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WBCR-news: February 2007

Fund Drive:  Sustainable Radio for a Sustainable World

We are pleased to announce the bi-annual On-air Fundrive to be held Monday March 5 thru Sunday March 11.  Our theme for the drive is ‘Sustainable Radio for a Sustainable World’. The station is proud to be part of a community where sustainability begins locally with Community Supported Agriculture, Berkshire Grown, Berkshire Coop, E.F. Schumacher Society, Berkshares and many others to provide local resources that are healthy for us and the planet and invites these initiatives and organizations to join us on-air during the Fundrive to talk about applications of sustainability.
As the only local media outlet directly controlled by its members and volunteers WBCR believes passionately that a locally grown, healthy media is also good for us all. Mega corporate control and centralization has reduced access for local communities in addressing the huge issues of global and local sustainability in the modern world.
Supporting locally controlled radio is a small step in restoring access.
The On-Air drive will run daily from 8AM to Midnight. Community listeners are invited and encouraged to volunteer help for a shift or two, or stop by the station under the Pink Cloud, 195 Main St. 

Our On-Air Fund Drives are our most important fundraising effort.  We need and appreciate your support in maintaining community access to the airwaves. 

→ Posted on Sat. February 24th, 2007 by biotic.

Program Note:  Locally Grown

Eddie O’Toole is a local man who is very involved in helping the Honduran town of Guaimaca.  For almost 30 years he as been working to raise the quality of life and self-reliance of the town’s residents.  One of the key aspects of his work is salvaging materials here in the Berkshires and getting them shipped to Honduras so that our material waste can have a second life. 

One of the brilliant concepts that Eddie has developed is using Chiquita Banana containers to ship materials south.  After they are emptied of the company’s cargo, normally they would return empty.  Now, Eddie and friends fill them before they leave for Honduras. 

Currently, they are preparing for another container load that should leave in early March: 

“I am deconstructing another building in West Stockbidge MA and should be ready to ship by early March. I am looking for computers for schools in Guaimaca, riding lawn mowers for wheel chair bound people (electric wheel chairs and scooters are too complicated for Guaimaca, and don’t provide the possibility of generating a way to make money for fuel), sports equipment and soccer uniforms, tools and equipment.”

You can contact Eddie if you have donations for this shipment or want to help load the container by calling 413.637.2169 or cell 413.358.1891.

Eddie gave a talk at the South Berkshire Unitarian Speaker series on Wednesday, February 21 and you can hear the talk in it’s entirety on Locally Grown, Friday, February 23 at 5:30 pm and again Saturday, February 24 at noon right here on your community station, WBCR-LP, 97.7 FM.  Find out more about this fascinating project and hear some of the unforgettable stories that Eddie has to tell about his nearly 30 years of involvement with the country of Honduras.

→ Posted on Thu. February 22nd, 2007 by biotic.

Special Edition of Across the Borderline

Singer Nicole Peyrafitte and poet Pierre Joris will be appearing live in the WBCR studio this Sunday, February 11th at 2:00 pm, accompanied by guitarist Mitch Elrod, performing pieces from their latest CDs: Bi-Continental Chowder (Peyrafitte) and Routes, Not Routes (Joris).  This will be a preview of their upcoming multimedia performance at the Linda Norris Auditorium in Albany on Friday, February 16.

Pierre Joris is co-editor with Jerome Rothenberg of the classic anthology on modern and postmodern poetry, Poems for the Millennium, Volumes 1 and 2, published by University of California Press.  He has translated numerous works by ground-breaking 20th century authors, including four books by Paul Celan.  His translation of Celan’s Lightduress won him the 2005 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

Joris has published over 20 books and chapbooks of his poetry, including Breccia, Selected Poems 1974-1986, and Poasis: Selected Poems 1986-1999 (Wesleyan University Press).

Nicole Peyrafitte is a performance artist, singer, and painter.  Born in the Pyrenees, bilingual in French and English, Peyrafitte draws on her eclectic heritage to perform songs ranging from French cabaret to jazz standards and contemporary poetry.  She has performed with Joris in New York City, Luxembourg, and Toulouse, France.  Most recently they toured Europe and the U.S. with their multimedia show SumericaBachbones.

→ Posted on Thu. February 8th, 2007 by biotic.