Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • 10

Vi.Trif1 .11 T'TM 10 THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1991 rffttwrffiM -pi ii a. i I Music of America comes home to Mt. Equinox and WJAN-FM Kusala described the stations general sound as upbeat without being noisy. Likewise, Clark said hes looking for a tempo thats medium to medium fast. We dont want to put people to sleep, he said.

An immediate goal for the new station is to distinguish itself from WGNA-FM, which broadcasts out of Albany, N.Y. and, according to Clark, enjoys a 30 percent share of the Bennington County radio market. As part of an effort to give the programming more of a local focus, Kusala and Morlino hired Fisher, a reporter for Troys WTRY-AM, to head what remains a one-woman news department. Budgetary constraints pose a significant obstacle to Fishers plans to assemble a crew of stringers to cover the surrounding communities. For yesterdays broadcast a Glens Falls newspaper editor and a television meteorologist filed reports.

Gathering the music Assembling a collection of recorded music can be an expensive proposition for a fledgling radio station. The station has so far assembled a library of about 100 CDs, many of which are compilation albums featuring several tunes. Kusala said promotional CDs are typically available from recording companies only for recently released material. Companies are more inclined to provide their products to larger stations that report their playlists to trade magazines such as Billboard, the Gavin Report, and Radio and Records, according to Kusala. For the forseeable future, the only in-house programming to be broadcast by WJAN is two four-hour shows: Kusalas morning show from 6 to 10 a.m.

and an afternoon show from 3 to 7 p.m. hosted by Clark. The remaining 16 hours of weekday airtime features the live programming of a Dallas-based satellite feed called Satellite Music Network. Kusala and Clark feel the stations management imposes few restrictions other than sticking to a country format on their selection of music. I have a lot more control here than at any other station Ive worked at in terms of what 1 can play, Kusala said.

Clark, who runs a wholesale produce company in Dorset, returns to radio on a part-time basis after a 5-and-'2 year hiatus. Yesterdays afternoon show was his first time on the air since September 1985 when he locked himself into the control room of WEQX, where he worked as program director, in protest of what he believed to be an underhanded change in that stations format. His return to radio is motivated by his love for the medium and for country music. Clark said he sees his work with WJAN not so much as a job but as a hobby. He agreed to take the job when Morlino offered him complete freedom in the stations musical direction.

Clark said he will focus on music produced since the late 1970s. At a time when the radio audience for country music has hit an all-time high, there has been a profusion of new country artists that Clark wants to play. However, Clark plans to play an occasional classic tune from the 1940s and 50s on his show. I think the 70-year-old farmer out in Pawlet who listens to the radio all day should be able to get to hear Eddie Arnold once in while, he said. BRIAN MAFFLY BANNER STAFF WRITER MANCHESTER Powered by a transmitter atop Mt.

Equinox, a radio station calling itself the new home of Americas music began filling the valleys of southwestern Vermont with country music yesterday morning. WJAN-FM became Bennington Countys fourth radio station at 6:02 a.m. It hit the airwaves with Whitney Houstons version of the Star Spangled Banner and then launched into Arlo Guthries City of New Orleans. Programming director Fran Kusala and news director Judy Fisher hosted the stations first four hours on the air. The pair spent that airtime hammering out kinks in their shows flow of music, weather, news and ads and greeting a steady stream of well-wishers bearing balloons and potted plants.

Fran, dont you think we should drop sports by 9 oclock? Everyones sported out by then, Fisher suggested to her boss shortly before going on the air to announce the latest offerings of the Associated Press: Trouble with the space shuttle; poor turn-out at Moscows May Day celebrations; an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska. Sure, Kusala replied without looking up from the levers we was adjusting on the control board. Not bad for a news director who was fired twice yesterday, he joked as Fisher left the cramped control room. Later Fisher explained that radio is typically the listeners first media experience of the day. Announcing sports scores is appropriate when listeners still havent opened the days newspaper.

But by 9 youve got the paper; you can read (the sports) yourself, she said. Theater of the mind Smoking is prohibited in the stations small office on Lincoln Avenue, so Kusala took occasional breaks outside in the sun-filled parking lot to sate his two-pack-a-day cigarette habit. The beauty of this business is that its theater of the mind, Kusala said, explaining his attraction to the medium of radio during one such nicotine break. 1 have people saying it sounds as if theres 400 people in here, but theres only two of us. Kusala, a 29-year-old native of Hoosick Falls, N.Y., comes to WJAN with nearly a decade of radio experience.

But because his expertise is in rock formats primarily with Manchesters powerful WEQX-FM in which songs are over four minutes long, he has trouble with the brevity of country tunes. He often found himself yesterday scurrying for a CD as a song was coming to an unexpected conclusion. You dont get a chance to catch your breath, he said. Kusala confessed country doesnt top his list of favorite music (My problem with country is that I was raised on it.) and he referred most formatjquestions to the stations music director Willy Clark. But the fact remains they are quality musicians and you can understand the lyrics, he added in support of the stations choice of format, which is largely the result of community requests, according to owner Ron Morlino.

