4 New Ways to Eat Frozen Green Beans

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by Maggie Montgomery
Eating locally—even about 75% locally, as we do now—means that in winter we eat a lot of frozen garden veggies. This week, my husband Dennis came upstairs after a trip to the basement freezer and said, “You know, there are a LOT of beans down there.”

I felt a little guilty. Growing green beans is mostly a “snap,” even in northern Minnesota. I plant several kinds every summer—Italian beans, Tendergreen, Contender, Jade, Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and more. There are big, flat beans, yellow wax beans, bush beans and pole beans. Different varieties mature at different times, and I plant rows of the same variety weeks apart to assure an unending supply until frost. Dennis thinks it’s overkill, but I insist, saying “They are all different.”

It’s a pleasure to eat fresh beans in the summer. I also pickle some of the choice, young ones as dilly beans, and some years I put up a couple loads in the pressure canner. But we most often freeze the surplus because it’s easy.

When it’s time to eat the frozen beans, I cook them one way: steam them in salted water and serve them with butter on top. “There you go, Dennis,” I say, “Beans.”

On this Wednesday’s Morning Show on KAXE, I asked for some help with our frozen bean supply, and listeners sympathetically responded with some suggestions. I’m posting the recipes here in case you have plenty of beans too!

RECIPE 1:
Ken and Pam from Brainerd suggested a green bean shepherd’s pie: “We are just finishing up a really nice bean dish that Pam prepared recently. It is basically a Sheppard’s Pie with adzuki beans used instead of meat and a layer of green beans between the adzuki beans and the mashed potatoes. We thought it would be a very nice veggie start to the New Year. And a great way to use green beans!”

RECIPE 2:
Robert from Bemidji said: “Stir fry some beans in about 2 tablespoons of any type of oil that can hold up to high heat, and mix that with about 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, until they are as tender as you like. Drizzle with Tamari soy sauce, then put the lid on for a few minutes. It’s simple and delicious!”

RECIPE 3:
Julie from Cook suggested a cold or lukewarm green bean salad: Steam some beans. Cool them in water. Add crumbled feta, chopped red onion, chopped fresh (or frozen) dill, and your favorite Italian dressing.

RECIPE 4:
Ross emailed an Indian recipe: Bihari Green Beans Marsala, from Julie Sahni:

2 T oil
2 T sliced almonds
½ c. finely chopped onion
3 large  cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1 t sweet paprika
½ t red chili pepper flakes
¾ t kosher salt
¾ cup coconut milk
¾ # green beans in 1” pieces
1 t lime juice
2 T chopped cilantro

1. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Cook almonds, stirring, until golden. Remove the almonds from the oil and set aside.
2. Add onion, garlic and spices to the saute pan and return to heat. Saute until the onion is tender and begins to fry, about 4 minutes
3. Add coconut milk and beans. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, covered, until the beans are tender, about 6 minutes
4. Sprinkle beans with lime juice and toss lightly. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and garnish with almonds and cilantro. Can be serve with rice or roti flatbread if desired.

Will You Pledge to the KBXE Capital Campaign?

Please be patient if you receive a phone call from KAXE this week--The KBXE capital campaign is under way! 

The goal of the campaign is to match a federal equipment grant for KBXE. If we can raise $150,000 locally, this will trigger an additional $450,000 in federal funds!

Last week, we sent letters to all of KAXE’s members requesting a donation to this important project. This week, Northern Community Radio’s staff and board of directors are following up the letters with phone calls. To date, members have pledged or sent checks totaling $16,369! There is $133,631 left to reach the match!

KBXE friends and community members previously pledged $50,000 to match a $150,000 grant from the George W. Neilson Foundation.

Matching the federal grant will complete our fundraising requests to individuals. We still hope to secure additional business donations and foundation grants for the project.

 

If you have any questions (or a hidden pile of dollars you’d like to invest in a great cause), please call us! 218/326-1234.

Thank you!

