In my last Friday Feedback, I talked about the technical problem we were having with the 8 PM jazz feed. One listener wrote to say “it reminds me of the Sat Night Live parody of Lawrence Welk and the out- of - control bubble machine!” I’m happy to say we did finally track down that mischievous gremlin and jazz is back uninterrupted. Speaking of jazz, another listener wrote to compliment us, I think, on our Jazz, saying “the Jazz programming is quite superior and is a planned great way to doze off.” He went on to say that our 11 PM classical music program “is a nice way to relax your mind, but IMHO, it often invokes the feeling of funeral music!”
Ben Schachtman got a very nice message about his Sunday newsletter. This subscriber wrote to say “I so appreciate your weekly newsletter! It’s something I look forward to reading every Sunday. It’s your writing style that is most impressive. You never appear to be biased – an accomplishment in these times – but you put real heart and humanity into these missives. Your whole staff has undoubtedly been inspired by your ability to express yourself.” If you’re interested in subscribing to Ben’s Sunday Edition newsletter, you can do so at whqr.org/newsletters.
As often happens, a listener to George Scheibner’s Smooth Landing program wrote to ask about a song that caught his ear, saying “Listening in my car this evening on my way home from work around 730pm, and the song was beautiful! I thought it was Nanci Griffith but I don’t think it was. It was a Christmas song with a great melody. Info please?” George knew immediately to what song he was referring, so we wrote back to this listener to say it was, in fact, Nanci Griffiths singing The Wexford Carol with the Chieftains on the CD Bells of Dublin. He quickly responded “Thanks George! It has been added to my Christmas playlist.”
Yesterday, our friend Bob Thompson offered his thoughts on this Christmas season in a commentary. We heard from a couple of listeners, one who wrote “Bob Thompson just spoke at ab 748 am and I just wanted to say he had a lovely way of being inclusive and hopeful and reiterating that Christmas is about sharing and caring, regardless of faith. Give him a high five from an avid listener! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.” Another listener wrote to ask “Would you be able to point me to a link to re-listen to a segment I heard this AM? It was a pastor from Windemere Church reading Christmas Bells by H.W Longfellow.” We wrote to tell him that all of our commentaries are posted on the WHQR website at whqr.org/commentaries. You can find the latest commentary and links to past commentaries on that page.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who responded to our one-day pledge drive last week. The response and support from our community continues to warm our hearts this challenging year with the loss of federal funding. It helps make all of us at WHQR optimistic about the future of the station and the community at large.
We love to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments and criticisms. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. Or you can email us at feedback@whqr.org. Thanks for your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.