WCPI: Live in McMinnville

WCPI: Live in McMinnville

McMinnville, Tenn.’s 3-year-old public radio station occupies the basement of a modest brick building on the courthouse square. The only indication of its presence is a 100-foot antennae tower jutting into the sky.

Despite its discreet appearance, the 1,000-watt stereo broadcasts beyond the 12,000-person community into parts of nine counties. And its format is eclectic, to say the least. Depending on the time of day, the 91.3 FM airwaves might contain opera, cooking and gardening tips, commission reports, wrestling commentary, or classical music. “If there’s an audience for it, we’ll air it,” says Mary Cantrell, WCPI’s director of marketing.

With the exception of a taped Civil War series by a former McMinnville resident, local citizens host all the programs. Community interest has allowed the nonprofit station to cultivate its diverse programming schedule, and anyone is welcome to pitch ideas.

“We’re very accessible, not high-brow like you might expect of public radio,” Cantrell says.

One of the most down-to-earth programs is Spotlight on Education. Every weekday, area elementary schools script and record their own three-to-five-minute broadcasts. The kids might sing, provide sports updates, deliver academic reports, or even tell knock-knock jokes.

“In addition to what they learn about broadcasting, they get an English and a public speaking lesson,” Cantrell says.

It’s appropriate that a station affiliated with resident Norman Rone would provide a forum for young people. Rone’s own interest in radio began when he was 10 years old. Using a homemade transmitter, he provided news and entertainment to neighbors within a one-block radius of his parents’ basement.

He eventually worked his way through high school and college as a disc jockey for various commercial stations. Although he became an optometrist—and also serves as McMinnville’s mayor—Rone never lost his love for radio. When time and resources permitted, he founded Warren County Education Foundation Inc., which operates WCPI. And he still puts in plenty of hours at the station, in every capacity imaginable.

Rone’s partners in the project included Jeffrey Golden, president of McMinnville’s Union Planters Bank, and I.D. Byars, who initially served as chief engineer. When Byars later retired, his daughter, Gloria Grissom, took his place. She’s also the assistant manager.

“Which means I sweep floors, dust, schedule programming, and run the board,” Grissom says, laughing at the diversity of her duties.

Besides Grissom, the only other paid employees are two part-time weekend operators. Rone (not the station) pays Cantrell’s salary as marketing director. She is a licensed dispensing optician who still works as that occasionally but welcomed the midlife career change and usually shows up at WCPI seven days a week—by choice.

“I love what we do here,” she says, smiling. That enthusiasm comes in handy, because part of her job is to secure contributions for the station. She had no prior fund-raising experience but is a persistent solicitor.

“She won’t take no for an answer,” Grissom attests. Her efforts have yielded about $5,000 per month, which just about covers expenses. Cantrell’s next goal is to procure grants to extend the current 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. broadcasting schedule to 24 hours a day.

Warren County Furniture was one of the station’s earliest and most consistent supporters. Owners Ed and Linda Partin record their own announcements, often including a good dose of humor. As sponsors and hosts of the Golden Oldies segment, Ed claims—on-air—that he’s too young to remember all the songs, but his wife knows them word-for-word. Linda retaliates that the music is actually from her husband’s generation, because everyone knows he robbed the cradle when he married her. It’s a fun repartee that engages listeners.

Other popular programs include Reporters’ Roundtable, in which area journalists discuss their biggest stories, and Metro Charter Live, an examination of local government. It’s Your Right, currently in development, will allow callers to ask questions about Social Security.

“They talk about things going on here,” explains Dale Beatty, the local agricultural extension agent, noting what he likes best about WCPI. “I can get a thousand FM stations, but none of them give me my local news. I want to know what’s going on in my own hometown.”

Kara Carden is a regular American Profile contributor.

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