MINTURN - Nearly eight years ago, an idea was born to create a community radio station in Minturn - one that would reflect the musical and cultural interests of the region, and offer a learning environment for fledgling broadcasters and students of journalism and communication.

On June 23, the idea came to fruition as Radio Free Minturn hit the airwaves on the FM dial at 107.9. The non-commercial, non-profit station is entirely run by community volunteers.

"After an arduous application process, fundraising, building a studio, installing tower equipment, and wading through the final FCC licensing process, we are up and running," said Leo Spaziani, Radio Free Minturn's Board President. "We'd like to congratulate everyone involved from the founders, to the folks that don our t-shirts- we could not have done it without all of you."

Radio Free Minturn's On the Air Party at the Saloon on Saturday, Aug. 12, will be the official launch celebration with live music, sign ups, silent auction, door prizes and, of course, beer tickets.

Education programs, community information, helpful announcements and entertainment are all integral parts of Radio Free Minturn's vision. All suggestions and input are welcome at info@minturnradio.org

"In recent years, starting a radio station had been completely out of reach of the general public," said Liz Campbell, RFM's board secretary. "The FCC created the Low Power FM service to give communities an affordable opportunity to create their own stations and bring back localized broadcasting to the airwaves. The upper Eagle Valley now has a valuable asset with unprecedented individuality. Our wonderful mountain community now has a voice in an media dominated by giants."

For more information, visit www. minturnradio.org or call 827-9079.



Facts about low power FM service

- Stations can have only non-commercial programming

- More than 300 LPFM stations have been licensed

- 3,200 applications were submitted in 2000 and 2001

- Broadcast strength cannot exceed 100 watts - RFM operates at 28 watts



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