Friday, January 1, 2010

2009. Year in review at Bexley Public Radio.

Death of Program Host Terry Pugh.

Terry was a retired attorney. He was still active as a counselor at Gahanna’s Woods at Parkside and devoted his Fridays as a volunteer program host on Bexley Public Radio. Terry provided an intelligent Friday introduction to the weekend. His interest in literature and knowledge of the sport of kings are missed.

Student Interns

Bexley High School students Zach Fries and Aaron Gaba were interns during 2009. Fries worked with Joe Contino and reported on Bexley High School sports. Gaba worked with station management on administrative assignments and fund-raising. Gaba also assisted program hosts with regular local news broadcasts including lunch specials from Bexley dining spots and weather reports from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Bexley High School interns from prior years assisted on programming during 2009. The assistance was during their term breaks and holidays at their colleges. Sarah Lamar is a student at Syracuse University. Robert Moore is a student at Denison University and Tim Nassau is a student at Brown University.

Bexley Public Radio also provided broadcast training opportunities to Dallas Lambert, a student at the Columbus branch of the Ohio Center for Broadcasting. Dallas worked as the sound engineer for the Bexley Public Radio week of broadcasting at the Bexley Public Library and substituted as host on the Joe Contino sports show.

Capital University senior Toria Shalinske also interned during the summer months and provided marketing assistance for the Bexley Fourth of July parade and other fund-raising initiatives.

Denison University student Robert Moore also provided regular reports on a school project on electoral re-districting in Ohio.

SignaTour Studio Space.

SignaTour Recording and Sound Studio continued to provide studio space, equipment and personnel for broadcast and production operations.

Fund-raising for Other Nonprofits.

Bexley Public Radio continued to help other nonprofits raise money at charity auctions. The radio station offers its editorial page to the highest bidders at charity auctions. During 2009, a new low purchase price and a new high purchase price were set for the Bexley Public Radio editorial page of $2.50 and $225.00 respectively. Charity auctions at Columbus Kollel, Lutheran Social Services, Columbus School for Girls and St. Catharine Parish received the proceeds from the sale of the Bexley Public Radio editorial page.

Publicity for Other Nonprofits.

In excess of eight hundred public service announcements were broadcast for other central Ohio nonprofit organizations on WCRX-LP. A special monthly feature for Lifecare Alliance and Meals on Wheels was begun during 2009. Additionally, once weekly reports from the Jewish Community Center were presented by Kriss Galloway. Also once weekly reports on family and youth activities at Christ Lutheran Church were presented by Jenny Frantz.

Publicity was also given for events at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Capital University, Ohio Dominican University, Martin DePorres Center, Lincoln Theater, Columbus Chapter of Hadassah and Bexley Public Library.

Promotion of Simply Living and WCRS-LP Programing.

Each time requested, Bexley Public Radio promoted productions of WCRS-LP such as a "Sprouts" production of the inauguratiaon ceremonies for President Barack Obama.

Bexley Garden and Landscaping News.

Amy Maurer, the Noontime Gardener continued her third year of advice and criticism of the flora and gardens of Bexley. Her feature on “Edible Bexley” followed the blossoming, growth and maturation of the mulberry fruit. Amy also added reviews of gardening books to her program.

Local News Reports.

Independent news reporting by Bexley Public Radio continued with the city hall reports from John Matuszak for Bexley and Dianne Garrett for Whitehall.

Bexley Public Radio also continued relying on Bexley News, Ohio Jewish Chronicle, The Eastside Messenger, The New Standard, The Catholic Times and the Bexley High School Torch for local news reports.

Host Joe Contino continued sports coverage with assistance from Brian Inglis. Lee Edmondson (Miss 411) and Mel Greenball rounded out the reading of local news.

The station continued its news reports on daily lunch specials from Bexley lunch spots including the Jewish Community Center kosher senior lunch program and "comfort food specials" at the Crusader Club at Capital University. Other lunch spots such as Bexley Monk, Giuseppe's, Scotty's Catering, Rusty Bucket, Rubino's, Anthony's Pizza and Subs, Johnson's Real Ice Cream and Flavors are included. The lunch menu at the Bexley Food Cooperative is also reported. An effort is made to include all of the lunch spots in the course of a month.

Laura Franks Bexley Consumer Price Index (The Bexley CPI).

Laura Franks completed her ninth quarterly report on retail prices in Bexley. The Bexley Consumer Price Index now has more than two full years of price data for retail sales in Bexley and inflation and deflation rates for full year and year-to-year can now be reported.

Culture Correspondent Reports From Other States.

Dispatches from Bexley Public Radio culture correspondents Joanna Tornes, Paul Peltier and Dave Schwenker were regular features reporting on events happening in Alaska, New Hampshire and West Virginia from a Bexley perspective. Dan Mikletz also added reports from Eastern Pennsylvania. From North Georgia, Hank Belew reported on barbeque competitions and blue grass music festivals.


Daily Wall Street News and Features on Financial and Business Topics.

Frank Ingwersen of Sweney Cartwright and Kevin Kale of Manning and Napier gave regular Wall Street reports. Frank reports Monday through Thursday and Kevin reports on Friday. Chris Johns assisted Frank Ingwersen in his reporting.

The Joseph Group, a capital management firm licensed Bexley Public Radio to use their weekly newsletter, WealthNotes.

Laura Franks added a regular feature on company announcements of increased dividend payments.

Black History Month.

For the second year in a row, Bexley Public Radio commemorated Black History Month with a feature on the auction of work of major African-American artists at the Swann Gallery in New York.

