Diamonds may be the traditional gift to commemorate a 60th anniversary, but local radio station KRVM wants only your company.
On Saturday, KRVM will host a community-wide anniversary party at the McDonald Theatre.
The celebration will feature local bluegrass band The Conjugal Visitors, Portland-based folk band The Sugar Beets, local indie rock group Saltlick and Portland blues band The Strange Tones.
The station’s development director, Bobbie Cirel, said in addition to entertainment, there will be plenty of activities.
Among those will be a giant birthday card, scrapbooks full of KRVM memories and cakes in four different flavors baked by Sweet Life Pâtisserie.
| KRVM’s 60th Anniversary Party, featuring four bands, memories and free cake. When: 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17 Where: McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St. Admission is free and open to all ages. Visit www.krvm.org for more information. |
One of the night’s most substantial events will be a presentation of a time capsule, she said.
“Someone from the station’s past will present the capsule to a current student, with the promise that the student will return for the KRVM’s 100th anniversary party to open it,” she said. “The theme behind the time capsule is children are a message that we send to a future we’ll never see.”
KRVM, which first hit the airwaves on Dec. 6, 1947, provides educational opportunities for students and community volunteers as well as a wealth of quality programming.
KRVM was the first FM station in the Pacific Northwest and it’s still on air; “that by itself is quite an achievement,” Cirel said.
“We’ve offered an outlet for many talented and creative people in our community.”
The volunteer disc jockey program was implemented within 10 or 20 years of the station’s inception.
Several former students and volunteers have shown their support for the station.
Al Scott of NRQ, Tom Krumm of KLCC, Martin Anderson of WNCW and Kent Mortimore, who currently resides in Kosovo, have all sent birthday greetings to KRVM.
Former student Neva Grant, Senior Producer of NPR’s Morning Edition, will travel from Washington D.C. to attend the party.
University alumnus and former KRVM volunteer Dave Leonnig will take time off from his freelance company in Dallas to celebrate with the station this weekend.
Cirel said she hopes the community will show their support for KRVM.
“It is an institution in this community. We’ve helped educate and plant seeds. People have taken those seeds and created careers all over the world.”
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