KTNA radio, in Talkeetna, lost over half of its annual budget last July, due to a Congressional decision to rescind funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). But area businesses are fighting back, trying to save the station. KTNA’s Colleen Love has more.
After Congress eliminated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and then clawed back funding it had already allocated to small stations, KTNA found itself with a significant shortage of funds. This happened only a few months before the start of its fiscal year.
Trisha Costello, owner of the Talkeetna Roadhouse, felt compelled to do something. She declared Labor Day, “Razzies for Radio”, and decided to donate 88.9% of the sales of Razzies that day, to her local radio station. A “Razzy” is a raspberry-based, spiral pastry; similar to a cinnamon roll. She wrote the purpose of “Razzie’s for Radio” on a chalkboard and then opened up shop.
“I didn’t know what to expect. We keep all of our pans, as we empty the pans, there’s six rolls on a pan, we keep stacking them so that the bakers have a non-verbal cue as to how fast we’re going through things. So I can just look up there and see what the sales are, and that tells me if I’m making more or not. Well, all of a sudden, we went through twice as many Razzies, at any given time, than Frosties. And we ended up selling 156 Razzies that day and we normally sell between 60 and 90.”
Costello says her customers appreciate listening to KTNA, as a way to learn about the community that they’re visiting.
”As an Innkeeper, I have always had radios sitting out in the different common areas of the Roadhouse. And I’ve always posted the current schedule for KTNA, so people can see what’s on the schedule. I’m also a volunteer newsreader so, over the years, I think at one point I said, “You can hear your innkeeper, at 7:42 and 30 seconds on Monday mornings.”
Costello remembers her first winter in Talkeetna, and the impact her local radio station had on that experience.
“There were many times, many evenings, that I would listen to Emmila’s Granny’s Radio Recipes, and I feel like I really did kinda meet the members of the community and who would be my group of people, though the radio station.”
And Razzies for Radio hasn’t been the only local effort.
The owners of Conscious Coffee, flipped crepes, outdoors in the Village Park during the Live at Five concert series one Friday. Conscious Coffee donated all the crepe sales that day to KTNA.
Anita Golton, owner of the Flying Squirrel Bakery and Birch Creek Ranch, decided to double her monthly donation to the radio. She sent out a newsletter and encouraged others to support the effort.
KTNA is the only source of local news for Talkeetna. For a town that has experienced earthquakes, windstorms, forest fires and flooding in recent years, the information that the radio provides, can be life saving.
“Razzies for Radio” raised over $1,000 for KTNA on Labor Day weekend.
Costello is hoping that legislators will notice the overwhelming support, and hear the plea of numerous Alaskan communities who stand to lose so much if they lose their local radio connection.
For KTNA, in Talkeetna, I’m Colleen Love
