LIHU‘E – Ever thought of those faceless friends who make quality radio shows possible on our island, not only once in a while but every day of the year? On Friday, KKCR’s ghosts get out of the grotto, handing us
LIHU‘E – Ever thought of those faceless friends who make quality radio shows possible on our island, not only once in a while but every day of the year? On Friday, KKCR’s ghosts get out of the grotto, handing us out a rare opportunity to hear and see them at the same time. It will also be our chance to celebrate with them 15 years of broadcasting across the Garden Isle.
KKCR invites the public to its 15th on-the-air anniversary reception at Lydgate Beach Park’s large pavilion from 4 to 9:30 p.m. Friday. Although the occasion is free, it is a potluck, so bring your favorite dish to share. There will be live entertainment centered around the irreplaceable Hawaiian culture. Expect a lot of fun, food, music, dance and, of course, aloha. There will even be a birthday cake contest.
KKCR went on air officially in September 1997 with a few volunteers brimming with enthusiasm. To this day, KKCR operates with only one full-time employee, Dean Rogers, as station manager, and two part-timers, Erik Coopersmith as development director and Tina Bartlett as office assistant, while more than 70 volunteer programmers participate in the broadcasting enterprise, most of the time unbeknownst to the listeners.
KKCR provides a forum for overlooked, suppressed, or under-represented voices and music. A Community Advisory Board (CAB) broadcasts periodically to encourage and obtain input from the Kaua‘i community.
KKCR is under the direction of a Board of Directors comprised of Kaua‘i residents dedicated to honoring the mission statement of preserving, perpetuating and celebrating Hawaiian culture and reflecting the diversity of the local and world community. It is an independent, non-commercial, listener-supported community radio station seeking to stimulate, educate and entertain its audience.
KKCR was founded by The Kekahu Foundation in 1994 as a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization. Founder Janet Planet had been fired from her local reggae music show on a local radio station for advocating that residents should protest the Star Wars Missile program in the late 1980’s at The Pacific Missile Range Facility. She was determined to start a community radio station where all points of view could be broadcast live on air with no censoring or personal repercussions.
Planet joined up with the late Butch Kekahu of Anahola who was trying to start up a radio station in his garage with his House Lot neighbors in order to educate local residents and tourists about the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
Planet was able to obtain start-up grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which allowed her to rent a building in Princeville. With a very small wage to live on, she went on writing more grants until she obtained FCC licensing. Because Hurricane ‘Iniki cut off all communication with and on the North Shore in 1992, the CPB and FCC realized the vital importance of a radio station on the North Shore to stay linked with the Emergency Alert System.
Although Janet Planet, Butch Kekahu, brother Kawika and mother Mikala are deceased, they all survived to realize their dreams of hearing KKCR live on air with no in-house censorship as is still the case. Butch, his family and many of their Hawaiian friends and musicians often entertained listeners by playing various instruments and singing Hawaiian mele, broadcast from the KKCR studios.
KKCR broadcasts locally at 90.9, 91.9, 92.7 FM , 95.1 cable and kkcr.org worldwide. Membership/pledge drives occur twice a year, spring and fall.
The celebration starts at 4 p.m. Lydgate Park has handicapped access and is child-friendly.
For more information, contact Marj Dente, vice chair, Kekahu Foundation Board of Directors at (808) 823-8162 or at www.kkcr.org.
• Laurent Canalejas, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 241) or lcanalejas@thegardenisland.com.
