Huntley tunes in

HUNTLEY – It has been a long four years for Sun City’s Dorothy Litwin and Allen Pollack. The work and time they’ve put forth finding sponsors, corralling volunteers, and developing programming has given Huntley a brand new media outlet of its very own.

Their efforts in founding Huntley Community Radio station culminated during last weekend’s Huntley Fall Festival, as the station celebrated its official launch.

Station Manager Eric Thomas, (left), explains how to find songs to play on air to Executive Director Allen Pollack, (standing right), and Steve Sandman, (seated), volunteer trainer for Huntley Community Radio. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)

HCR, which has set up shop in the Huntley Park District’s Deicke Park building, held an open house during the weekend festivities and set up a booth to share information about its intended programming and how volunteers can become involved.

“We tested the equipment [on Friday] and officially launched Saturday,” Litwin, an HCR officer, said. “Instead of putting on our regular programming, I asked a couple of those who are involved to come in and give a little introduction about what their program is.”

Litwin said the station will record six to seven shows for its initial launch, including a gourmet cooking talk show and “Your Huntley Neighbors,” a show by Huntley village trustee Pam Fender, where important and interesting people in the community are interviewed.

“The only things we won’t record in advance are the live news and the weather … since those will have to be recorded on the spot,” Litwin said.

The official launch celebrates the end of a four-year journey, and Litwin couldn’t be more relieved.

“Oh, absolutely I’m excited. [Allen Pollack, HCR executive director] and I look at each other, and we’re very pleased with where we’ve ended up. We’ve been doing a lot of work in the past couple of months and weeks, training people on the equipment, organizing what shows we want, and deciding what the future will be. I can’t wait for it to finally start,” Litwin said.

The radio will be available online through Tune-In Radio, as it awaits the Federal Communications Commission’s procedures for allowing community radio stations to apply for broadcast licenses.

According to an earlier email from Pollack, the station will be available online or through any Tune-In Radio app on mobile devices but will not officially be available on the latter until he deems the display appropriate for the app.

“We’ve been waiting for the FCC to issue the licenses, but last we heard, it won’t be available until late summer 2013 or early fall, but we’re still not sure about that,” Litwin said.

Until then, Litwin is still focusing on the initial programming for the station but has a list of additional programming planned. Within the initial lineup includes the gourmet talk show; and the Fender local profile vehicle; a Huntley blotter-type show, where Huntley Police Dept. Sgt. Jay Kellner will report on all the “happenings” around Huntley and certain topics residents should know; a show dedicated to the history of The Beatles; a show revolving around bluegrass music; and a show about the history of Huntley.

“We’re still putting that schedule together,” Litwin said.

The biggest challenge, she said, has been fundraising.

“We haven’t really dealt with that. We still have to find sponsors and sign grants, and we’re working on all of those. We had those little cans across the city, and we got a few people to throw in some money. We even did a couple of things at Culver’s, and we’re looking to do a few more events like that,” Litwin said. “Our biggest push is send people out in the community to try and get some sponsors for our show because that’s the only way we can operate. We can’t sell ads,” she said.

Looking forward, Litwin hopes to set up remote broadcasting to cover games at Huntley High School or even concerts in the area and to develop additional programs for the air.

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