-Maggie Montgomery

P.S.: Board members Julie Crabb and Sandy Roggenkamp (Vice-president and President of Northern Community Radio respectively) are pictured making. Every nonprofit organization DREAMS of having board members who are willing to do this! (Thanks)

Public Broadcasting 101

Go to http://www.170millionamericans.org/

Recent controversy surrounding NPR has renewed calls in Congress to de-fund public broadcasting in America, particularly National Public Radio.

This is distressing for us at KAXE. Public radio is not the same as NPR. The public broadcasting system is more complicated than that.

Public broadcasting is a system. National Public Radio is a nonprofit organization that creates programming for the system. Some stations elect to buy programs from NPR, but NPR is not the public broadcasting system itself.

The public broadcasting system is made up of 900 local public radio stations and more than 300 local PBS TV stations. If Congress takes away the funding from the public broadcasting system, the money will come directly out of the budgets of local stations.

Here’s how federal funding works for KAXE:

KAXE receives about 20% of its annual revenue—or about $140,000—from federal funds. These funds come from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB. They are KAXE’s third largest source of funding, after membership and underwriting.

About 1/4 of the CPB money going to every public radio station is restricted. We have to use it to buy programming that is distributed nationally and serves a national audience.  KAXE has always used its restricted money to buy programs and satellite services from NPR. We buy All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Car Talk and World Cafe. Other public radio stations (most of the other CPB-funded AMPERS stations in Minnesota, for example) choose to buy programs from other producers like PRI or American Public Media or others.

After that, we are allowed to use the other 3/4 of the money to operate KAXE. Federal money helps us pay for all of our other expenses, like operating our 100,000-watt transmitter, buying equipment and producing local programs like the Morning Show, On the River, the Phenology Show, RealGoodWords, Currents and Between You and Me.

For big stations in large cities, CPB funding is a smaller share of the budget. For small, rural stations like KAXE and rural public TV, it is a much larger share.

In our smaller market, government funding makes a crucial difference in our ability to do a good job for our community. NPR would be inconvenienced by the loss of government funding (it makes up about 2% of their budget), but entire stations—especially small, minority and rural public radio and TV stations—would be severely hurt by this same loss.

We hope you keep this in mind as you consider contacting your legislators, or as you hold discussions with your friends and family in and around our community about public broadcasting’s future.

.--Maggie Montgomery, General Manager, Northern Community Radio

Pete Seeger's Log

The first real interview I ever did for KAXE was with Pete Seeger. My husband Dennis and I had gotten press passes to attend the 1984 Winnipeg Folk Festival as brand new KAXE volunteers. We hauled in a huge (by today’s standards) old Marantz cassette recorder, signed up to interview several different performers, and tried to enjoy the festival as we nervously began to prepare for a series of interviews that were to begin the next day.

But that night, at the main stage concert, someone came to get us. “Pete Seeger would like you to do the interview now,” she said. We were stunned. We weren’t ready. And Pete Seeger to boot—by far the most famous person on our list of interviewees!

We needn’t have worried. At that time Pete already had been performing for 45 years. He had been one of the original founders of the Almanac Singers and the Weavers. He had written “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “If I Had a Hammer” and “Turn, Turn, Turn.” He had met and worked with Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Josh White. He had been subpoenaed to come before the House Un-American Activities Committee where he had refused to testify. He had been blackballed, had played at FDR’s White House, and had been one of the key people responsible for the folk song revival in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Throughout his entire life, Pete Seeger consistently stood for civil and labor rights, racial equality, international understanding, and anti-militarism.

Pete Seeger had participated in thousands of interviews over the course of his career as a musician and social activist. As much as Dennis and I were nervous, he definitely was not.

One thing Pete said during that interview will always stick with me. He said, “We’re all trying to roll a big log up a hill. No matter what the cause—peace, justice, environmentalism—and no matter where you grab on, we’re all pushing that same log.”

I’ve never forgotten about that log. It’s big alright, and the bark has picked up a lot of dirt. And the rolling of that log up Pete’s hill just doesn’t happen without a lot of sweat and effort. It’s slow; incremental. It takes lots of hands and lots of guts and lots of heart.

