WVBI Radio:The Voice of little Beaver Island

Sept. 9, 2016

The comparisons are many, and vary wildly, in describing WVBI-FM. Radio Beaver Island as it’s known, has been called many things: a mini-National Public Radio, Northern Exposure “without the moose,” an island version of Prairie Home Companion, and a musical take on Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates — because you never know what you’re going to get.

But what everyone can agree on is that this little radio station that could definitely has, and it’s made a huge difference in the way the isolated islanders get their news and music every day.

Mark Beltaire has been in radio and voiceover for years, as a DJ and/or program director for stations in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Cleveland; St. Louis; San Francisco; and currently, Detroit. He and his wife visit Beaver Island often, usually staying with good friend Maureen “Mo” Abele.

When the FCC opened up licensing applications for low-power FM stations, which typically cover a small area about the size of Beaver Island, Beltaire and Abele approached the Preservation Association of Beaver Island about launching a station.

At first, association board members thought that starting a radio station would be too complex and take too much time, so they denied Beltaire and Abele’s request. Dennis Winslow, another Beaver Islander, who had been in broadcasting for 40 years, took up the initiative and brought it back to the board. He also was turned down.

“I finally sat down with them and explained that they didn’t have to go and build a radio station in three months — they just had to apply for the license while it was available,” Winslow said. This is where another friend, Kevin Boyle, stepped in. Boyle is a lawyer who specializes in broadcast law. He knew the right procedure for applying for the license, taking even more off of the association’s shoulders. “With Kevin, needless to say, our application got done correctly, and we got the license,” Winslow said.

Officially WVBI-LV — 101.1 The Voice of Beaver Island — debuted on the air last year. It reached much of Beaver Island but not all of it. Bit by bit, that might change. “We just got a new antenna that will be going up to 100 feet. With FM, the higher you get, the better,” Winslow explained. “We may never cover the whole island, but with this, we’ll cover most of it, and we’re also on the internet.”

The radio station is located on the main floor of the Beaver Island Community Center, a $2 million facility that also includes an auditorium with a full stage and sound setup. The station pays licensing fees to ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SoundExchange so that it can play commercially recorded music; the programming is run via software on a PC. With easy access to the community center’s auditorium on site, the station occasionally records plays and performances directly from the stage’s sound booth.

Visitors quickly discover that the programming at the station is as eclectic as the people of the island itself. “I do a top ten list show, record announcements, and a lot of the interviews,” Winslow said. “I’m only on the island in the summer — I’m something of a gypsy — but I have my own studio so I can dial in from anywhere.” The “WVBI Cottage Mix” is one of the most popular regular programs; it’s the station’s “anything goes” program where you’ll almost always hear something new.

Beltaire hosts a classic rock show yearround, whether he’s on the island or at his house in Detroit. Abele hosts a show called “Beaver Island Perspectives,” which focuses on local personalities and island happenings. Boyle also functions as the station’s IT guy and de facto station manager. “No one really has titles here, but he’s the only one who’s on the island year-round, so he gets to be manager,” Winslow said with a laugh.

WVBI’s schedule also includes shows from PRX (Public Radio Exchange), national news six times a day, frequent local newscasts, a traditional country music show hosted by country performer Sheri Timsak, and the “Student Winter Almanac” featuring kids from the local school.

“There are seven of us … actively creating programming,” Boyle said. “We even started doing old-timey radio drama shows this year. One of our island residents is a theater producer, and he might help us expand that by writing a script for us.” In this close-knit community, Boyle added, the omnipresent radio station helps keep everyone together, especially in the winter. “The most fun part of it is being out and about and overhearing people listening to the station,” he said.

Perhaps the most impressive part is how polished the station and its programming are — especially considering its remote location and the fact that the reason the station exists at all is simply because some resident volunteers wanted it to.

The Beaver Island Preservation Association continues to help keep the station and its equipment running with additional fundraisers, but the people whose voices you hear are doing it for the sheer fun of it.

“It’s incredibly professionally run,” Winslow said. “I have friends in broadcasting who can’t believe how good it sounds. The difference here is that every single day you bump into people who know you and know WVBI. And because we’re non-commercial and not fighting for ratings, we have a lot of latitude in what we can do. We don’t get paid — we do it as a labor of love.”

Beltaire agreed that it’s all worth it. “Community radio allows us to be hyperlocal, and I really like that,” he said. “This is the largest inhabited island in the Great Lakes, and this radio station gives the people on the island a voice.”

Find out more about WVBI-FM — and listen online anytime — at voiceofbeaverisland.org or via TuneIn radio (visit tunein.

com and search WVBI).