New staff, building addition at WCHG By CHARLES GARRATT • Staff writer
WARM SPRINGS - Amid drywall dust and construction noise, two new employees are trying to ready radio station WCHG 107.1 FM for its spring fund-raiser.
Bonnie Gills took over the helm as station coordinator in September. Helping her for the next year is Elaine Brown, the new Vista employee who started two weeks ago.
Gills, now living on the family farm in Deerfield, feels fortunate to find a job in broadcasting in the area. She decided to return to the area and take "any basic job" just to get out of the city. But she thought the move would also be the end of her career in radio.
Instead she worked for Allegheny Mountain Radio a year under the Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) program and then moved into the station coordinator position at WCHG when it became available. WCHG in Bath and WVLS in Highland are both part of the AMR network headquartered in Frost, W.Va.
While Gills loves her job, she says she is "surprised at how busy I am. It comes down to doing all of it myself." And since coming on board, "all" has included overseeing the addition to the studio building behind Bath County High School.
Beginning last week, Gills has some help at the station from Brown, an Arlington native. Brown's position is paid for by VISTA for one year.
Brown graduated in December from American University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in arts management and literature. At WCHG she admits she will be doing something "completely different than anything I've done."
So far she is liking it. Currently she is busy producing public service announcements and news stories. After she gets comfortable with the area and station operation she will begin her main task of recruiting citizen reporters.
The station plans to expand news coverage, says Brown, by using volunteer reporters. She plans to begin recruiting through the radio club at BCHS.
In addition to students, she also wants to try to get seniors involved in radio news. After that, Brown says she will "improvise."
As a newcomer to Bath County, Brown expresses a common concern of "trying to find something to do other than hiking." She likes to hike, but misses some of the big city amenities popular with people her age.
Both Gills and Brown will soon be able to move from boxes and cramped corners into new office space. The 400-square-foot addition to the small 600-square-foot studio building is nearly complete.
The new addition expands the studio space used for live performances, includes separate office space and a small space for production of public service announcements, news items and other material produced for later broadcast. Currently the on-air control room is used for such production which must be scheduled around broadcast.
WCHG relies heavily on volunteer DJs for programming. The musical taste of the DJ determines the content of radio broadcast. At WCHG, programs range from smooth jazz to gospel to bluegrass and country.
In addition to news and music programming, WCHG broadcast Charger football games.
The spring fund-raiser begins May 6. The station holds two, one-week fund-raisers per year.
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