Rare Air: KCR wins two national broadcast awards
Station preparing for new transmitter, website and live local performance and recording space, thanks mostly to volunteer efforts

Mix Masters — Just as its vital Spring Membership Drive kicked off, Kootenay Co-op Radio won two awards from the National Community Radio Association’s annual Campus & Community Radio Broadcast and Online gala (the CRABO’s).
Brother Michael won Best Music Variety Program for his eclectic and masterfully produced show Flashback 70’s.
The station’s 24-segment series KCR Live!,  produced by KCR Sales and Membership Coordinator Amelie Sauquet-Davidson, helped win the station the Local Talent Development Award.

Despite daunting pressures presented by the pandemic, Kootenay Co-op Radio managed not only to stay on-air, but did so with award-winning flair.

This past Friday, KCR won two awards at the National Community Radio Association’s annual Campus & Community Radio Broadcast and Online gala (the CRABO’s).

Long time host Brother Michael won Best Music Variety Program for his eclectic and masterfully produced show Flashback 70’s.

The station’s 24-segment series KCR Live!, which featured intimate live performances and interviews from the station’s newly renovated environs, helped earn Kootenay Co-op Radio further national kudos, netting CRABO’s Local Talent Development Award. The show was produced by KCR Sales and Membership Coordinator Amelie Sauquet-Davidson and provided a safe performance space for over 60 local artists to connect with their audiences at a time when concert venues were shut down.

“Community radio helps create and preserve Canadian culture, and Kootenay culture,” says KCR Programming Manager Ed Zych, “and we’re very proud to have had a few of our 70 shows recognized by the NCRA. Shows like these are central to our strategic plan which stresses excellence in programming and being a culture and information hub for this amazing community.”

The bigger story beyond the awards, Zych says, is the success that the Kootenay’s longest serving independent broadcast and on-line station is seeing thanks to increasing numbers of volunteers, members and sponsors.

“Like a lot of businesses and nonprofits,” the programming manager adds, “KCR was presented with unprecedented and extreme operational and financial challenges through the pandemic.”

KCR board co-chairs Kim Bater and Michelle Oakley say the commitment to keep the station running was met by a small army of volunteers willing to contribute, even at the height of COVID along, with over 70 programmers who found a way to produce a diverse array of content, from the safety of their homes.”

With its vital Spring Membership Drive underway now, and coming off the biggest event it has ever held (this past month’s KCR Block Party at Lion’s Park was attended by nearly 1,000 people) the station is preparing for a new website, a stronger new transmitter and a basement performance space, plus an exterior renovation and a renewed commitment to community-driven independent news, current affairs and spoken word content.

“And a lot of that work is volunteered or donated,” says Bater and Oakley. “There’s been a heartfelt and overwhelming show of support from programmers, members  and advertisers new and old  — and one that clearly reflects the degree of support KCR has throughout the West Kootenays after 23 years on air.

To become a member, arrange business sponsorship or renew your membership, click on https://www.kootenaycoopradio.com/become-a-member-today/ or call 250-352-9600.