Spring Cleaning

By Jennifer Poenix

“If you do your Spring cleaning in January; guess what you don't have to do in the spring? Anything.” – Michael Scott on the tv show The Office

We took the Christmas tree down at KAXE on Tuesday. It’s always nice to have a tree up, but it always feels really good to take it down too. There’s still an extension cord hanging down from the skylight, but let’s not dwell on that.

Stephanie and I marked all the tubs containing decorations, so next year, we’ll know exactly what’s in them. One of them says “Extra garland. Do not bring upstairs!!” We keep most of the Christmas stuff in our crawlspace. The nine-foot tree, however, doesn’t go down there very well. It’s in a big, long box.

Our storage room was waaaaaaaaaaay too cluttered to put it in there, so that meant we had to do a bit of tidying. (See photo at left.)

We didn't get the room super clean, but we did make some improvement. (See photo at right.)

Most importantly we put away the tree. We taped up the box, so we could stand it on end. “Hold tight, little tape,” Stephanie said.

Underwriting on KAXE is Easy and Fun!

By Stephanie Rose

They [the ubiquitous they, you know?] are saying that times are tough out there. When things are tight, keep in mind that KAXE is prit-near the greatest value around!

As you know, underwriting on 91.7 KAXE identifies your business, services, and products as supporting independent community radio. Your underwriting announcements can reach so much further than commercial advertising. KAXE’s listeners tune into the station because they want to hear the top-quality music and diverse programming. And they want to hear what you have to offer! And they really, really want to support the folks who support KAXE!

Underwriting puts your business in the spotlight with strong, well-defined market segment of community radio listeners.

Underwriting increases positive awareness of your business within Grand Rapids, Bemidji, Brainerd, and their surrounding areas. KAXE’s signal covers about a 100-mile radius!

And we have options, folks! You can position your announcements during programs that appeal to the market segment that you are trying to reach. You can identify your business with a particular style of music or personality found only on 91.7 KAXE. And we can rotate several different messages so that folks can discover everything your business has to offer. And we’re here to help you figure out the best way to spread the word.

KAXE’s typical listeners are college graduates ages 35 and older. Community and public radio listeners are 88 percent more likely to buy products and services from companies that support community and public radio. A recent underwriting study by NPR and Jacobs Media showed that 95 percent of listener respondents had taken action as a result of hearing sponsor credits. Eighty percent have a higher opinion of companies that support public radio, and 75 percent would prefer doing business with such sponsors! These are great big, solid numbers to have on your side – especially when people are thinking about a little bit of belt-tightening.

If you, or your sister-in-law, or your next-door neighbors are trying to spread the word about what your business has to offer, call us! KAXE wants to help.

Sustaining Phenology

By Stephanie Rose

Phenology n. The scientific study of periodic biological phenomena, such as flowering, breeding, and migration, in relation to climatic conditions.

On Tuesday night, folks at KAXE kicked off a year-long celebration of the Phenology [that’s the study of biological and rhythmic events of nature as they relate to climate] Show’s 25th Anniversary. Lots of very nice people came to enjoy snacks, an enormous cake, and a live Phenology Plus show at 6:00, hosted by John Latimer and lots of his friends. “Time flies,” said Latimer. “It feels like I’ve only been doing this for 18 or 19 years!”

Some highlights of the evening for me included hugs from young Zane Poenix, watching volunteer DJ the DJ distribute name tags to our guests [the catch: most people didn’t use their actual names], Connie Vincent’s delicious [hot, hot, hot!] pistachio-habanero wraps

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, and, of course, visiting with lots of Phenology fans the whole time. Phenology has touched lots and lots of lives over its 25 years.

To help sustain and advance the Phenology program in honor of its 25th anniversary, we’re trying to raise $25,000. The funds we raise will go toward KAXE’s purple martin house and rain garden, supplies for Phenology’s 12 classrooms, and help with more outreach programs. If KAXE’s Phenology has touched your life, we hope you’ll consider contributing to the Phenology Fund. $25, $250, $1,000 or any amount that you choose would be lots of help, and really appreciated by many, many people. There are pledge forms here, or you can call to find out more.

We’ll help keep Phenology near the front of your mind by having more celebrations all through this year. And don’t miss The Phenology Show Tuesday mornings starting at 6:50 and Phenology Plus Tuesday evenings at 6:00.

Pancakes in a can?!

By Stephanie Rose



We recently started sort of a tradition, now that we have a kitchen at KAXE: Pancakes and sausage [usually pronounced chottch-idge] and vegetarian alternatives on Friday mornings around 9:30. Everyone's welcome to join us, of course!



When we started the tradition, John Bauer always made the pancakes. Jennifer Poenix and I were allowed to pour the juice, make the coffee, and occasionally, if we were very careful, get the local eggs out of the fridge. Gradually, though, after lots of careful observation, Jennifer's been granted more pancake authority. She can even make the pancakes without John's supervision now! I, on the other hand, haven't quite attained her level of pancake authority. But I'm fine. I'm great at getting the eggs out of the fridge.



Still, imagine my delight when I discovered, at the supermarket, Batter Blast: All-organic pancake mix -- already mixed, that is -- in an aerosal can [similar to a Redi-Wipp can]! I bought two cans of mix, plus chottchidge and vegetarian alternatives, and I waited for Friday morning with my fingers steepled.



So. This morning. Pancake time. No one was going to put Stephanie in the corner. I plugged in the griddle and started cooking chottchidge. I got the can of batter our of the fridge. No eggs. No mess. No mixing bowls. I even -- rather magnanimously, I thought -- allowed Jennifer to squirt the first batch of pancakes! When she flipped them, they were beautiful. Perfectly golden-brown.



So. Five minutes later. Pancakes were a gloppy mess. The coffee pot had stopped mid-brew. The griddle wasn't even hot. The Rev Dave was wringing his hands from lack of coffee. Train wreck in progress! Luckily, I realized that the breaker had tripped. So I reset it, and we were back in business. I squirted the next batch of pancakes. Five minutes later. Another gloppy mess. John Bauer moaned, "I'm sorry, but these pancakes are terrible!" He was done. Shut down. Not even extra chottchidge could change his mind.



I reset the circuit breaker again, and Jennifer moved the griddle to a new outlet, but it was too late. The magic was gone, and there wasn't any more batter-in-a-can. Half of KAXE's staff went pancake-less. It wasn't easy. Scott Hall tried to comfort me, but I've learned my lesson. Pancakes don't come in a can. And I'm content with my jobbies: Get the eggs out of the fridge and pour the juice.