April 21, 2021
Living on the air in Lindenwood
Around Town St. Peters preschool holds vaccine clinic for parents, teachers and staff . Pg. 4
Special Section Community Strong Spotlight. Pg. 3
Business
Home Builders Association donates $12,500 to Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County. Pg. 6
Features
Photo courtesy Lindenwood University’s Mary E. Ambler Archives Current Lindenwood University student Arin Froidl works the console at 89.1 The Wood. Entering its 73rd year, the station has been 50,000 watts as of 2010.
Lindenwood Unviersity’s radio station KCLC boasts a long history of training the next generation of broadcasters By Brett Auten For over 70 years it informed and entertained its audience along with educating its occupants. Lindenwood University’s radio station, KCLC’s 50,000-watt 89.1 The Wood has built its reputation on letting St. Charles County listeners in on national and local news - along with live coverage of regional high school and university sports – but also exposing listeners to music just a shade left of the dial. “The backbone of the station is real-world opportunity,” Chad Briesacher, the current general manager, said “We act like a profes-
sional studio with student talent. We were one of the first universities to give students the opportunity to run the station under professional supervision.” It all started with a woman who was as candid as the times. Martha Boyer has been called a cross between a grandma and a drill sergeant and she was the perfect person to take the baton and run with it. Following World War II, Lindenwood College, then an all-women’s school, began to offer technical skills and Boyer (who had similar success at Ohio State) started the station in 1948 to teach students how to broadcast. The Boyer folktale goes that
she was given money to buy five cash registers, but instead she bought a carrier radio station and plugged it into the university’s electric grid. Whether valid or not, this birthed AM 660 in 1948. Boyer also cultivated a profitable relationship with then KMOX general manager Robert Hyland, who also served as regional manager for CBS. Not only did she sway Hyland to hand over used equipment for students to use, but also convinced him to host 15 years of internships for Lindenwood students. But Boyer did not stop at radio and by 1949, she had talked Channel See ’LINDENWOOD’ page 2
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