousands of programs in the WERU archives recorded over the past 20 years. Volunteers are needed to burn old programs on CD or DVD, listen to programs to identify the topics, hosts, guests, etc. and enter the information into a web form. Most of this work is done at the station, however listening to programs can be done anywhere. Training is available. If you are someone that pays attention to details and is interested in volunteering on this special project, please contact Jim Campbell at anniversary@weru.org, or leave a message with Chris at 469-6600 or info@weru.org.
As you can see, there is always a lot going on at WERU, and thanks to volunteer power and listener support the station continues to progress and thrive! Have a nice spring! !

SPRING 2009 Issue of Salt Air

On Friday, April 17th , WERU's Fall issue of Salt Air went to press at the Ellsworth American.  If you are a member, your copy should be arriving soon via the US Postal Service.

If you would like to view Salt Air right now, please click the cover or the following link: 

Salt Air - Spring 2009 (PDF)

THIS ISSUE FEATURES THE FOLLOWING:

• Station News on page 1
• Favorite Five (New Music Picks) on page 1
• Spring Featured Artist: M.Ward on page 1
• Volunteer profile: Doc Morrill on page 1
• Who's Behind WERU on page 2
• Current Buisness Supporters on page 4
• WERU Birthday Party & Potluck on page 5
• US - El Salvador Sister Cities Election Report on page 6
• Featured Podcast: WERU's El Salvador Election Coverage on page 6
• New Music Reviews on page 7
• Short Feature & Spoken Word on page 7
• Program Schedule on page 8
  

Note:  We would like to appologize for anyBusiness Members or Underwriters left off the supporters list. If you are aware of any mistakes please e-mail your discoveries to adam@weru.org

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BACK ISSUES
Winter 2009 (PDF)

Fall 2008 (PDF)
Summer 2008 (PDF)
Spring 2008 (PDF)
Winter 2008 (PDF)

Fall 2007 (PDF)
Summer 2007 (PDF)
Spring 2007(PDF)
Winter 2007 (PDF)

WERU Makes the News!

It has been 20 years since WERU-FM went on the air, broadcasting from a portion of a converted chicken barn in South Blue Hill. In that time, the "little radio station that could" has grown into a staple for listeners throughout eastern Maine and for a growing audience around the country and the world tapping into the station’s offerings that are now streaming online.

WERU will celebrate its two decades on the air with events during the year, and will mark the anniversary with an open house Thursday, May 1, at the studio on Route 1 in Orland. The day will begin at 1 p.m. and will feature live music, a music sale from 2 to 6 p.m., station tours, an on-air open mike, and a potluck dinner.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE: http://bangornews.com/news

Community Supported Radio Station Celebrates 20 Years  Beth Faulkingham

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE: www.wlbz2.com/news/article

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: www.wlbz2.com/video/news/player

Village Soup

(The following appeared on the May 17 2007 edition of Village Soup)

Islesboro natives air business on WERU

by Tanya Mitchell
VillageSoup/Waldo County Citizen Reporter

EAST ORLAND (May 17): Claire Boucher, Lindsay Durkee, Davis Boardman and Allie Craig have a lot in common.

All four females live on Islesboro, own businesses and were featured on Jane Haskell’s hour-long talk show on WERU Community Radio, "Doing Business," which aired live at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 3.

Boucher is a dance instructor, teaching ballet and dance to schoolchildren, and runs a pet-sitting business on the side.

Boardman makes and sells homemade dog biscuits — This Old Man dog biscuits, to be exact — and sells fresh flowers and produce in the summer when she’s not organizing yard sales.

Craig has made financial gains by quenching the thirst of island visitors and natives over the years.

Durkee owns and operates her own 32-foot Holland lobster boat, The Black Diamond.

Perhaps the most interesting thread that links these islanders is their age — while it was not revealed on the air, none of these businesspeople have yet to enter high school….

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Bangor Metro

(The following appeared in the May 2007 issue of Bangor Metro Magazine)

We are you RADIO
by Russ Van Arsdale

WERU is the region's only full-power, noncommercial community radio station. How does this eclectic icon survive? People power. In the mid-1980s, the founders of what would become the community radio station in Blue Hill and, later, Orland were meeting to decide what call letters the station should use. When he heard the combination WERU, it hit Noel Paul Stookey—one third of Peter, Paul and Mary—like a flash.

