Village Radio turns 30

Village Radio is celebrating 30 years on the airwaves this weekend, with a party for its dedicated volunteers and the public on Sunday afternoon.

First crackling onto air on April 13, 1984 – the station came about from a need to celebrate Tauranga's 21st anniversary, says its first announcer George Christophersen.


Village Radio technician and announcer George Stewart and chairman Steve Lambie with the Collins High Fidelity Broadcast Transmitter built in 1936. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

The Tauranga resident, who gave 40 years' service to the station, says he got the first gig with Lola Bryant.

'It was the city's 21st birthday – we built the station to get on air to celebrate the milestone – it went off very well,” says George, who was on the station 30 years ago.

'It was for the city council; then Village Radio developed after that.”

Initially having an operating permit for a fortnight, George says 'everybody was up in air because the station only went for two weeks” and so Village Radio was born.

'Everybody liked it,” says George, who says the station gained equipment and help from Tauranga's Radio 1ZD to begin.

'We had all sorts of people in – we broadcasted from downtown and even put a country music event through the phone lines and over the air.”

George says the station could be heard at night from Invercargill. 'It sort of went from one thing to another; then we got our licence about August 1984.”

Village Radio initially broadcasted Sundays and public holidays, adding weekdays from 2004 – and has now given Tauranga three-decades of commercial-free community-orientated entertainment.

Based at The Historic Village, the community station now broadcasts on 1368AM band 10am-5pm weekdays and 9am-5pm weekends thanks to 20-plus volunteers running it.

'The eldest announcer is in his 80s and volunteers donate about 200 hours weekly to our listeners and the community,” says Village Radio administrator Sheila Lacey.

Sheila says the commercial-free station plays music from the 1920s to mid-1980s on 78rpm 45rpm and 33⅓rpm.

'Our rare records are 100 years old and we have 104,000 tracks we compile programmes from.”

Plus, Sheila says some of the station's richest historical equipment still lives on. 'We have a Collins transmitter that's 75 years old and was used by four ZB stations before being gifted to us in 1984.

'We have this transmitter back on air – it's believed to be the only one in use in the world.

'The station's extensive library of vinyl records, according to the National Archives and Broadcasting Corporation is the fourth largest in New Zealand.”

Playing music, and interviewing people and community groups, Sheila says the station relies on 'the generosity of listeners, funding from philanthropic trusts and donations”.

All are welcome to celebrate Village Radio's 30th birthday this Sunday from 1.30pm at the St John Ambulance hall.

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