People are pushing that log right now. They are clamoring for freedom in the Middle East, fighting to keep their collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere, and working in every way imaginable to alleviate people’s suffering and make a better world, or sometimes just to take care of their families.

It is my job to ask for your help with KAXE’s interest in that log, which is to keep public broadcasting alive and well in the United States and in Minnesota. If the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is zeroed out in the federal budgeting process, those cuts will fall hardest on rural stations like KAXE, which receive a bigger portion of their budget from government sources. People say that once the CPB is gone, there is little chance that it will ever come back. Likewise, we have to tell our story to State lawmakers who are considering additional cuts. This will require some activism, but nothing as hard as putting your body on the line as some in the world are doing—what KAXE needs are letters and phone calls of support to our elected officials. More than once. Maybe all the way until the end of September.

It looks like the US House and Senate might be unable to reach agreement on the budget, so they may keep the government functioning piecemeal, week by week or month by month for the rest of the year. Every time a “continuing resolution” comes to a vote, new cuts may accompany it. The budget question over the CPB might drag on for weeks and months or even through the entire rest of the federal fiscal year. In Minnesota, we’re gearing up for AMPERS’ Public Radio Day on the Hill on April 27^th. All in all, it’ll be a long haul. Our effort has to be sustained, like pushing that log.

Pete Seeger will be 92 years old on May 3rd of this year. His interview is on an old cassette tape "archived" somewhere in a big plastic bin in the closet under our stairs. It's good to think about that interview and to remember Pete's log and his advice--that where good causes are concerned we're all in this together. We just have to grab on wherever we can and do our part!

Maggie Montgomery, General Manager
Northern Community Radio

Minnesotans Organize Rally for Public Broadcasting

Last Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution eliminating all Federal funding for local public television and radio stations by a vote of 235-189.  On February 28th, the continuing resolution will be taken up by the Senate.  This funding is critical for public broadcasters.

There is a community rally for public broadcasting this Thursday (Feb. 24th) starting at 11am at the Cray Plaza in St. Paul including special guest Congresswoman McCollum. 

"We urge the Senate to reject this House action, and we hope the final decision on this matter will recognize the enduring value of public broadcasting as America’s largest classroom, its greatest stage, and its most trusted and comprehensive source of information for the citizens of the world’s greatest democracy" - Public Media Association president Patrick Butler

Get more information on this issue at 170millionamericans.org.

Fivesome: Young Golfers Learning the Game at Pokegama

This feature gets up close and personal with 5 young golfers. Produced by John Bauer of Northern Community Radio for Culturology on 91.7 KAXE.

Fivesome: Young Golfers Learning the Game at Pokegama
"This golf documentary is basically a way for me to live my life through these 5 young golfers. They truly love the game of golf as I did when I was their age. Their summer vacation is spent golfing, eating french fries and competing for candy bars. Golf is a privilege and I hope these guys grow to learn that. Getting to know them better assures me that they will." - John Bauer, Producer.

"Fivesome" was made possible with support from the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

We the People [the Video]

From loving to brag about cold weather to believing in the power of local, community radio, we the people of Northern Community Radio need you.

From $5 a month to $1 a day, pledge your support at whatever level you can afford and keep independent radio strong in Northern MN. What do you believe?

Pledge online at http://www.kaxe.org
Or call 800-662-5799 / 218-326-1234

Listener support is our single largest source of funding and it's people just like you that make it all possible. Thank you!

Who Are They Kidding???

There is much hand-wringing among public broadcasters these days. Public TV and radio have been hanging their hats on the 170 Million Americans website, hoping that loyal listeners and viewers will help tell our story to legislators. We’re all very busy talking positively about what our organizations do in the community and talking about the big, at-least-trying-not-to-be-biased journalistic hole NPR is filling.

But here are some of the things we’re hearing back: "If 170 million Americans rely on your service, why do you need money from the Federal government?"  "Perhaps you haven't been quite as efficient and effective in your own fundraising efforts as you could be." "This business model you’ve been using--asking for voluntary contributions--maybe it just doesn't work and it's time to find a new business model. Maybe you should just sell commercials.”  And even: “If it isn’t working, turn the public radio spectrum over to commercial broadcasters who definitely can make money there. Public broadcasters should just go online.”