“WERU: We Are You! It was a no-brainer,” Stookey recalls. That was the birth of the station identification heard by tens of thousands of listeners to one of just two full-power, noncommercial stations in Maine. (The other, WMPG in Portland, serves the dual role of community station and training ground for University of Southern Maine students interested in broadcasting.) WERU-FM, on a sparsely settled stretch of Route 1 halfway between Ellsworth and Bucksport, attracts volunteer staff and listeners whose main interest is their community.

These volunteers reflect the sentiments of a nationwide cadre of people who, as one listener puts it, “have had it with the voice-tracked sterile sameness of computer- driven McRadio.”

“Commercial radio has its place,” says Matt Murphy, general manager. “Our focus is service, not advertising revenue. Being a small nonprofit means we can be accessible and eclectic.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Down East Magazine

(The following appeared in the August 2005 issue of Down East Magazine as part of their article "The Maine Hippie Trail". It is reprinted here with their permission.)

WERU-FM:
Maine's ultimate community radio station had its first home in a chicken barn owned by Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul, and Mary), broadcasting from the top of Blue Hill. The station moved to East Orland in 1997 but still transmits its subversive signals -- Democracy Now! -- out into the ether, waging a daily battle of ideas with the Clear Channel chain. www.weru.org

Financial Times of London

(Reprinted with permission from the Financial Times of London for September 17th / September 18th, 2005 Weekend "The voices of America" by Jurek Martin ( onohana@aol.com ) )

Letter to America

The contrasting styles of two radio stations reflect
the extremes of left and right in the U. S.

There is a Blue Hill far away in Maine and it is in many respects as much a state of mind as a place.   But it has a voice, its radio station, and if not unique, it is at least different. 

More than 700 miles to the south, the nation's capital has many voices and many radio stations.  But the worlds inhabited by WERU-FM in Blue Hill and WMAL-AM in Washington, D. C., are as chalk and cheese.

If there is a dialogue of the deaf in America, then both represent the extremes.  They talk to their converted, but do not listen or reach out much to the vast middle.

Driving down from Maine, constantly fiddling with the radio dial to catch the war of words in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, suggests this is too typical of the sad state of the national radio mind.  So this letter, held over because of Katrina, came to seem as valid as when written.

Blue Hill is to the northern Atlantic seaboard what Berkeley, California, is to the Pacific Coast and Boulder, Colorado, to the Rockies, a remaining repository of unvarnished 1960s liberalism.  The place is more complex than the stereotype, but you would not know it from listening to its non-commercial "community" station.

Its programming melange of music and commentary is almost sweetly right on.  Hours are devoted to "indigenous, native, world and ambient" music, featuring lots of Peruvian pipes, Indian chants, whale sounds and campesino laments.  Obscure blues, jazz and rockabilly get much airtime by amateur DJs apparently unfamiliar with their broadcasting equipment.

Its words come from Free Speech Radio, the Texas-twang commentaries of Jim Hightower, the progressive icon who never met a Bush he liked, and harsh-voiced Amy Goodman's Democracy Now programme, which preaches democratic values this president would not recognise.

I also caught a long interview with the only transgendered MP in the New Zealand parliament and heard earnest segments on bird migration, the health dangers of industrial toxins and assorted new age philosophies. Programme sponsors include a local acupuncturist and a manufacturer of eco-friendly t-shirts.

For two weeks each summer, WERU is addictive.  For too much of the rest of the year I find myself tuning in to WMAL with the fascination of a cobra confronted by a mongoose, notwithstanding commercial messages from car dealers and laser eye surgeons.

I do so because it features Rush Limbaugh, the most influential of rightwing radio voices. His views are repellent and his vanity noxious but he is no fool.  Thirty minutes of Limbaugh reveal more of the administration's spin du jour than hours listening to official mouthpieces (bottom line; it is all Hillary Clinton's fault).

He has also spawned an army of imitators, most aimed at local markets.  WMAL, a self-branded rightwing station, fills up the hours with several, one of whom recently took to indicting Islam (that is, the whole religion) as nothing more than a "terrorist organisation."

Muslim groups protested, he would not back down and the station, under duress presumably from its owner, Disney, "suspended" him from the air.  He still refused to recant so last month he was fired, his 15 minutes of fame expired.

However, his morning slot was temporarily filled by another motormouth, based 3,000 miles away in Sacramento, California.  He picked up the news that the town council in Herndon, Virginia, an expanding Washington suburb, proposed building a simple facility (shelter and toilets) for the "day labourers" who congregated in a convenience store parking lot, hoping to pick up construction work.

