By Larry A Brechner
A unique group of about thirty local radio broadcasters gathered at the relatively new station’s studio and office location on College Street to celebrate over twenty years of Valparaiso’s own community radio station, WVLP-LP 103.1 FM. WVLP’s radio programs from a cadre of volunteer hosts that feature an eclectic collection of talk, music, local events, art, sports and other topics focused on the Valparaiso community.
What had been an annual gathering of show hosts over the years had been preempted during the Coivd-19 pandemic. So after a several year hiatus, on a mid-afternoon on Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 the “WVLP-ers” once again joined together to celebrated this anniversary.
“It was a warm and pleasant evening in October of 2002 that a switch was flipped and WVLP has been broadcasting ever since,” stated founder Paul Schreiner. “WVLP is an opportunity to talk to the community about things that are not available to the community. The outpouring and willingness of local volunteers to share their expertise and knowledge is a valuable asset and benefit to the community. We are unfettered by corporate control, and not tied to the need to raise large amounts of money like other local media are. We have a large amount of freedom to offer information not available by any other means,” Paul continued.
With a simple potluck feast laid out, each of the show hosts proceeded in turn to reintroduce themselves to each other – sharing details about themselves, their radio show, and what this radio station has meant to each of them.
Gregg Kovach, WVLP Station Manager, then made several announcements about improvements to the station including new radio program automation software. Yet he had saved a most important surprise announcement. After a clearing a gauntlet of approvals especially from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), WVLP’s transmitter, tower, and antenna located at its original Front Porch Music site on Lincolnway, was approved to move to the College Street studio location. The result of this move will dispense with the dedicated link from the studio to the transmitter producing a major cost savings for the station.
Other business was to reconstitute a WVLP Board of Directors from the various show hosts and to review proper radio studio operation. Missing due to illness was one of the station’s founders whole is still active Paul Schreiner.
The station’s history began with Rick Watson, musician and recording engineer, and Paul Schreiner, community activist and co-founder of Front Porch Music, who got together and conceived of WVLP. The rules governing the new Low Power FM (LPFM) station license was that a license could only be issued to local, long-standing not-for-profit organization. Schreiner approached George Terrell, local attorney and then president of Neighbors Corporation, a local not-for-profit with a thirty-year history of activism in Valparaiso, and in late August of 2000, an application for a LPFM building permit was sent.
The in October 2002 with license in hand, the tower was raised on the roof of Front Porch Music, the transmitter, connected to a computer filled with recorded music was switched on, and WVLP began broadcasting a crystal clear signal to all of Valparaiso and most of Porter County. The station continues to operate today, twenty years later with financial support from a combination of listener support, business underwriters and grants plus the dedication of its volunteer hosts.
WVLP’s purpose still is to provide a media voice to those who traditionally have no voice and to offer a forum for cultural expression – music, art, and ideas – not present in corporate media, and WVLP’s voice should represent the concerns and passions of the local community, Valparaiso, Indiana and the region known as Northwest Indiana.
Tune IN to WVLP at 103.1FM or stream it anytime with the TuneIn application and soon streaming will resume at the WVLP.org website.
Larry A. Brechner is on the WVLP Board of Directors and hosts the Art on the Air show every Friday at 11am.
Shown Above, Mark and Susie Young Baxter (PanoramaNOW) at @Lakeshore PBS
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
