WION RADIO, IONIA AM STEREO 1430/FM 92-7
In the year 2010, WION produced the first of its yearly Christmas
specials, now produced for 5 years. . The WION staff and friends from
our community re-created the Charles Dickens' Classic, "A Christmas
Carol" directly from the pages of the 1939 script from "The Campbell
Playhouse" hosted by Orson Welles. This first-ever production was
completely assembled by audio editing, no actors worked together!
Our efforts and those of our friends and the community earned WION a
"Best in Category" award from the Michigan Association of
Broadcasters, competing against Grand Rapids and similar markets!
WION Earned the 2008 "Chamber Member of the Year" award from
the Ionia Area Chamber of Commerce. The award was given for our
involvement in the community, improved service via upgraded
equipment, and our continued dedication to Ionia City and County.
2010 was a GREAT year for WION, with a second MAB award, this one for our
creativity in writing and producing GREAT on-air material. Specifically, a
promo that compares radio and newspaper. Affectionately called the
"Newspaper Dig" promo, it was written by Jim Carlyle, Voiced by Steve Goff,
and assembled by "Big Mike" Yuhas. We still bring this back now and then for
a bit of WION "nostalgia". Be listening for it!
In our First full year, WION installed a
new transmitter, making our service
more reliable than ever! The award on
the right was presented to us by the
Ionia County Historical Society in
thanks for supporting them, and
preserving WION's history while
looking to the future, in broadcasting!
March of 2010 brought our new FM signal to Ionia
County! This new signal offered (and continues to offer)
our programming around the clock on FM 92-7, without
the limitations imposed by the nature of AM radio signals,
and by FCC regulations over the reduction of power and
coverage after dark.
This letter on the right came as a pleasant surprise from
(then) State Representative Brian Calley, congratulating
WION on this milestone and our continued work to
improve radio service to our county. We were very
grateful for this letter, now hanging proudly in our
studio/musem home on Haynor Road.
WION has broadcast-from and donated money-to
every Chili Dawg Challenge since 2004, in fact,
they were our FIRST EVER remote in '04! We
raise money through sponsorship messages
and give it directly to the event recipient, Big
Brothers-Big Sisters serving our area! The
certificate above is one of the many thanks from
them for years of continued support.
Another "fan" of WION is State Senator Judy
Emmons. The certificate on the right was sent
to us to show appreciation for our excellence in
serving our communities. We are proud of this
award, also found on the wall at WION's studios.
And sometimes the awards go the "other"
way. (See left article) In 2011, Bertha Brock
Park celebrated 80 years being open to the
public. WION was there, as always doing our
"Fallfest Broadcast" and, through the
generosity of our "Fallfest Invite Sponsors"
we were able to raise two thousand dollars
for the Park Improvement Fund. In 2012,
another 15 hundred dollars was raised, and
we hope for great things in 2013, come the
third weekend in September!
WION is actively helping to promote, grow,
and expand our community's outreach by
partnering advertisers that care with causes
that are locally important! It's certainly a
measure of what impact WION has in Ionia!