Many day labourers are illegal immigrants and therefore targets for vigilantism.  Pick 'em up and throw 'em out was the word from Sacramento, and, encouraging mob rule, jam the town council's phone lines with protests and turn up en masse at its next meeting, where a local WMAL host will be present to show solidarity.  But Herndon, so far, has stood its ground.

What I heard on WMAL, before finding the gentler embrace of WERU, struck me as hate speech, or very close to it.  Societies that victimize the most vulnerable, regardless of their legal status, are on a slippery slope to something truly nasty -- as history shows.

There is, however, a shaft of light in all this gloom.  Talk radio ratings are dropping like stones all over the country, with even Limbaugh, once boasting 20 million daily listeners, losing upwards of 40 percent of his core audience of 25 - 54 year-olds in big cities. WMAL itself is down 30 percent.

These ratings to fall after an election year -- and Katrina may have lifted them again, temporarily.  But maybe America is finally tiring of this constant demonisation of any different point of view as "far left" or "far right".  (Herndon's mayor was an "ayatollah.").  And commercial sponsors often call for change if slumping ratings persist.

It has happened before.  Father Joseph Coughlin and Walter Wincell, potent early exponents of radio hate, are now but minor historical footnotes.  For now, I'd take WERU over WMAL any day of the week, because it neither threatens nor hectors.  It is not, however, exactly in Washington listening range.

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WERU Receives "Rising Tide" Award from the Maine People's Alliance

At the MPA's November 4th "Rising Tide Dinner" Community Radio WERU was honored to receive one of several "Rising Tide Awards."

The other honorees: John Dieffenbacker-Krall (former MPA executive director, now executive director of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission), Milt Hillery (long-time MPA activist/organizer), Marilyn Canavan (representative in the Maine State Legislature), Rob Shetterly ("Americans Who Tell the Truth" artist) and Candace Gingrich (national LGBT activist and featured speaker).

All were praised for their work to organize and support citizen action around economic, environmental, political and social justice issues. Governor Baldacci and Congressman Michaud attended and spoke at the event.

WERU is extremely grateful to the MPA for the honor of a "Rising Tide Award."    Click here for more information about The Maine People's Alliance: www.mainepeoplesalliance.org.

(In 2004 WERU received a "Social Landscape Artistry Award" from Maine Initiatives: A Fund for Change, online at www.maineinitiatives.org.)

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WERU Receives “Social Landscape Artist Award”  (May 21, 2004)

Community Radio WERU-FM of Maine was recently presented a “Social Landscape Artist Award” by Maine Initiatives, a prominent state-wide fund for change that cultivates social, economic, and environmental justice through grants and other support to grassroots organizations in Maine communities. The award is one of three “Watering Can Awards” (“Water to the roots… and plenty of it!”) presented annually by Maine Initiatives (www.maineinitiatives.org). Over three-hundred people were in attendance for at the 2004 “Celebration of Social Change” Banquet held in Woolwich, Maine. (including the local chapter of the Radical Cheerleaders, and former Maine Congressman and current Executive Director of the Win Without War Coalition, Tom Andrews). Accepting the Watering Can on behalf of WERU were Lynn Soucy, WERU Board Member and Treasurer, and Matt Murphy, General Manager.

Maine Initiatives Statement on WERU:

Hungry for media that fosters understanding and diversity? Feast your ears on WERU. Since hitting the airwaves in 1988, WERU has trained hundreds in live radio broadcasting and audio production. Started, run, and funded by volunteers and listeners, it's a "voice of many voices" for listeners underserved by commercial broadcasters. For midcoast, downeast, and central Maine, WERU gives airwave access to individuals, musicians, nonprofits, and more - a radio "neighborhood" building community through music, news, and ideas.

Award Presentation Address, Delivered by Naomi Schalit, Executive Director of Maine Rivers:

There are many ways to do radio. There’s shock jock radio, there’s top forty radio, there’s retro “golden oldies” radio (of course, what’s retro on the radio these days is stuff I still consider new!), there’s talk radio, there’s public radio….and, ladies and gentlemen, there is community radio. We are here tonight to honor community radio, which in my book is locally grown, organic, whole wheat, whole grain, unbleached, stone-ground and minimally processed. It’s radio that’s good for you, because it’s real and honest and unpretentious and direct and authentic, and you know where it’s coming from – us. Never was there a set of radio call letters so right on: W-E-R-U. Get it? WE R U. They are us.

