“Thank You!”

Tuesday November 22nd, 2022
From the messy desk of Amanda Eichstaedt…

Giving Thanks

On Thursday many of us will sit down with family and friends to share a meal. What you eat is your business. I plan to make a pretty traditional meal for this particular holiday. More from many years of tradition, rather than honoring what my colonial forbearers might have cooked up in Plymouth. I will recognize that I am doing so on the lands of the Coastal Miwok. I will be thankful for the healthy harvest of our local food growing farmers and what I was able to feebly grow in our little garden this year. I am looking forward to this small gathering.

There are many things to be thankful for, including fresh air, minimal fire activity in our immediate area this year, my coworkers, the fine volunteers at KWMR, all of our nonprofit and business partners, community, the KWMR Board, the abundant nature where we live and the ability to access it, my loved ones, Waylon, my good health, and the ability to be a lifelong learner.

In terms of learning I have learned a lot this past year about my own relationship with racism and how I can learn new things to be a better citizen on this planet. Me, along with my other 8 billion fellow earth dwellers have a ways to go, but if we all start now, we might be able to move the dial towards more equity. How have I done this, you might ask? Reading books, having tough discussions, asking questions, finding allies, and being an ally. 

So while my forefathers and foremothers behaved one way, I can choose to go my own way, and I have a ways to go. Times change. I recently read Betty MacDonald’s book “Onions in the Stew” which I have read several times throughout my life. An interesting thing about reading aloud is that you are actually saying what is written down, not just internalizing the information. The book was written in the 1950s and is a humorous tale of island living on Puget Sound, near where I also grew up. 

There were several times that I could not say colloquial things out loud on the radio in references to Native People, and other races and I slightly changed the words. Betty was writing from her time, and while the heart of the story is timeless and endearing, some things have already changed for the better in terms of being sensitive about racist language. So let us keep moving the dial.

Photo of earth, courtesy of Pexels.

As I write this I am thinking of the bigger picture of our world. Wars, famine, disease, climate crisis, shootings and other violence, and I am reminded of how very lucky so many of us are, here in our “bubble” in West Marin. And even here there is work to be done, and it is being done by many. I am reminded that the KWMR board wrote and adopted an Equity Statement this year, and I was told recently that the KWMR Mission Statement (written before my time), was recently used as a model for another nonprofit in our community. 

So cheers! Enjoy this weekend and your friends and family. Consider making a donation to KWMR and the many nonprofit organizations that make this place so great. Shop locally to keep our local merchants in business, and continue to be kind to one another.

And tune in Friday to Happy Hour, I had the opportunity to talk with Sami and Kaz who will be performing in a house concert in Inverness on Thursday, December 1st. They are lovely and talented and I’m looking forward to seeing them perform. 

Kaz and Sami

Holiday Play!!!

Tickets are selling, don’t miss out, get yours ahead of time! Two shows, and no tickets sold at the door.

KWMR Is also teaming up with the Family Music Hour once again. Their next show is on Saturday, December 10. And if technology is kind to us, we may be broadcasting the show live on KWMR that evening. Stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager/Executive Director

p.s. Thanks to Cathy Richards, Miguel Kuntz, Kevin Meade, and Danny Vitali for continuing their Board service to KWMR. Welcome aboard Cameo Wood and Lourdes Romo, who were also elected by the membership. And welcome to Nancy Vayhinger and Sally Peacock for joining the Board at the November meeting.