✏️ June 15, 2021: “Local Stars”

Congratulations and Thank You

I’m still kind of reeling that we have come through the past 15 months. Some things feel more normal, but underneath there is a weariness that is constantly there. Not a tired weariness, but almost a resigned wariness. A weariness wariness, if I can be so bold. Yet we continue to put one foot in front of the other, or ambulate forward using your selected method. Writing this newsletter week in and week out has been helpful to me. It anchors me, as do the programs that I host on KWMR, cooking food for my family, and walking the trails of West Marin.

Really great to see the fog from Mt. Barnabe.  photo: Amanda Eichstaedt

I really need to shout out to my fellow KWMR coworkers. What a bunch of freakin’ rock stars. While you all know that it takes many villages to keep KWMR chugging along, it is the staff that deserve some accolades today. I think that the most pertinent quality to the team here at KWMR is their love for the work, and their amazing senses of humor.

At a recent staff meeting, all still happening on Zoom, our IT Director, Ian McMurray was discussing the importance of network safety and security in lieu of recent reported hacks and ransomware. He used the example, “If you get an email from Amanda trying to sell you a car, be suspicious.” To which several of the staff noted that I had been involved in discussing automobile sales with them. We all cracked up. Let’s keep each other all laughing….together.

Congratulations to all the recent graduates from different grades and institutions. One of note is Brian Delahunty. Brian has been a youth DJ on KWMR for several years. I recall once when he was 14 years old, he was working with then Program Director Lyons Filmer and Brian was curious about a vinyl record. She showed him how to play it on the air and he went on to be fascinated by how it made sound by the needle in the groove of the disk, explaining all of this to the listeners. Brian’s audio production has come a long way, and he truly has the pipes for radio. Well Brian is retiring his “The Wave” program as he prepares to start school at UC Berkeley in the fall. Congratulations Brian, it has been fun to watch you grow into a competent young man. Stay in touch!

And I need to give a huge shout out to Kevin Daniel and Karl Winquist from Horizon Cable. Last Wednesday a solo driver left the traffic lane and sheared off a seemingly random power pole in front of Sacred Heart Church in Olema. I heard the “crunchy pop” that insinuated more than merely a transformer blowing. Indeed the pole was toast, the car was totaled, and from what I could tell, the solo driver did survive. The infrastructure was not so lucky, the pole was not that random – it had a lot of stuff on it. That evening seven PGE trucks were on scene, the following day on my way to work in the morning I chatted briefly with Kevin and Karl on the scene. Mid-day I returned home and there were many (Karl verified 12, later that day) ATT trucks on scene to repair the damage. And when I was returning after doing “Bakersfield and Beyond” that evening Keven and Karl were still there at dusk, just finishing up their 12 hour day. And Internet was restored when I rolled up to my house on my bike that evening.

What was left of the pole and infrastructure after the collision.  photo: Amanda Eichstaedt

Ok folks, deep breath, congratulate a graduate, keep the rubber side down, and thank a field technician/worker when you see them fixing stuff in our community!

Thank you for reading our newsletter!

Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager/Executive Director

Always keeping an eye on his people, Waylon!   photo: Amanda Eichstaedt