News From Other Markets.

Other markets covered at Bexley Public Radio included central Ohio auction markets like Garth’s in Delaware County and sales at Leslie Hindman’s auction rooms in Chicago, and also at Sotheby’s and Christies in New York.

Professor Reg Dyck of Capital University commented on certain civil war items on the auction block at Leslie Hindman’s during the Spring and Toni Dunleavy, proprietor of Etcetera Boutique commented on vintage clothing auctions at Sothebys and Leslie Hindman’s. Discussions of these auctions included catalog price estimates prior to an auction and, after an auction, discussion and analysis of hammer prices compared to pre-auction estimates. Professor Dyck and Proprietoress Dunleavy also discussed the historical context of selected items in the auctions.

Public Radio in Central Ohio and Corporation for Public Broadcast.

Bexley Public Radio organized a discussion of a CPB grant opportunity and meeting at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. WOSU, WCBE and WCRX-LP met to discuss response to a CPB request for proposals. Simply Living's WCRS-LP was invited to the meeting but didn’t attend or otherwise participate.

Election 2009.

Bexley Public Radio provided several productions related to the 2009 November elections. A "meet the candidiates" forum at Brookwood Presbyterian Church was recorded by SignaTour Recording and Sound Studio for Bexley Public Radio. The recording was broadcast several times on 102.1 FM prior to the election. The candidates included Bexley and Columbus hopefuls. On ballot issues, Sal Leonetti provided commentary on the casino issues. A week-long special production on the Belxey Public Library levy issue was organized by John Matuszak. With the library's permission, Bexley Public Radio broadcast from the library brousing room for the week prior to the election.

2009 Fourth of July Parade.

Bexley Public Radio participated in the Bexley Fourth of July Parade for the third year.

Music Licenses and Permissions for Other Content.

Subscriptions have been received to pay music licensing fees for BMI, ASCAP and SESAC. Bexley Public Radio is delaying collection of the subscriptions until it concludes time allocation negotiations with Simply Living's WCRS-LP. All other content licenses are current or have been renewed with the content providers.

CPAC and Programming Survey.

During 2009, Bexley Public Radio established a Community Programming Advisory Committee that met monthly to provided programming advice. Additionally, a programming survey was completed. The survey questionaire was mailed to all of the residents on three streets in Bexley. One street was in south Bexley, one was a street that is in central and north Bexley and a third street is in central Bexley.

Melissa Farley assisted on the administration of the survey, including analysis of the returns.

The survey results will be published in late January or early February, 2010.

Legislative Matters.

Bexley Public Radio followed the movement for "bans on texting while driving" in both Ohio municipalities and in the Ohio General Assembly. Regular reports by citizen lobbyist Sharon Montgomery were broadcast on Bexley Public Radio.

Station Logo.



During 2009, Bexley resident and designer Natalie Bitton provided a logo for the radio station. The logo was used on tee-shirts for volunteers in the Bexley Fourth of July Parade. The logo has also been added to most fund-raising commmunications.

Green Policy Implemented.

During 2009, Bexley Public Radio continued its green operations policy on environmental matters. Also during 2009, an ironic advertisement spot was created and is being used on the station blog at Agent of Currency as part of its green initiative.

Editorial Positions Maintained and Adjusted.

The MSMIB (Most Sensitive Man In Bexley) and the WCRX-LP Human Rights Advocate continue to be staffed. The MSMIB reported on three matters during the year. No human rights reports were made during 2009 although the WCRX-LP Human Rights Advocate was ready to respond to complaints or incidents identified by the Human Rights Advocate.

The WCRX-LP editorial collective was adjusted and coordinated with a separate editorial panel called the Bexley Public Radio editorial collective.

Educational Purpose and Measurement of Audience Size.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation was formed to provide training and radio broadcast experience to students including adult students. The actual measure of whether the organization is meeting its objectives is the number of individuals who receive training and experience at the radio station.

Fifteen months after receiving its broadcast license, Bexley Public Radio Foundation provided two Bexley High School students with training and experience that qualified for high school class credit. An additional eight students served the radio station as volunteers and gained broadcast experience. During 2009, two Bexley High School students were interns. Additionally, one student from the Ohio Center for Broadcasting received class credit for volunteer work at the station.

During November measurement of audience is being improved by the addition of a "click" meter on the radio station blog.

Time-Share Agreement and Antenna Tower.

Negotiations continued on time allocations, cross promotions, shared budgets, shared staff and coordinated marketing. Some of these issues have been presented to the FCC for its direction. The City of Columbus has requested that Simply Living and Bexley Public Radio re-apply for tower space for the antenna that is presently used. That antenna is owned by Bexley Public Radio. The City's request followed Simply Living's request to add a separate antenna on the City's tower.

Open Microphones, Open Minds.

Mel Greenball began a new feature called "Open Microphones, Open Minds." In this weekly feature, Mel presented recordings of speeches ignored by media. During 2009, presentations from the International Conference on Climate Change in New York and Washington D.C. were broadcast.

Amy Maurer's 2009 Best of Bexley Tomato Contest.

Bexley Public Radio sponsored a tomato contest to publicize Amy Maurer's Noontime Gardener Show. Two hundred dollars in cash prizes were awarded to the winners. First place with one hundred dollars in prize money went to Jacob Martin. Jacob is a kindergarten student at Montrose Elementary School. He is the grandson of Mary Zeier.




Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. The styles "The Most Sensitive Man in Bexley" and "MSMIB" are the property of Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

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