And who are we? WERU is Music: World, Celtic, women’s, African, New Age and Indigenous, reggae, bluegrass, hip hop, 80s, punk rock, techno, Latin, zydeco, delta blues, bourgeois blues, jazz, polka, and thank you so much, WERU, the Saturday and Sunday morning coffeehouse, which is where you can hear the best folk music ever played on the radio except for a show that comes from Princeton New Jersey called “Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio.” WERU is the Barefoot Blues Hour, the Goodfolk Meeting House, New Potatoes, Women’s Windows, Rhythm of Life, Old Woodstock, Bronzewound, Highway 61 (for those of you who don’t get the reference, that’s a Dylan show), and Insomniac’s mix. Have I missed any kind of music in this list?

And that’s just the music. But WERU is also “Voices You Can’t Hear on the Radio” -- it’s the Voice of Many Voices, as it so rightly calls itself, where you can hear National Native News, which helps radio listeners understand the interconnectedness between Native people and their non-Native neighbors. They’ve got Free Speech Radio News, the only daily half-hour progressive radio newscast in the U.S, owned and managed by news reporters; and, of course, there’s Democracy Now, whose incisive and powerful host, Amy Goodman, describes herself as an independent journalist searching for the unfiltered truth.

Those are the national programs, which WERU distinguishes itself by featuring. But it further distinguishes itself by supporting and promoting the work and voices of the many local people who ordinarily wouldn’t stand a chance of ever getting on the radio. There’s the legendary Awanadjo Almanac, where local minister Rob McCall waxes eloquent about all things natural, and conveys a profound sense of place as he does so; Boat Talk, a live & local call-in on all things boats; Doing Business, a live & local call-in on small & home-based business; Bird Talk, a weekly bird report from Birdman Bob; Peace Time, a weekly short feature on an area peace & justice group or activity; and Healthy Options, a local program on resources and options for whole health.

That’s only a smidgen of the diversity on WERU. How do they get that diversity? Here’s where the real democracy of community radio resides: They train people, regular people, to do radio. They open their doors, let people in, and show them how to run a board, use a mike, make the CD player work, and produce a program. They have standards, and they teach them – democracy in action on radio doesn’t have to mean dead air, or screaming, or fumbling, or embarrassing mistakes. It does mean voices we’re not used to hearing on the air – your neighbor’s voices, the boat builder’s voice, the shopkeepers’ voice, your acupuncturist’s voice, your children’s voices, YOUR voices – telling us about your lives, what you care about, what you know, what you don’t know, what makes you happy and sad and angry and joyful, and how you’d like to heal the world. This radio station has two hundred active volunteers – how many of your non-profits can lay claim to such a community?

When I wanted to buy a house, the real estate agent asked me what my requirements were. Three bedrooms, two baths, and the ability to get WERU on my radio, I told her. Totally non-negotiable. This past Valentine’s Day, I turned on WERU in my three-bedroom, two bath house. And lo and behold, they were playing some of the most syrupy, chocolaty, sentimental love songs you ever did hear. Now I am not a cynic, nor am I curmudgeonly. But I am single, and most of the time that’s fine with me, but a solitary Saturday morning on Valentine’s day can be hard on even the most hardy spirit….and those damned love songs weren’t making it any easier. So I did what any self-respecting listener of WERU, Community Radio would have done; I picked up the phone and called the show’s host in the control room – 469-0500 for those of you who don’t know it -- and told him that not everyone was paired off romantically this Valentine’s Day and since WERU was supposed to be the Voice of Many Voices, couldn’t they play something else, pleeeeaze, for us lonely single folk on Valentine’s Day, like maybe some labor songs? Couldn’t they play Joe Hill?

Well, within minutes, the kind host had switched gears and was playing civil rights movement anthems. God Bless you, WERU, for your openness, your bigheartedness, your democratic spirit, your quirkiness and seriousness and deep, deep morality. Our world here in Maine is richer because we have you in our midst, and we are all proud to be a part of you.

Acceptance Address by Matt Murphy of WERU:

On behalf of the Board, Staff, Volunteers and Members of Community Radio WERU, I offer our most sincere and heartfelt thanks to Maine Initiatives. We are thrilled and honored to receive a Watering Can Award as a Social Landscape Artist, and humbled to be in such good company with the other recipients, past and present.

Social change and justice are at the heart of WERU, because Community Radio is truly a “village green of the airwaves” where music, culture, ideas and discourse can be shared in a noncommercial, community-centered environment designed specifically to serve the needs of those not fully served by other broadcasters and the corporate media. At WERU we believe that access to information and expression are fundamental human rights that must be nurtured, exercised and defended in order for positive social change to occur.

