ALUMNA: (left) 2007-2009 KNOM volunteer Laura Davis filled co-host duties during a live call-in program recently.

While she now works full time for Nome’s community college, it’s clear she’s lost none of her radio skills!

HONORING MOM:  Would you like to honor your mother by means of a gift to KNOM?  If you send us her name and address, we will send her an acknowledgement card signed by everyone on the KNOM staff. 

If the contribution is in memory, we will prayerfully send the card to you, or to a person of your choosing.

On Mothers’ Day, we will be praying for all of the mothers in the extended KNOM family.

If you would like us to send a card, please let us know with a short note.

COOL NEWS:  While the easiest of Nome winters can be challenging to someone not accustomed to their brutality, the winter that’s about to end was relatively mild.  Its coldest temperature was –35°.

Many winters, the mercury dips much lower than that, and it has been known to drop to as low as –54°.  Snow will probably remain on the ground into June, and it won’t be until June’s third week that we’ll see any green on the tundra.

BREAKING THE ICE:  It’s in late May and early June that western Alaska’s creeks and rivers “break up,” Alaskan jargon for thawing.

Typically, the breakup begins at headwaters and works its way downstream.

Most years, melt water will push immense volumes of broken ice forward, and the plates and chunks will form dams—or “jams,” more Alaskan slang—behind which water will back up, causing flooding.  Along some streams, and along major rivers like the Yukon, the flooding can be extremely severe in many villages.

That’s why for hundreds of miles, you’ll find all ears tuned in to KNOM’s daily detailed reports of breakup conditions, with flood watches and flood warnings.

(Left) A 1989 ice jam on the Lower Yukon River floods the village of Russian Mission, in the heart of KNOM listening country. (Photo by Larry Lundquist, Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center)

Thank you for making this vital, lifesaving service possible.

Please consider adding KNOM Radio to your will.  More than once, such sacred gifts have kept our mission alive during times of crisis.  Also more than once, they have allowed us to make needed improvements that would otherwise not have been possible.  Thank you!

KEY MAN: (left) KNOM outreach director David Dodman was pianist for a Nome musical event raising money to help hospital patients in need.

There was plenty of KNOM involvement, as former KNOMer Laura Davis sang, and 2001-2002 KNOM volunteer Ryan Conarro was up from Juneau to emcee.

UP FOR THE COUNT:  By the end of this month, KNOM will have broadcast just over 14,000 inspirational spots during 2010, and an equal number of educational ones, thanks to you.

NEW EMT:  We know you’re proud of KNOM’s volunteers, and here’s another accomplishment.  Hat’s off to volunteer music director Leah Radde, who solidly passed the test, and in a fair chunk of her spare time, joins fellow KNOM volunteer Daniel Sylvester as Emergency Medical Technician I for the Nome Volunteer Ambulance Service.

UP IN ARMS:  Thank you if you wrote to inquire about John Francis’ arm, which he broke slipping on ice outside the studio this winter.  You’ll be relieved to hear that John’s fully recovered.

OUR FAIR LADIES:  It’s hard to imagine any of these young women having any free time whatsoever, but in addition to all they do, KNOM volunteers Linda Maack, Danielle Sylvester and Leah Radde are all cast members in an amateur production of “My Fair Lady,” performing May 14th through the 16th.

Q & A:  How large is KNOM’s coverage area?  

If KNOM were located in New York City, places where between 76% and 100% of adults are daily listeners would be as far south as northern Virginia, as far north as central Maine and as far west as Pittsburgh, fully covering ten states. 

From listener response, we know that we have at least some listeners who would be almost as far north as Newfoundland, as far south as Savannah, Georgia, and as far west as Chicago, in portions of seven other states and five Canadian provinces. 

We would also be listened to in ships 1,000 miles out to sea.

How far is Nome from the nearest highway? 

Nome is about 490 miles from the nearest point that connects with the North American road system.  For some of the villages we serve, it’s more than 750 miles. 

Of course, we have many listeners in Russia, who are considerably farther!

How many Masses has KNOM broadcast? 

About 2,100. 

Rosaries? 

About 13,000, thanks to you.

FORTY YEARS AGO:  In May 1970, the group of radio volunteers includes two nurses who work at Nome’s hospital and contribute their entire salaries to the fledgling Catholic radio project.

(Left) From left, Anne Legan, RN, and Jeannie Stoklosa, RN, help volunteer carpenter Leigh Birkeland with supper dishes.

The mood is a mixture of gloom and hope.  Alaska Native land claims have stalled the grant of a right-of-way to use the proposed transmitter site, which is federal land three miles east of Nome, and until it’s granted, the Federal Communications Commission is refusing to issue a construction permit for the new station. 

Most evening meals are reindeer meat, instant mashed potatoes and canned vegetables, with beef pot roasts a very occasional treat every few months.  

Lunches are canned tuna fish, canned chop suey and canned fruit, rounded out with lots of cornbread.   

A kind woman in Anchorage frequently mails out-of-date bread and cupcakes.  Beverages are water, powdered milk and half-strength Tang. 

Eggs come by the case every few months via parcel post from Anchorage, and as they age, they take on extra flavor.

(Upper left) The addition to the KNOM studio is almost closed in.  With every square inch of room needed in the cramped structure, the inside stairs have to go and Leigh Birkeland adds an external stairway to the building’s rear.

(Left)  A plaque on the 230-foot KNOM tower attests that Jeanne's and Annie's gifts were dedicated to its purchase and construction.

THIRTY YEARS AGO:  In May 1980, volunteer news director Sue Boyle contributes eleven stories to the Associated Press, becoming Alaska’s top correspondent for the month, a KNOM first.

TWENTY YEARS AGO:  In May 1990, the KNOM studio building’s water pipes freeze and burst underground.  Thankfully, the sewer line is okay.  The June repair is $5,000.  Meanwhile, fresh water is piped to the building using a garden hose laid on the ground.

YOU CAN SEE that the KNOM mission has a rich history.  Since 1966, some 300 selfless individuals have volunteered major portions of their lives to make its vital work possible.