Training and Experience Typify the KICY Staff
Arctic Radio
Project Has
Long History
The story of Radio Station
KICY, “The Voice of the Arctic,”
begins at the close of World War
II, when the Executive Board of
the Evangelical Covenant Church
first appointed a committee to
study the possibilities of locating
a broadcast station on the Alas
kan field of the denomination.
After considering the matter,
however, the board tabled the
project.
Five years ago, a group of elec
trical engineers in California
learned of the need for radio
telephones at the Alaska mission
stations of the denomination.
They formed an Alaska (Radio
Committee, of which Bill Hartman
of Lafayette was voted chair
man, and set to work to meet this
need. Consultations with Rev.
Roald Amundsen, chairman of the
Alaska mission, followed, and the
group set to work to meet the
comunications need. War surplus
equipment was purchased and
converted to meet the field need,
and in June, 1956, ten crates of j
equipment were shipped to the
field, and were followed later
by Mr. Hartman, to supervise the
installation. The radio-telephones
have greatly simplified the. com
muncation problems of the mis
sionaries at several remote points.
While in Alaska, Hartman ob
served that radio reception to
Western Alaska, where villages
are often thirty or fifty or even
hundreds of miles apart, is poor.
The nearest commercial broad
casting stations are at Anchorage
and Fairbanks, while only a small
Armed Forces radio station is op
erated at Nome.
Upon his return to the United
States, Hartman reported his -im
pressions to the secretary of world
missions, providing as well, a
technical survey for the proposed
radio station. The project was
again considered by the boafS of
missions, and the executive board,
a committee being appointed to
study the matter. A recommen
dation was brought to the 1957
Annual Meeting of the Covenant
regarding the station, and was
unanimously adopted, giving auth
orization to continue studying the
possibility of establishing a mis
sionary radio station at Nome, to
take the necessary preliminary
steps, including the filing of ap
plication to the Federal Commu
nications Commission for license,
and to report detailed findings to
the 1958 Annual Meet. At the
1958 annual meeting in Miami
Beach, Fla., the project was given
final _ approval. By that time,
Arthur Zylstra, radio missionary
of some years’ experience, had
been appointed to head the pro
ject, and preliminary plans had
been made.
Months of planning, thousands of
hours of hard work, and a capital
investment of more than a hun
dred thousand-dollars have been
required in order that the simple
announcement: “KICY is on the
air!” might be made. During the
summers of 1958 and 1959, con
struction was carried out in order
to provide housing and building
necessary for the station’s opera
tion. The culmination of the ma
jor construction for the station's
need is the, signal for thanks
giving in the hearts of many who
live in isolated circumstances in
villages on the Western Alaska
coast.
The Boy Scouts of America now
has an active enrollment of
4,500,000 boys'and men.
' The personnel -tWat make up
the staff of Nome’s new broadcast
facility, KICY, are not newcom
ers to the industry by any means.
The total of their training and ex
perience could well match that of
broadcasters anywhere.
Basically the staff is made up
of three families, with all adult
members of the family partici
pating in. various station activi
ties. It is obvious that, in a sta
tion the size of KICY, the per
sonnel must be individuals of
varied experience and capabili
ties.
Art Zylstra Is General Manager
Rev. Arthur Zylstra, project
director and secretary of Arctic
Broadcasting Association, will
head the administrative branch
of station activities as general
manager. iMr. Zylstra has had
more than 20 years’ experience in
MR. ARTHUR ZYLSTRA
KICY General Manager
various phases of radio broad
casting. During World War II he
spent 18 months in naval train
ing schools studying radio and
radar. Following the war, he con
tinued his education in the field
of radio and radio broadcasting.
Mr. Zylstra has served on the staff
of several U. S. stations, and also
on the staff of Radio Station
HCJB, The Voice of the Andes,
in Quito, Ecuador. This station is
known as the “Pioneer Missionary
Broadcaster." In 1954 Mr. Zylstra
and his family were transferred
to Panama where he managed
radio station HOXO, the Voice of
The Isthmus. During this time,
Mr. Zylstra served a term as
president of the Panamerican
Christian Network of radio
stations.
mmm mmm
MRS. ARTHUR ZYLSTRA
Program Department
Mrs. Zylstra is an accomplished
instrumental musician, and will
be heard accompanying musical
groups on KICY programs. Her
voice will also become known to
Voice of the Arctic listeners on
some of the programming pre
sented especially for the station’s
female audience.
Chief Engineer Is Ralph Fondell
Ralph Fondell, chief engineer
for the new station, has been em
ployed in the radio broadcast field
sinc£ 1952. He is a graduate of
North Park Jr. College, and holds
a degree in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Minnesota.
MR. RALPH V. FONDELL
Chief Engineer
Mr. Fondell’s chief concern will
be the proper functioning of the
technical equipment of KICY,
which includes the transmitter,
studio consoles, tape-recording and
playback equipment, remote con
trol equipment, and other elec
tronic devices requiring special
knowledge to repair and main
tain. Listeners to KICY programs
will also come to recognize and
idolize the deep bass announcing
voice of this talented engineer,
who also participates musically
on some KICY vocal programs.
