WOMR Celebrates 40 Years on the Cape
Cape Cod’s Community Radio Station Honors 40 Years of Grassroots Radio
Provincetown, MA, March 21, 2022: 2022 is a year filled with events to celebrate 40 years of grassroots radio, beginning with an open-house celebration at the Schoolhouse (494 Commercial Street in Provincetown) on May 1st from noon to 4 PM, the community radio station the community radio station announced today.
Lower Cape Communications was incorporated in 1976, received a construction permit from the FCC in 1980, and made its first broadcast on March 21, 1982. “We are very excited to be celebrating this milestone,” says John Braden, WOMR’s executive director. “And we could never have gotten here without the ongoing support of all our Cape Cod communities.”
The station has come a long way in those 40 years. In 1976 a small band of radio visionaries was inspired to create a community radio station in Provincetown. It took several years to raise awareness, gather funding, and negotiate the complicated permitting process (both national and local). The dream was eventually realized when WOMR went on the air in 1982 with 1000 watts at a frequency of 91.9 FM.
In 1995, WOMR moved to 92.1 FM, raising power to 6000 watts to reach a much wider audience on Cape Cod and Boston’s south shore, eventually installing a second transmitter (WFMR 91.3 FM) to improve the signal from Orleans to Hyannis.
Braden began volunteering at the station in 1991, and has been a music DJ, spoken-word producer, and chief operator, serving on both the ops team and the board of directors before being promoted to operations manager in 2006 and executive director in 2012. “The station has really come a long way since I started,” he says, “between expanding our signal twice and expanding our studio and office space a couple of times as well. We’ve seen hundreds of volunteers move through the station and the airwaves, literally too many to count.”
There will also be a dedication of the Susan P. Lindquist Studio preceding the birthday celebration at 11 AM. Susan was a long-time listener and supporter, and later a board member and spoken word host.
The May 1st open-house celebration is free, though beer, wine, and food will be available for purchase. Other events are planned throughout the year and will be announced as details are worked out; “we plan to make these events free whenever we can as a way to thank the community for its longtime support,” says Braden.
