Hello World from Coulterville, California, the birthplace of America's best idea, preserving some of our most special places in nature by creating national parks. It's the town on the way into Yosemite National Park from the west where John Muir met President Teddy Roosevelt at the Hotel Jeffery in 1903, took him camping in Yosemite Valley for a week, and came back convinced creating national parks was an important idea at the time. It has now spread the world over, along with the iconic ranger hat of park rangers, a new special class of professional created at the time to manage the parks and educate visitors on the places and history.
In recent years, the people residing in the small town came together during a fire and were named by Reader's Digest as "the nicest place in America."
There have been plans developing for years to bring back the Hotel Jeffery, which is now closed and needs funding for renovations to reopen, and to start a local radio station to cover the community and help bring it together for a more prosperous future. We are now moving full speed ahead to get the radio station going, but we need some help to get it funded and on the air.
We are working on a business plan and proposed budget, and the initial ask is for $9,999. We may save money on some items, like the antenna, but some things may cost us more, like legal fees, insurance, equipment, and marketing. But here are the initial estimates based on computer modeling and knowledgeable engineers.
LPFM Transmitter & Antenna $4,500
Studio Equipment (mics, mixer, PC) $1,500
Legal/Consulting $1,500
Marketing & Promotion $1,000
Misc (insurance, utilities) $1,000
Website Development & Hosting $500
Broadcast Automation Software $499
Total Startup Cost Estimate $9,999
If this is something that interests you, maybe you can spare a few bucks today to get things rolling. If you like the idea but can't afford to contribute, maybe you could share the link with your friends on social media. Every little bit helps!
All donations are tax deductible through the non-profit Operation New Earth. I.D. number is 72-1347431; Public Charity status is 170(b)(1)(a)(vi)-501(c)3 Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code. DUNS number 079106668; Unique Entity Identification Number NCCHAM5RC5L5; NAICS number is 813319; CAGE Code is 711G9.
Locust Fork Publishing LLC is acting as an independent contractor to help get this project off the ground, not unlike Bill Moyers and Charlie Rose who operated as independent contractors with PBS and CBS for many years. We've already secured an FCC license for a low power FM station at 100.9 FM. We have a location to operate the station at 5016 Main Street, Coulterville, CA 95311. But there are bills to pay to keep it open, including a power bill that averages about $50 a month, water bill that runs $160 a month, and WiFi internet services from Conifer that runs $50 a month. The WiFi is critical to connect cell phones since service is weak here in this rural, mountainous area. We have also secured web hosting and design services, but there are hosting fees and expenses to pay to keep it up permanently. So we've started a basic website for the radio station, Yosemite Radio KNHA-LPFM coming soon at 100.9 on the radio dial, with this domain name, which only cost $14.99: https://yosemiteradio.org/
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Glynn Wilson
Station Manager
Yosemite Radio
KNHA-LPFM 100.9
Operation New Earth
5016 Main Street
Box 331
Coulterville, CA 95311
Organizer