MRS. RALPH FONDELL
Program Department
and Accounting
Mrs. Fondell is a graduate of
North Park Jr. College and North
Park Bible Institute. With a nat
ural flare for mathematics, Mrs.
Fondell will nicely fill a need in
the business and accounting area
for K.ICY. Possessed of a lovely ;
contralto voice and a natural ,
feeling for musical expression, \
Mrs. Fondell will be heard on
many of the station’s musical
programs. She also will be re
sponsible for a daily program for
women listeners to be called
‘ Lines from a Mother’s Scrap
book.”
Highly Trained Program Director
The position of program direc- |
tor on the KICY staff will be ca- 1
pably filled by Mr. Howard Nel- [
son. A native Iowan, Mr. Nelson !
has attended North Park College 1
MR. HOWARD D. NELSON
Program Director
and holds a degree from Augus
tana College. Mr. Nelson’s prac
tical training in the field of radio
broadcasting was gained while at
tending Brown Institute of Broad
casting in Minneapolis, one of
the outstanding training centers
in the broadcast industry. In ad
dition . to gaining experimental
knowledge in the1 latest techniques
of program production, he here
gained the technical knowledge
prerequisite to obtaining his First
Class Radiotelephone license, a
mark of achievement which he
shares with the .slation’s chief
engineer, Ralph Fondell.
MRS. HOWARD NELSON
Program Department
Mrs. Nelson, while directly con
nected to the KICY staff, at pres
ent invests the major portion of
her time in service a the Maynard
MacDougall Memorial Hospital,
where her special abilities in the
field of anesthesia are today mak
ing possible tlte undertaking of
surgical corrective measures that
heretofore could not be attempted.
Mrs. Nelson’s musical talents,
along with those of her husband,
will be providing enjoyment to
KICY listeners when the station
begins its broadcasts.
Unalakleel Graduate for Secretary
One of Nome’s fairer citizens,
Miss Charlene Komakhuk, is em
ployed by KICY as a secretary
and receptionist. Miss Komakhuk
is excellently qualified for the
position, and is a graduate of the
Covenant ’High School at Unalak
leet. In these days, prior to be
ginning broadcast operations, Miss
Komakhuk has been setting up
a card file cross index on the hun
dreds of records in the KICY rec
ord library, to facilitate handling
of music. This talented young lady
will also be participating in some
of the KICY broadcasts and Jier
voice will soon become a favorite
of Voice of the Arctic listeners.
KICY To Serve
Commercial Needs
In Western Alaska
Although backed by a religious
denomination, the Evangelical
Covenant Church of America,
Radio Station KICY, the Voice of
the Arctic, will operate under a
commercial license and will per
form the advertising functions for
Western Alaska merchants that
might be expected of any com
mercial broadcasting station. It
is the feeling of the station ad
ministration that this should lead
to an improvement in the econom
ic status of Nome, in that it will
bring trade to Nome from sur
rounding villages who now ship
items in from other trading
centers.
The station is equipped with
every facility necessary for the
air presentation of commercial
messages, and pledges itself to
assist wherever possible in better
ing the Nome economy and that of
the area it serves. A rate card,
outlining nominal charges for ad
vertising services, has been pre
pared, and is available to local
merchants on request.
Asked whether the station
would handle any kind of adver
tising, Art Zylstra, station man
ager, recently commented:
“KICY will be governed in its
advertising policies by the regu
lations of the Federal Cofnmuni
cations Commission, the Federal
Trade Commission, and the ethi
cal practices as outlined in the
Radio Standards of Good Prac
tice developed by the National
Association of Broadcasters, of
which organization KICY is a
member. It should be remembered
that the FCC requires that a ra
dio station operate its service ‘in
the public interest, convenience
and necessity.’ Whenever the sta
tion administration is convinced
that the purchase and consump- ,
tion of a given product is ‘in the
public interest, convenience and
necessity,’ it stands to reason this
product qualifies for advertise
ment on the station. Naturally,
certain products of dubious value
to our listening public will not be
recommended for use by our
listeners.”
KICY Begins
Programs Soon
Radio Station KICY, which is
dedicating its broadcast facilities
in special programs this weekend,
will begin the broadcast of reg
ular programs as soon as equip
ment test procedures can be com
pleted. At the present time these
tests are being conducted by
qualified engineers. Following
the tests there will be an inspec
tion by the FCC engineer in
charge of this district, Mr. Harold
Oe Voe. When results of the tests
and inspection have satisfied the
Federal Communications Commis
sion in' Washington, permission
will be granted the KICY admin
istration to begin releasing pro
gram material over the air. Much
tape-recorded program material
is already on hand, and programs
to be released “live” from the
studios are in the planning stage
as “on air” time approaches.
Listeners interested in follow
ing the equipment tests will often
hear signals transmitted from the
station on 850 kc. “You may hear
a radio carrier, a 'tone signal, or
a voice identification of the sta
tion stating that it is a test
broadcast,” advised Art Zylstra,
station manager.
Area residents may expect to
enjoy iKICY’s regular program
ming in the not distant future. .