In short, legislators are having none of it and we’re still squarely on the chopping block.

But…Who are these people kidding???

Public broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts, and other quality of life programs that are being targeted have absolutely no bearing on the national debt. In our country they are funded at embarrassingly low levels when compared to other developed countries. And if these programs are terminated they won’t be rebuilt any time soon.

But a year’s funding for public broadcasting doesn’t amount to even one day’s expenditure for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the grand scheme of things, we public broadcasters are peanuts.

The real work of Congress is to take on the hard issues—like tax reform, defense spending for programs the military doesn’t even want, stabilizing and reviewing Medicare and Medicaid, and making sure Social Security remains funded. Unfortunately, these are the things few politicians have the guts to do. They’d rather set another, less arduous agenda.

The legislators who want to defund public broadcasting are shirking that responsibility, hiding behind a smoke screen, trying to fool the public into thinking they are doing something real.

Well, they aren’t. They just want to show that they’re cutting something—anything—without having to take the time and risk of delving into the substantive, hard issues.

It’s time for all of us—public broadcasters, artists, humanitarians and the general public—to hold our legislators accountable. Stop this nonsense and get to work on the things that matter.

Maggie Montgomery, General Manager
Northern Community Radio

Vikings vs Bears at TCF Stadium: An Audio Portrait

Hop in the car with David McDonald and experience the first outdoor MN Vikings home-game in 29 years during the December cold. Volunteering his time and productions skills, David used the full credential power of Northern Community Radio to not only attend the game as part of "the press", but also landed an exclusive interview with Jared Allen. Hear that, and many more surprises, in this documentary produced for Culturology on 91.7 KAXE.

Vikings vs Bears at TCF Stadium: An Audio Portrait
When producer David McDonald began planning a documentary about the experience of a northern Minnesota Vikings fan going to the Vikings-Bears game scheduled for December 21st, we assumed it would be in the Metrodome.  As most of you know, it turned out to be the first Vikings game in 29 years to be played outdoors in the winter conditions of late December.  David re-tooled his wardrobe and shifted his focus a little and off he went. Hear the sounds of the game and the voices of fans, players, and people who work the game in this special documentary.

The Talent, Confidence, and Humility of Ben Kyle

This week on Centerstage MN, KAXE volunteer and independent producer Charlie Pulkrabek talks with Ben Kyle of Romantica:

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Ben Kyle of Romantica by Charlie Pulkrabek

Ben Kyle has a lot going on these days. His band Romantica is set to release their highly anticipated third full-length record. And an album of duets with Carrie Rodriguez called We Still Love Our Country just hit the shelves in the states this month.

Why all the fuss over the new record? Well, all Romantica’s 2007 release titled America did was land at fifty-eight in Paste Magazine’s Top 100 Records of 2007. For a band that, at that point, had gained limited national and international exposure, it is a mammoth accomplishment. Hoopla aside, that just doesn’t happen unless the music is more than exceptional.

Who gives a record a gigantic name like America anyway? Someone with the talent, confidence, and humility possessed by Minneapolis musician Ben Kyle, that’s who. Ben Kyle has a giant stance, one that crosses the Atlantic Ocean. He grew up in Belfast, Ireland, and has lived in Minneapolis since his high school days. And such a unique and broad perspective bears out in the music of Romantica and Ben Kyle.

Ben Kyle is a true poet who really knows how to style his poetry to fit into the musical realm. His precise blending of the highly personal with the universal seems to allow him to embody any perspective that he wants to in an immediately convincing fashion.

The expectations for Romantica’s upcoming release, scheduled for April, are sky high. Ben Kyle’s personal expectations seem to be even higher. How do you follow up a great record like America? For Ben Kyle, the answer seems to be simply one step at a time.


Photos by:
Tony Nelson
Aaron Schuh
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We'll also hear from The Jayhawks, who were an early influence on Ben Kyle. And Germaine Gemberling, a new voice out of the Iron Range music scene.

