Round Up: “Tada!”

After last week’s Round Up hit the presses at 5 PM sharp last Friday, we had our fingers and toes crossed that we could raise the final $7k or so to make our goal. A generous donor rose to the occasion and got us within spitting distance, and on Wednesday we hit the sought after $100K!

Thanks to Glen for stepping up, and for the many other donors, organizations, and businesses that supported KWMR for our Annual Pledge Drive (remember, just one a year now).

It was fabulous to have a nice long weekend without the pressure of achieving a goal, other than to fill the green bins, which I did. Then on Monday (green bin pick up day), I ran some errands and came home to empty bins! So I got back to it. Weeding at our place is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge – you never complete the work.

Last week, I was sitting in my office when a man walked in. He introduced himself and then said, “I hope what I am about to say is not too bold.” He had been listening to me read my friend Nim Macfadyen’s book “Picture This, Fictions and Reflections” (now back in print). Nim passed away in 2024 of cancer, and after getting permission from his family to read his book on KWMR, they invited me to the memorial. My visitor proceeded to encourage me to attend the memorial. I had mentioned on the air that I was not going to go.

I had not personally been in touch with Nim for over 20 years, and I had never met his wife, daughter or brother. I feel like sharing his beautifully written stories with an audience on the opposite coast honored Nim. He had been very supportive of me in the early 80’s, and I have one of his small paintings hanging in my house. Thankfully, we also have his stories.

I love that this listener connected with Nim’s stories and appreciated my reading. I’m now reading “The Maltese Falcon” on Monday mornings until I complete that book. I plan to focus on work in the public domain for now.

Thanks to Heyday Books for giving KWMR blanket permission to read their published works. Lyons Filmer, Janet Robbins, and Kerry Livingston often read books published by Heyday. I’ll check out their list after I finish “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Got a suggestion for something to read on the air? Send it my way.

“Turning Pages” is a long-standing tradition at KWMR and still going strong Monday through Friday at 10 AM.

An administrative note…

Remember back when I was bellyaching about the database migration last summer? Well, it’s been working well and we used the system for the first time for our successful Pledge Drive. I won’t go into tedious detail, but the back end of the system has not been as user friendly. We are behind with our thank you letters (but they are coming), and we will get the premiums out as soon as we get this all sorted. Our “feedback” on the user experience has hopefully been helpful to the database folks!

And a more fun note…

I hope to see some of you at Sharron Drake’s latest extravaganza performance of “Peter and the Wolf, A Community Orchestra Event” this Sunday, June 1 at 3:30 PM at the Dance Palace. It’s free!

As always, thanks for reading, caring, contributing and being a great community to produce radio in.

Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager and Executive Director

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