KLOI even more interactive

By Lorna Reese

February 15, 2011 2:00 pm
Ron Metcalf of The Ron and Steve Show presses the magic button to take a call at KLOI’s Center Road studio.
Ron Metcalf of The Ron and Steve Show presses the magic button to take a call at KLOI’s Center Road studio.

KLOI is ready to take your calls. A new, recently-installed telephone interface allows listeners to call in to live shows, talk to hosts and be heard on the radio. The first call — from a Lopez grandmother and her five-year-old grandson – was to Shantparv’s Sunday night “The Essential Hippie Review” show.

“KLOI’s tech team rocks,” said Shantparv. DJs Sue Dumond and Josh Ratza, hosts of “Gleanings and Transitions”, respectively, took calls, too, in a recent impromptu Saturday show; both credit KLOI’s tech team with the ease of the new system. “We will definitely encourage more people to call in,” they said.

This is just one of various recent changes made by the station’s board and many volunteers, according to Kathy Booth, new president of KLOI’s board. “We’re using the latest technology, such as the phone interface and high-speed internet, to expand the reach of our station,” she said.

“Lots of them stream our programs on their computers or download shows to their iPods. Shantparv has a faithful listener from New Zealand, and we’ve gotten emails from Italy and all over the U.S. about how much people love our station.”

In other KLOI news, the station has a brand new gardening show, “The Gardener’s Spot,” hosted by organic gardeners Anne Whirledge-Karp and Jeannie Flynn and debuting this month.

Also new will be eTown, an eclectic music program featuring diverse music and interviews with a wide variety of authors, poets and policy-makers. Returning programs include Radio Classics, starting with “The Shadow”.

Many local shows have been archived to KLOI’s website (kloi.org), making KLOI’s reach unbounded now, according to Booth.

Booth urges Lopezians to check out the station’s website to learn more. “Click on scheduling to see the broad range of programming we offer,” she said.

In addition, some KLOI shows are available to check out as audio books at the Lopez library, including: “Once Upon an Island”; a variety of Gary Alexander’s music programs; “Lopez Writers Read”; John Waugh’s “My Two Cents”; Audrey Bordvik’s “Colors of the San Juans”; and Richard Fagen’s “This Strange and Wonderful World”.

To further extend its reach, KLOI has joined the Chamber of Commerce and will soon establish a Facebook page.

KLOI, a low-power community radio station, began broadcasting in April 2008 at 102.9 on the FM dial. Information about programs and other news can be found at kloi.org.