FAREWELL TO FM

A WRITER’S RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS FAMILY’S

A CATCHY JINGLE – FEATURING THE MELODY

“WCFW, WHERE FM MEANS FINE MUSIC”

– came across a young radio station owner’s desk in 1969.

It was short, simple, and it worked. The owner paid $25 for it, and more than 50 years later that same jingle – which has aired thousands of times on 105.7FM – exemplifies the values of WCFW and the couple who have owned it for over half a century: simplicity and consistency.

My grandparents, Roland and Patricia Bushland, have owned and operated WCFW in Chippewa Falls since its inaugural broadcast on Oct. 20, 1968. Earlier this summer, they decided to end their 54-year stint in radio, selling the legacy station to Magnum Media – a Wisconsin-based business that now owns 25 radio stations statewide and will take over operations of the quaint, easy-listening station later this fall.

It’s a bittersweet moment – for the community, yes, but especially for our family, for whom the station has been an integral part of our lives for decades.

“It’s hard to not have mixed feelings about it, because it was our life for so long,” said my grandmother, Patricia Bushland. “When you start something, and you’re the only people who ran it all those years, you get attached to it. But after so many years, I’m thrilled to death that someone new is coming in, and we can finally take a break.”

When my grandfather, Roland, was young, he would draw pictures of radio towers during school – as his life too began with radio, front and center. My great-grandfather Roy Bushland owned and operated multiple Bushland Radio Specialties storefronts in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire since the early 1930s – a business where my grandfather got his start in 1952 after he graduated as salutatorian from Chi-Hi.

From the beginning, radio was his first love and the only industry in which he would ever work.

As Roland sought to provide better audio quality for listeners, he became a trailblazer in the local FM radio industry when he built one of the first FM radio stations in the mid1960s after recently starting a family – including my Aunt Lynn, my mother Karen, and my Aunt Lisa.

The station started in 1968 with an easy-listening format, peppering in Top 40, polka, and talk-radio programs. It was soon beloved for its broadcasts of local high school sports and archived airings of syndicated radio host Jack Raymond, best known for his 1957-1975 program, The Jack

RADIO STATION, WCFW

Raymond Show. Episodes are still broadcast using original cassette tapes – of which there are no digital copies.

Over the decades, the only thing that changed about WCFW were the updates that allowed automation technology to take over much of the oversight on the station, as the world moved away from vinyl records and the need to be at the board 24/7.

“It hasn’t changed, and I never felt the need to change it,” Roland said. “It worked, and we had good ratings, so we just left it alone.”

While their time in radio ending, their love for radio will be kept alive through their continued operation of Bushland Radio Specialties on Loring Street in Eau Claire.

And, with any luck, WCFW will remain “where FM means fine music” for decades more to come.

As I wound down our conversation recalling a lifetime of memories with the radio station Roland built with his own hands – a career that inspired my own work in media – I asked my grandfather one last question: “Why did you decide to start the station?”

“I’m not sure why,” he answered earnestly, “but I just did it. You’ve got to do something.”

And so we do.

Director of E.C. Sylvan Learning Honored by Firm

SYLVIA DOMBROWSKI, WHO HAS WORKED AT EAU CLAIRE’S SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER FOR 22 YEARS, was recently recognized as one of the top 11 Sylvan Learning directors in the nation.

“Helping students in the Chippewa Valley realize their academic and personal success is a passion of mine,” Dombrowski said. “It is truly an honor to be nominated as one of the top directors at Sylvan.” As center director, Dombrowski leads program integrity, personalization for students learning, and oversees all of the day-to-day operations for Sylvan of Eau Claire. As a teacher, Sylvia chose a career in the tutoring business because of the personalized learning and advancement that Sylvan provides.

Portland, Oregeon-based Sylvan offers supplemental and enrichment education for K-12 students at more than 700 locations worldwide –V1 staff

Hmong Economic Summit Unveils Slate of Speakers

THE UPCOMING HERE CONFERENCE – WHICH WILL PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY HMONG ENTREPRENEURS – has sparked immense excitement among the communtiy. The conference, which will run Sept. 14-16, recently announced its featured speakers. The keynote speakers will be state Rep. Francesca Hong and Isaac Kou Lee. Hong is the first Asian American elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as well as being an entrepreneur, chef, and mother. Lee is a Wausau-based business owner with a passion for assisting minority business owners. The HERE banquet chef and subsequent keynote speaker will be Yia Vang, proprietor of a Twin Cities restaurant called Union Hmong Kitchen and appeared on Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend Learn more at hmongamericanled .org. –Sawyer Hoff