For over sixteen years we have endeavored to be a “voice of many voices” by offering eclectic programming, local access and open governance to the literally thousands upon thousands of voices, on the air, behind the scenes and out in the community, that have collectively worked to make it possible for WERU to survive and thrive in a very uncertain world. This award belongs to all those voices; to the individuals, families and local businesses and organizations that have helped make this station what it is today, a vital community resource.

Ultimately, Community Radio is about storytelling: stories that are musical or spoken; stories that help us to understand ourselves, our neighbors, our communities and our world; stories that inspire thought, dialogue and action towards positive and compassionate social change. Community Radio WERU is deeply honored to now have a Maine Initiatives Watering Can Award as part of our story. Thank you very much.

For more information contact:

Matt Murphy, WERU General Manager
manager@weru.org
207-469-6600

Deborah Felder, Maine Initiatives Executive Director
info@maineinitiatives.org
207-622-6294

IN MEMORY: Information About Late WERU Volunteers:

JUDITH BEACH: Community Radio WERU just lost another amazingly wonderful human being with the passing Monday of Judi Beach, from cancer.  Judi was the long-time host and producer of the Poetry Pantry short feature on Monday’s Earthtones, working closely first with Karen Larsen and then later with Lee Whitting.  Judi will be greatly missed.

The Poetry Pantry was well-produced, elegantly literary short-feature that presented a wide range of poets and poetic subjects on WERU.  Judi’s periodic visits to the station to work on the program were a treat for us, as her kind heart and warm demeanor were enjoyed by everyone she engaged.  Her late husband Stewart, a similarly easy-to-enjoy person, passed away a few years earlier, soon after starting his volunteer career at WERU.  It was a blessing to have known them both and great fortune to have had Judi as part of the WERU family for a good number of happy, poetic years.

Her good friend and WERU cohort Karen Larsen had this to say: “Judi’s love of poetry was also her love of life, her friends and family, and the everyday blessings around her.  We shared many laughs and tears together and I shall miss her.”

No memorial service plans have been made, to our knowledge, as of yet but we’ll inform WERU when there are.  Karen is working on excerpting recordings of the Poetry Pantry that featured Judi’s own poems and producing them for archiving on the station web site and we’ll let everyone know when they are posted.

-Matt Murphy, WERU General Manager

TOMMY DEAN:While we do not yet have all the details the sense of grief we feel at WERU over the sudden and tragic death of Tom Salisbury, a.k.a. Cowboy Tommy Dean of Independent Country renown is staggering and profound. Tom died suddenly and unexpectedly Sunday afternoon in Trenton of an unknown cause while meeting with associates at the American Legion Hall. Community Radio will pass along whatever information we can as we receive it to volunteers and listeners, including details on paying respects and giving comfort to Tom’s loving wife and children.

Anyone in the WERU family who had even the most brief interaction with Tommy Dean, be it in person or on the radio, knows that he was a perfect gentleman, humble soul, exuberant spirit and enthusiastic proponent of Community Radio – amount many other things he loved and championed. He started out on WERU as Doc Morrill’s co-host on Downhome Country Thursday morning half-a-dozen years ago, and then developed his own hit country music show in the weekend wee sunrise hours, Independent Country, following and playing off Big Jerry’s Truckstop like perfect overnight radio bookends. His audience was devoted and fanatical and he served them with energy, enthusiasm and humility, not to mention all the independent country artists he promoted with the utmost respect and sincerity.

But Tommy wasn’t a “one-trick pony” and could adapt his unique brand of DJ banter to Reggae as the occasional but unforgettable sub-host for Carlton Johnson on the Drive Thru. He was loved whatever he did and wherever he went, in such seemingly diverse places as WERU and the American Legion Hall. He was an award-winning songwriter, a concert promoter and master of ceremonies, a tireless organizer of the “Christmas is for Kids” benefit events, a supreme devotee of Johnny Cash, a businessman and baker, a great friend and above all a loving and devoted family man. It is no cliché to say that you really couldn’t find a nicer, more decent man than Cowboy Tommy Dean. His sudden passing is a terrible loss to the community and we will miss him deeply at WERU.

-Matt Murphy, WERU General Manager

WERU has lost several dear friends and volunteers over the last few years. We've gathered articles and stories about our late comrades to help keep thier spirtis alive in our hearts.

Below are the various Word Documents you can download.


Don Furth

Dave Piszcz

Charlie Oldham 1

Charlie Oldham 2

Patrick J.

John Babcock