To air is human

This week, I had the pleasure of participating in the first pledge drive for our local community radio station, KMRE. The low-power FM facility is part of the American Museum of Radio and Electricity, one of the organizations that makes Bellingham such a special place.

KMRE uses a format called "The Golden Age of Radio," with music from the 1920s to 1940s. The Resident Council at St. Francis voted some time ago to have that station playing in the dining room during meals. That indicated to me, as Marketing Director, that the station was targeting the audience we wanted to reach.

Last year, St. Francis began underwriting programming on KMRE. This not only benefits the radio station, it gets the St. Francis name out to the people of Bellingham. It has proved to be a fruitful partnership. The station's radio drama group, the Midnight Mystery Players, will be performing for residents at St. Francis and we are scheduling an outing for our residents to see the museum.

The successful partnership with KMRE defines the kind of win/win situation that St. Francis is building on. We also partner with a number of other organizations in the community and I urge you to view them on the Community Partners page of the Web site. I encourage you to listen to KMRE if you live in Bellingham. If not, you can listen on the Internet by going to www.amre.us. This wonderful community asset deserves your support and you can pledge by calling (360) 738-3886. You can also pledge on the Web site. Do it right now and help KMRE reach its fundraising goal.

Christopher Key