By Fred Sowder, WGOT Station Coordinator
One habit I’ve engaged in more often during the pandemic is participating in trivia nights. They’re outdoors, distanced, and fun. Just this week, a friend joined our team who’s well known for co-founding a former music venue here in Gainesville. I mentioned to her in passing that WGOT has been struggling financially through the past 18 months, and she immediately sent us a very generous donation. It’s now become my mission to speak of the virtues of community radio.
To those who’ve helped with generous donations through this tough time, thank you. It’s because of said generosity that we’re able to continue our mission of bringing voices and independent music to the airwaves that you normally wouldn’t hear. We’d of course also be nothing without our volunteer show hosts, and some of them, such as Markus Alexander, have stepped up to add donating to their already noble work as show hosts; Markus bringing you two each week, Departure and Sweet Retreat.
But those who make a difference with sustaining donations via our Patreon page also play a vital role in keeping our bills paid, including monthly tower rent to GRU. New patrons such as Randy, Lauren, Brian, Sidney, Lainey, and others play a vital role in keeping us on the air and online during these leanest of times. We are thankful beyond words.
And finally, even though his praises have been no doubt widely sung lately in these pages, the late James Thompson deserves our celestial and eternal thanks as his company Thompson Painting sponsored programming on our airwaves for several months. Our neighbors at Daily Green have been longtime supporters as well.
So please, feel free to drop us a line so we can tell you all about the virtues of community radio and why it’s worth your time and financial support at info@wgot.org. We look forward to hearing from you. And thank you.