Rain and radio on New Year’s Eve

“Rain! Is this Alaska or Seattle?”

Those were my thoughts while I was driving through a deluge to Palmer after working at the Frontiersman.

It was New Year’s Eve and the big move was on. KVRF, the valley’s all-volunteer community radio station was moving out from atop the Turkey Red restaurant and into new digs just down the street, right next to Fireside books.

It was going to be done in a day. At least that was the plan. The rain was no help and it was coming down in buckets when I arrived in front of our new home on South Alaska Street.

Along with writing and working for the Frontiersman, I am also a volunteer and Tuesday morning cohost on KVRF. This time I was on special assignment covering the big move for the paper. It was going to be a long day for me and a longer night. This was New Year’s Eve, after all, so things are expected to get a little crazy.

The lights were on but nothing was there as I shook off my hat of cold rainwater and I stepped inside.

“Mike? Lee? Anyone home?” My voice echoed off the bare walls.

Mike Chmielewski, station manager poked his grey-haired head up from behind a nook in the back. A pair of cables dangled in his hands.

“Hey Dad, I’m glad you’re here. Everyone is at the old studio. Most of the big stuff is packed up. I’m here working on the router connection to get us back on air soon,” he said holding the cables up for show.

“Yeah I caught that announcement on my way down here.” was my reply. Mike suggested I go over to the old studio perched above the Turkey Red restaurant and I was off down the block.

I arrived a short time later. What greeted me when I got up to the top of the stairs was something jist short of chaos: volunteers everywhere. Lee, Mike’s wife, was heading up this part of the operation.

Most of the furniture was moved out and stuffed into a box truck just outside. Well, except the big conference table which was being taken apart by three elderly volunteers with a pair of crescent wrenches.

Darn, I knew I should have brought my tools! I mentally slapped my forehead. Then I threw myself into this wonderful mix of energy and drive with gusto.

After the fun getting the table down and into the truck. I found myself helping Gary Bolling, host of the radio show “The Grade” and some helpful volunteers tear apart the racks and table that housed the broadcast equipment.

Talk about wiring nightmares. But Gary really knew his stuff and in no time we broke it all down with ease. Time flew as piece after piece was disconnected to be placed into boxes. Then the table was broken down and moved, followed by the seven-foot-tall aluminum racks.

By this time I was working in a t-shirt, it was very hot up there. Something I was not going to miss. I helped get one of the racks down the stairs and into someone’s truck, right into the pouring rain. Man I was soaked.

Pretty soon it was all packed up and gone down the street. I was practically the last man standing amid some leftover clutter in the empty studio. I turned out the lights as I locked the door for the last time. Jumping into my car I sped down the block to KVRF’s new home. Again chaos and mayhem greeted me when I stepped in the door. Organized chaos to be sure. A hurricane of activity.

Mike, Gary, some more volunteers and myself all dove into rebuilding and reconnecting the broadcasting equipment — a collection of computers, monitors, soundboard and microphones.

We needed to get back on the air fast. At a little after 5:00 p.m. everything was up and running. KVRF was back on the air. That was stunning. I arrived to take part in this project just a little after 2:20 p.m. (everyone else showed up at around 1:00 p.m.) and just about three hours later we were back in business. One word describes it all — “wow.”

With the station running smoothly there was time to go back to our homes for a spell before coming back at 10:00 pm to bring in the new year.

The weather was still, well, nasty. A combination of rain and wet snow only got worse the closer I came to my home in Wasilla. And to top it off they were lighting off fireworks in spite of the foul weather. Which made me jump with each explosive report as I went from my car to my house in record time.

After a quick dinner and change to some dry clothes of decent vintage along with my best army boots — polished to shiny black — I was off, bound for Palmer. The weather had turned bad again, heck it never let up. It did seem to ease up the closer I came down to Palmer.

Soon I was parking on the curbside right in front of KVRF’s new home in a steady rain. I was there to bring in the New Year with friends and some of the amazing volunteers that made it all happen, and to help inaugurate what some hope to be a new years tradition: the dropping of the big cabbage at midnight. KVRF’s tagline is “big cabbage radio,” after all.

It was huge! It was stupendous! O.K, O.K., it was a cabbage the size of a volleyball set in red plastic mesh, attached to a length of white rope that was strung over a pipe from the ceiling. It would be lowered from the ceiling into a crockpot at midnight. Oh I nearly forgot we would broadcast it all live on air. At least the sounds if it, that is.

I was wondering who would have the honor of lowering the cabbage as we set up the station. Mike and Lee were there. So were Dave Cheezem along with his wife. A few more volunteers rounded it out to a small yet comfortable gathering drinking wine or beer. I didn’t because I had to drive home afterward.

Music was no problem, of course. We are a radio station after all. We were playing live requests from all there. The first was “The Star Bangled Banner” — the Jimi Hendrix version at Woodstock that is. Man that woke up some people for sure. Mine was “Free” by Chicago.

We talked about the new studio, the big move and the new changes that will expand the studio’s operation, such as the plans for a broadcast booth and production recording booth to be built in the very near future. The booths would be called” Pods.” Mike proudly showed all the plans on his laptop.

Then the time came to ring in the new year. The cabbage was raised. The count down started on the air. At 10 seconds I began to lower it in quick jerks. Yup guess who got “hey you’d?” Little old me.

At 1 second the “Big Cabbage” made the perfect drop landing into the crock pot. “Happy New Year!” rang out among the cheers. And it was all caught on video. Darn smart phones.

We did have a good laugh about it. You know since I was all caught up in doing this, the fireworks didn’t affect me this time around. Thank God for that.

2015 sure looks like it will be winner.