Centerstage MN is Thursday evenings at 6, streaming live online at www.KAXE.org; or 91.7 Grand Rapids, 89.9 Brainerd and 105.3 Bemidji and can be heard again Sunday mornings at 6. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org. Centerstage MN is also heard on KSRQ in Thief River Falls Saturday nights at 11 & Wednesdays at Noon, and on WTIP in Grand Marais Thursday afternoons at 4. Often featured on MNartists.org. 

The Pet of the Week

Hi! My name is Bogey. I am a wonderful older lab. I'm gentle and even know a few commands such as sit, stay, drop, etc. I loved playing out in the snow and having my belly rubbed. Please come to the shelter to meet me. I am already neutered. My adoption fee includes up to date vaccinations, bordetella and deworming. If you are interested in adopting me, please submit an application via e-mail from our website www.starnorth.org (under forms). If you would like to visit me at the shelter please e-mail adoptions@starnorth.org or call 218-245-3732 to make an appointment. Our adoption hours are Mon/Thur 5-7pm and Wed/Sat/Sun 12-3pm.

What's New on KAXE

Robbie Robertson "How to Become Clairvoyant"
Devotchka "100 Lovers"
The Cowboy Junkies "Demsong Volume 2"
Andrew Anderson "As Long as This Thing's Flyin'"
Pete Sinjin "Better Angles Radio"
Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion "Bright Examples"
Jugalbandi "From Is to Was"
John-Alex Mason "Jook Joint Thunderclap"
Bobby Long "A Winter Tale"
Read more on the Currents Playlist...

The Depth and Mystery of Alica Corbett

This week on Centerstage MN we'll hear an intimate conversation that KAXE volunteer producer Charlie Pulkrabek had with Alicia Corbett at her home in Minneapolis.

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Alicia Corbett by Charlie Pulkrabek
When I first saw Alicia Corbett play, it was about 1993, soon after she’d arrived in Minnesota from northern Michigan. She was the lead performer, along with Jay Basso, in Tea and Sympathy, a band that she still fronts today. The show was at The 24 Bar - 24 Hennepin Avenue - in the bowels of the now razed Berman Buckskin Building on the south end of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge next to the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. It was one of the first of what would be many, many live music events I eventually attended. I quickly began to pay attention to this band.

Through much seasoning of my sonic sensibilities, the impact of Tea and Sympathy’s songwriting and live performances have never paled. Alicia Corbett writes songs that paint partial pictures into mosaic-like stories with the depth of both detail and mystery. In listening to Tea and Sympathy, one is first taken by Alicia Corbett’s exceptional voice. Her range is stunning, from a sweetness that makes the spine tingle, to depth and power that might have made another singer by the name of Janis Joplin a little envious had she been able to bear witness.

It is my pleasure to present this interview with Alicia Corbett to KAXE listeners. It is a pleasure to introduce the music lovers amongst our listeners to a musician who would be in the top five of my list of the most underappreciated musicians in Minnesota. In terms of talent, depth, and professional presentation, there is no reason that Alicia Corbett shouldn’t be on the roster of a great music label like Red House Records. Tune in Thursday at 6 pm to Centerstage Minnesota to discover whether you find Alicia Corbett’s music as striking as I do.

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We'll also hear from Duluth's Two Many Banjos, Ian Thomas Alexy (of the Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank) and Romantica.

Centerstage MN is Thursday evenings at 6, streaming live online at www.KAXE.org; or 91.7 Grand Rapids, 89.9 Brainerd and 105.3 Bemidji and can be heard again Sunday mornings at 6. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org. Centerstage MN is also heard on KSRQ in Thief River Falls Saturday nights at 11 & Wednesdays at Noon, and on WTIP in Grand Marais Thursday afternoons at 4. Often featured on MNartists.org.  

BSU: Liberal Arts Without Art?

Last month President Richard Hanson at Bemidji State University released a plan to overcome a $5 million budget shortfall. That plan included cuts to Art, Theater, Music and other programs.

On Monday, protesters gathered at the BSU campus to show their disapproval of the cuts.

