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KUCB wraps up special 50-hour pledge drive, celebrates a half century of community programming

Volunteers hit the airwaves for more than two days to host their own shows and play live music.
Mary Heimes
/
KUCB
Volunteers hit the airwaves for more than two days to host their own shows and play live music.

This year, KUCB’s annual fundraising blitz was a little different from usual. The Oct. 25 pledge drive marked our 50th anniversary and a half century of local public media in Unalaska. We celebrated the milestone with a 50-hour drive instead of our usual 24 hours. Volunteers hit the airwaves for more than two days to host their own shows and play live music.

We also launched a new exhibit at the Museum of the Aleutians called “Amplifying the Aleutians: 50 Years of Community Media.”
Andy Lusk
/
KUCB
We also launched a new exhibit at the Museum of the Aleutians called “Amplifying the Aleutians: 50 Years of Community Media.”

We also launched a special exhibit at the Museum of the Aleutians called “Amplifying the Aleutians: 50 Years of Community Media.” The exhibit walks patrons through a timeline of the station’s and community’s shared history. Over half a century of headlines, photos, videos and memorabilia are on display, with even more available on our website.

Our signals first went live in 1974 as part of an Unalaska City School District vocational education program. Within a decade, we launched Channel 8 TV, which has featured regular newscasts, local films, talk shows and more.

As part of our 50th anniversary, staff set their sights on digitizing decades’ worth of archival media from as early as World War II. In the process, we curated the museum exhibit, which will be open through February.

From all of us here at KUCB, thank you for supporting local public media for the past 50 years.
Alyssa McDonald
/
Contributor
From all of us here at KUCB, thank you for supporting local public media for the past 50 years.

We’re also producing a new podcast, “Amplifying the Aleutians for 50 years: a history of community media in Unalaska,” that features an in-depth look at much of the content from the museum exhibit. That can be accessed on our website. Episodes move through the history of public media in Unalaska decade by decade, featuring interviews from former staff members and locals who appeared on air.

Although the 50-hour pledge drive is over, it’s not too late to donate. So far, we have raised over $33,000, which is less than $10,000 shy of our total goal. The donation period runs through Nov. 15, so it’s not too late to make that number grow. Thank you to everyone who has already donated.

This year we have sweatshirts, mugs and stickers featuring a design by KUCB’s own Kanesia McGlashan-Price. When you donate to KUCB, you’re supporting local reporters and coverage unique to the region, volunteer radio shows, PSAs and community events updates.

From all of us here at KUCB, thank you for supporting local public media for the past 50 years. We look forward to sharing 50 more with you.

Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Andy Lusk is a writer, travel enthusiast and seafood aficionado who won the jackpot by landing in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. When he's not hiking or working on his latest story, you can find him curled up with his cats and a good book. Andy is a Report for America corps member and an alumnus of New York University.
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