Barron County Retired Educators'
September 20, 2012
10:30 a.m.
Barron
County Retired Educators met September 20, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at First
Lutheran Church in Cumberland. Dinner was served to 65 people. Our
president, Frank Pieichel, called the meeting to order and introduced our guest
speaker, Tom Koser. The program was " Local Radio-Past, Present, and Future."
Tom has been in the radio business for over 20 years.
· Tom was a graduate of Barron High
School but grew up in Almena.
· Teachers inspired him and were also
good friends.
· A graduate of Plattville in
broadcasting.
· Worked in radio at Springfield and
then general manager at Rockford for four years.
· Then he bought WJMC and moved to
Rice Lake and raised their two boys.
· Later bought two stations in
Rhinelander, Hayward, and five stations in upper Michigan.
· Sold the Rhinelander stations and
bought WAQE.
· Now has 11 radio stations.
· Radio is in with 10,000 stations.
Country music is most popular. Talk radio is second and sports talk is
third. WJMC am on the air in 1939 on South Maine. 1947 fm on the
air.
What's
the future of radio?
· The amusing faze is music.
· Keep it local: obituaries,
local news, and sports.
· Being involved in community events.
· In 1989, 11 employees now 33 people.
Business Meeting
· Opened our meeting with Pledged
Allegiance to the Flag.
· Secretary's report was read and
approved. Motion was made by John Osterloth and seconded by Jim Perala to
accept the report.
· Treasurer's report was read and
approved by Sandy Stiener with a balance in the treasury of $723.29. The
Scholarship Fund has $16,204.92. Motion made by Kathy Doer and seconded by John
Sheiffer to accept the report
· The Retiree Breakfast was canceled
due to lack of potential attendees.
New Business
· Vicky Ondell, volunteer services of
Barron County, is seeking a coordinator for Wheelchair Ramp Project.
· Victor Bekkum, president elect of
WREA, gave us an update of happenings in the state. Fall meeting is
October 15 at Turtle Back. News letter is coming out . Dave Bennett is
the new district representative.
· Barb Millerman made a motion to give
$100. to the Restorative Justice Program and Jim Perala seconded it.
· School supply donations will
be taken at our November meeting.
· It's a good idea to reactivate the
practice of "Passing The Hat" for Scholarships.
· John Osterloth was elected president
of BCRE and Steve Eichman as president -elect.
· Door prizes were won by Bobby
Monsolovich and Vicki Bonkrude.
Frank
thanked all those that assisted him when he president of our organization. A
round of applause was given to Frank. Joe Hagenbarth lead us in prayer before
dinner.
Our
next meeting is November 1 at Faith Lutheran Church in Cameron. Our guest
speaker will be Tim Jergenson.
Secretary,
Marie
Anderson