BSU: Liberal Arts Without Art?
Charlie Parson is a retired Professor who taught at BSU for 28 years. Charlie was at the protest rally, and talked with us on the 91.7 KAXE Morning Show about the recent decision by Bemidji State University to drop theater and visual arts.

Raw or Pasteurized

A bill in the MN Legislature (HF255) would expand opportunities for farmers to sell their milk directly to consumers. The new proposal created a big on-line discussion of the health and economics of raw vs. pasteurized milk.

The current law allows consumers to buy milk products at the farm. The new bill would allow farmers to sell at farmer markets,  through consumer buying groups, home delivery, and farm stands.  Most dairy producers and Department of Health and Agriculture officials worry the expansion of direct sales could lead to more illness from raw milk products.  Raw milk advocates tout the health benefits of raw milk and the economic opportunities for small dairy farmers.

Raw vs Pasteurized
On 91.7 KAXE's Local Food Report Maggie Montgomery talked to Mark Kastel, co-director and senior policy analyst at the Cornucopia Institute, a small farm advocacy organization based in southwest Wisconsin. The Cornucopia Institute supports small farmers who sell pasteurized and raw milk, and does not advocate for one over the other.

The Pet of the Week

Hi! My name is Maude. I'm a beautiful adult, dilute-calico. I would be the best cat to decorate your couch or chair. My mellow personality will win you over from the start! I was part of a big rescue and am very happy to be here. However, I would like to find a place to call home. My adoption fee includes my spaying, de-worming and up-to-date feline distemper, rabies, and my intranasal vaccine. If you would like to adopt me, please submit an application at www.starnorth.org (under forms) . You can visit me at the shelter during adoption hours Mon/Thurs 5-7pm & Wed/Sat/Suns 12-3pm)

Now Hear This! Recent Audio Highlights from KAXE

Here are some recent highlights from 91.7 KAXE. From local authors, to local derby girls, to local cows, to local media, there is something for everyone. You can click on the link to listen, or 'right click' and 'save as' to save the file to your computer to then transfer to your mp3 player. Enjoy!

Minneapolis Hip-Hop Artist Toki Wright
Toki Wright is a hip-hop artist out of Minneapolis. Raised in a Buddhist household, and immersing himself in Black history, world culture, and community work, Toki's awareness of the diverse world we live in is translated through his content driven music. Toki is not only a well established emcee but one of the hardest working community activists in the Twin Cities area. With numerous accolades and a tour history that has taken him from New York to Uganda, he is a powerful voice prepared to educate and challenge as well as entertain. Read More...  Check out more interview on the Centertage MN page.

The Women of Roller Derby
Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby has exploded across northern MN, with the Babe City Rollers in Bemidji, and the Iron Range Maidens. Derby is a very physical sport, known for hard hits and short skirts. Producer Doug MacRostie wondered, ‘who are these derby girls, and what draws them to this sport?’, and it isn’t who he expected. Doug set out to find a dominatrix derby girl, and instead discovered The Women of Roller Derby. Get more stories on the Culturology page.

Molly Hootch Hymes and "I Remember When"
Molly Hootch Hymes about her memoir, "Molly Hootch: I Remember When - Growing Up on the Kwiguk Pass of the Lower Yukon River". Molly is a Yupik Eskimo who grew up in the village of Emmonak, Alaska. She's lived in Bemidji for the last 30 years and has finally put on paper the stories of her childhood. Molly especially respected her father and as she puts it, "how he could make ANYTHING out of nothing". The family lived a subsistence lifestyle. Molly Hootch's name became well known later in her teens. The "Molly Hootch Case" was a peition to bring hometown high schools to rural students in Alaska instead of being shipped off to boarding school. Read More... Check out more interview on the Realgoodwords page.

Raising Cows in northern Minnesota
Maggie talks to Allen Bridges, Professor of Animal Science with the University of MN North Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids.  Check out more features on the Local Food page.

 

Trumpter Swans in MN with Pam Perry
Pam Perry, a Non-Game Wildlife Bioligist with the DNR, talks with us about the recent success story of Trumpeter Swans. There have been over 5000 counted this winter in MN. Get more nature news, pix and vids on the Phenology Page. 