Photos by Brian Maffly Program director Fran Kusala at tho holm. rax? 41 A.S 1 1 1 i i Nows direct i wlr Ernie James Is production assistant for WJAN-FM, tho countys newest radio station. CALENDARSEVEN DAYSMAY 2-MAY 8, 1991 including an evening fireworks extravaganza; for information contact the GMC public relations office at 287-9313, ext. 307. MONDAY, MAY 6 LECTURE: Francis Fox Piven, an advocate for impoverished Americans and the author of four books on the growing cycle of poverty in America, gives a lecture at Bennington College at 8:15 p.m.

in Barn public welcome. THURSDAY, MAY 2 FILM: Cyrano De Bergerac at Images Cinema at 50 Spring Williamstown, shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. FRIDAY, MAY 3 AIR BAND CONCERT: Mount Anthony Union Junior High School holds annual air band concert in the high school auditorium at 7 p.m.; doors open 6:30 p.m. and admission is advance ticket sales in the cafeteria before the start of school Thursday and Friday mornings, as well as at lunch Friday. BLUES: The Off Balance Blues Band plays at Bucks Tavern May 3-4 from 9 p.m.

to closing; $4 cover charge. JAZZ: Blues Wing jazz quartet from Albany plays from 8:30 to midnight at Park Bench Cafe in Manchester; no cover charge. SATURDAY, MAY 4 BENNINGTON MARIONETTES: "The Sorcerers Circus is presented by the marionettes at Green Mountain College In Withey Hall at 3 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.; shows are free and a part of the college Bicentennial Day celebration; call 802-287-9313, ext. 307 for information.

CLEAN UP DAY: Hubbard Hall staff, board members, members and community supporters join forces at nooon to clean the hall and get it sparkling for the 1991 summer season; everyone welcome to come and help; cleaners gather immediately following the perennial sale from 10 a.m. to noon; bring a mop, a rag, a sponge or whatever cleaning supplies you have; for more information call Hubbard Hall offices at 518-677-2495. OPEN HOUSE: Spring arrives at the Peter Matteson Tavern, East Road, Shaftsbury; celebration is from 2 to 4 p.m.; sheep shearing, spinning and weaving with old-time music; for information call 447-1571. MUSEUM OPENING: Park McCullough House in North Bennington opens for the season. CONCERT: Savoy Truffle, a popular New England rock and roll band, in concert at Green Mountain College today from 3-5 p.m.; free, no reservations required; part of the colleges Bicentennial Day celebration from 3 to 8 p.m.

featuring over 40 different family events and activities, TUESDAY, MAY 7 FILM: "Surname Viet Given Name Nam presented by the Bennington College Womens Issues Study Group at 6:30 p.m. in Barn film was conceived and directed by French-educated, Vietnamese-born multimedia artist Trinh T. Minh-ha; public invited. QUILTMAKING CLASS: Seminole Patchwork," quiltmaking class offered at Hubbard Hall, 25 E. Main Cambridge, N.Y.

and taught by Chris Elgin; 7-9 p.m. tonight and May 14; course explores the machine piecing technique developed by Seminole Indians; registration fee, $18; classes held at Hubbard Hall; contact Allison Caldwell at 518-677-2495. HONEY BEE: A quiltmaking course for beginners and those wishing to sharpen their patchwork skills at Hubbard Hall, Cambridge, N.Y.; course runs today and May 14 from 9:30 a.m. to noon or Wednesdays May 8 and 15 from 7 to 9:30 p.m.; for information call Allison Caldwell at 518-677-2495. ONGOING ACTIVITIES EXHIBIT "Agnes, Esther and Alva," a showing of artwork by three residents of Equinox Terrace Agnes Healy, Esther Perry and Alva Prouty at the Mark Skinner Library in Manchester through May 7.

EXHIBIT: 13th annual SVSU student art show through May 12 in the corridor gallery of the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center; show includes works with themes related to the state bicentennial. EXHIBIT: Master prints from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. David Tunick through August 25, 1991; works by Durer, Rembrandt, Piranesi and Canaletto are among 30 master prints on loan from personal collection of the Tumcks; late 15th century through 18th century; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, 413-597-2429. EXHIBIT: "Sumptuous Surroundings: Silver Overlay on Ceramic and Gtass, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, exhibit incldtles vases, teapots, capotes, bowls and other forms adorned with silver webbing; organized, by the Milwaukee Art Museum; call 413-458-9545.

EXHIBIT: Face to Face, 14 portraits from four centuries hung in pairs to create unusual encounters, through Mciy all selected from the Clark collection by students in the museum studies seminar; at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 413-458-9545. Lnl-Lyn Johnson prparoo tho horb garden at tho Potor Matteson Tavern In Shaftsbury. Tho taverns open house Is Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. See Savon Days..