Round Up: ”Practice Makes Progress”

On Monday, after the windy rainstorm that swept through the Bay Area, it was not shocking that we lost power in parts of West Marin. There was a brief outage after 7:30 AM, but then the power went out in earnest right after the 8 AM hosts (Darren Nelson and Danny Montana of The Coffee and Whiskey Hour) showed up to do their show. One thing that was different than usual is that Ken and I were out of town.

KWMR was back up and running within an hour. Two of our volunteer generator team members – Liz Wilhelm and Dallas Smith (West Marin Naturalist Hour) showed up moments before Jeff Manson, KWMR’s Program Director, arrived from Bolinas. Mia Johnson-Martinez, Station Outreach Coordinator, and her baby also showed up, and another member of the generator team – Jason Miller (Redwood Sideband) was close behind. Alerts were received, texts flew, and the 9 AM show (In the Coastal Garden) went ahead smoothly.

We have not held a formal practice training in a while, and I know that the first several times I started the generator and got everything connected and running, it was stressful. But in my case, living just two miles from KWMR, and wanting the station to be back on the air ASAP, I have been “first on scene” enough times where it is almost a habit. It’s time for some refresher training for our team.

I am very grateful that we have several volunteers that live close by that are willing to step up and lend a hand so that KWMR will be on the air. This is all part of how KWMR works. It’s about teamwork. It’s all about taking care of this resource that we are fortunate enough to have in West Marin. They don’t call it “Community Radio” for nothing.

A few updates:

⚡ The Tomales Booster Project is moving along well. We anticipate that things will be up and running before the end of this year.

⚡ We reached our goal of 300 subscribers to our KWMR Emergency Text Alerts! Have not signed up yet? You still can HERE.

I like the saying “Practice Makes Progress,” because perfection is an unrealistic goal.

Thank you for your support!

Amanda Eichstaedt
KWMR Station Manager,  Executive Director & Development 

PS: A special thank you to Kat Prescott, the team at Griffo Distillery, The Space Orchestra, Nomad Provisions, theartofjonny, and everyone behind the incredible, sold out KWMR fundraiser in Petaluma last Saturday! And thank you to everyone who showed up to support community radio. They put in so much work to make the event a rousing success. 

Check out KWMR’s new full color program guide!

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