Aaron Brown on Community Media
Human character might be defined by the actions and thoughts of an individual, but human progress is most often accomplished when individuals interact. Get more contributions and stories at the Between You and Me page.

Guido on KBXE
Understatement of the day: this is exciting. It’s exciting for our new coverage area; it’s exciting for our entire coverage area. Northern Community Radio, good as it is and has been, is about to enhance its sound, its member and volunteer and underwriting bases, its product, its service to mission, its human and natural resources. Everything. Get more contributions and stories at the Between You and Me page.

The Last Word on Community Media

People who show up make decisions, friends, playgrounds, art, history... Get more contributions and stories at the Between You and Me page.

How To Understate Excitement

Here is Steve Downing's thoughts on 90.5 KBXE, the new radio station we’re building to secure and enhance the service of KAXE and Northern Community Radio in Bagley, Bemidji, Puposki, Erskine, Clearbrook, Buzzle Lake and beyond.

You can listen here:
Guido on KBXE

I’ve been involved for just over a year now with the 90.5 KBXE project. I have to admit: the learning curve from the start was steep, and not strictly because I didn’t know Thing One about building a new radio station, although that certainly complicated the issue. My real problem was that I knew virtually nothing about Bemidji, or Bagley, or any of the many other communities KBXE will be serving. Growing up, roadtrips for my family always meant Duluth, which had been my parents’ orientation when they were kids, or the Twin Cities, where they’d both gone to college. I’d just never spent any time in Bemidji. I was deprived. I was. I say that without a whiff of facetiousness.

I’m a huge new fan of Bemidji. It took about five minutes. And everyone who knows me well, the folks I see day after day, have all heard me raving about Bemidji and Bagley and Shevlin and Debs and Clearbrook and so on. As I make connections over there now, with people, with businesses, organizations, causes, I’m reminded at every point what a terrific community, community of communities, we are dealing with here, and this is a very, very good feeling.

One of my first KBXE projects was Bemidji’s 2009 Night We Light Parade, and I was honestly surprised at the reception we got as we walked along the parade route beside our float. The friendliness, the vibe, was practically palpable, something in the air, and I don’t think it had anything to do with the candy we were handing out. This was the case, too, a few miles farther west, as we planned our involvement in the 2010 Clearwater County Fair in Bagley. The people at City Hall, the courthouse, the fair board: everyone, everyone, was nothing but welcoming and helpful and fun to work with. I talked at length about this on my January Arts Round-up.

Saturday afternoon, August 7th, at the Clearwater County Fair, The Brothers Burn Mountain performed at the KBXE booth, and that’s one of my signature memories of the whole year. It was late afternoon. There was a lull over at the racetrack. Fairgoers were between things, milling around on the concourse, and when The Brothers Burn Mountain finished their set and moved into an improv percussion jam, the KBXE booth was in every way center stage. We had everyone’s attention, and no one was having a bad time. I still grin involuntarily every time I conjure up that scene, that physical ground-thumping sound.

That is a perfect indicator-predictor of what KBXE and our circle, our circles and circles, of friends, old and new friends, will be doing in the neighborhood, from Red Lake to Naytawaush, Cass Lake to Fosston---Bemidji, Bagley and beyond: bringing people together, in grass-roots common-ground settings, often to listen to music but sometimes for other community-building reasons, too. As we say, KBXE will be a community gathering-place, in the air, on the ground, on the web. Northern Community Radio has been doing this for almost 35 years: connecting people to each other, to the northland, to the universe. This is what we do.

KBXE will be an all-purpose partner, so in addition to improving what we call quality-of-life we’ll also be impacting commerce, impacting local economies. Here’s a for-instance: last July, at the 6th Annual 91.7 KAXE Mississippi River Music Festival, somewhere between three and four hundred people showed up, many of them from out-of-town, and we know that altogether those folks dropped well over $12,000 into local cash registers (festival ticket-revenue not included). This was for gas, lodging, shopping, dinner and drinks, you get the picture. One time, one day. There are obvious multiplier effects, of course, depending on what other events get onto the calendar. KBXE will be doing this sort of business.

