WERU Community Radio

From the volunteers, Board of Directors, and staff of WERU, we wish all of our listeners and members Happy Holidays! Just as this season is recognized in many different ways, so it is with the many different people and kinds of programming on WERU. This diversity is what makes community radio special, and we thank you for making all that possible with your support. You are at the heart of what we do and who we are. We-are-you!
 
These are challenging times, of course, but hopefully in 2025 WERU can help us cope and even thrive. We will continue to work hard at making good on our community radio mission to “lift spirits, raise awareness, and make connections,” and we will do it together!
 
Have Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Friends of Joel Raymond will present a musical community party honoring the one and only Joel Raymond, Saturday, January 18 from 5-10pm at The Grand in Ellsworth (Snowdate: Sunday, January 19 from 2-7pm). The evening will include a finger food potluck, cash bar, and live music from a few of the local bands and musicians loved by Joel. 

Joel was a long time resident of Ellsworth (Joyville) and was a music producer, supporter, WERU Community Radio DJ (host of Friday On the Wing for over 30 years), and all around good guy and lover of life. 

Doors open at 5pm with finger food potluck and cash bar. Bands will include: Gray Parrot, 40 Thieves: Travis Cyr + Laura Bagley, Muskeg, Milk and Honey Rebellion, The Hot Suppers, and Shirt Tail Kin! Admission is free, donations at the door will benefit WERU and The Grand, two organizations of music and community that Joel worked with for years – to the benefit of us all! 

The Grand is located at 165 Main Street Ellsworth, ME 04605. For more information visit www.grandonline.org.

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.

Read More …

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!