So, understatement of the day: this is exciting. It’s exciting for our new coverage area; it’s exciting for our entire coverage area. Northern Community Radio, good as it is and has been, is about to enhance its sound, its member and volunteer and underwriting bases, its product, its service to mission, its human and natural resources. Everything. We’ll need lots of help, your help, to make this happen. Your time. Your talents. Your treasure. Come see us at the Blue Ox in Bemidji, Saturday, February 5th, 6 pm. Come for the fun. There’ll be plenty of that, guaranteed. But come and make a pledge, too. You can spread it out over three or more years, while you and we all spread the love about 90.5 KBXE.

By Steve Downing, aka Guido
Northern Community Radio

How KAXE and KBXE Will Coexist

Thank you for your interest in 90.5 KBXE! We hope this will answer some of your questions about KBXE.

KBXE is a new, noncommercial community radio station that will serve people in Bagley, Bemidji and surrounding areas.

Northern Community Radio will own and operate KBXE, using the same structure that it uses to operate 91.7 KAXE in Grand Rapids (105.3 in Bemidji). This shared structure will help KBXE operate frugally. When you make a membership pledge to Northern Community Radio, you will automatically be a member of both KAXE and KBXE.

KBXE and KAXE will broadcast together. Each studio will create outstanding programming and each station will broadcast a regional signal. KAXE and KBXE will serve most of northeastern and north central Minnesota. Sometimes the programming will originate at KBXE and sometimes at KAXE, but everyone who listens to either station will hear all of it! We are looking forward to a great influx of volunteer energy from KBXE that will be heard from Fosston in the west to the hill overlooking Duluth in the east!

KBXE will operate from studios at 305 America Ave. NW in Bemidji, in space leased from Harmony Food Co-op, adjacent to their new grocery. KBXE’s tower will be located between Bemidji and Bagley, to cover both communities with a strong signal.

The best way you can help build KBXE is to give generously to the building fund. Your capital pledge can be paid over a 3 to 5-year period. KBXE has to be ON THE AIR by MARCH 2012, or we will lose the license. Time is of the essence!

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about this project.  We always want to hear your questions and comments. 800/662-5799 or comments@kbxe.org.

Sincerely, Maggie Montgomery, General Manager, Northern Community Radio

The Women of Roller Derby

The Women of Roller Derby is an intimate view into the life of derby girls. Produced by Doug MacRostie of Northern Community Radio for Culturology on 91.7 KAXE.
 

The Women of Roller Derby
Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby has exploded across northern MN, with the Babe City Rollers in Bemidji, and the Iron Range Maidens. Derby is a very physical sport, known for hard hits and short skirts. Producer Doug MacRostie wondered, ‘who are these derby girls, and what draws them to this sport?’, and it isn’t who he expected. Doug set out to find a dominatrix derby girl, and instead discovered The Women of Roller Derby.

I Hulk said, "That was awesome and dare I say I got a bit teary. Which says a lot since I hate crying and being emotional!". Sarah Whalin' said, "I. M. Hulk, Olive Mayhem, Piece MakeHer, Vroom Vroom and the others give such an accurate portrayal of what it means to be a derby girl, it will give you goosebumps! Totally amazing. Go Maidens!!" and Butterscotch Bitch told us, "I was just sitting in my car the last 20 minutes listening. I wish I had my skates with to wear at work...".

Preflash Gordon, online manager of the North Star Roller Girls, said, "KAXE in Northern Minnesota does a documentary on derby women ... and by golly, it's like listening to This American Life! Absolutely fantastic! Give it a listen, or download the MP3 and podcast it later. Brilliant stuff. Congrats to Douglas MacRostie and everyone who made this wonderful show."

Read more about The Women of Roller Derby:
"Roller Derby Rockin' Northern MN" on 91.7 KAXE Notes
"Talk Derby to Me" on Doug MacRostie's Macedelic Studios

Photo donated by Jimmy Digital of the Sioux City Roller Dames.

WoRD was made possible with support from the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.