RANGELEY — In the last 15 years, a lot has changed at WRGY 90.5 FM, but one thing has remained constant: The community station serves as a hub for information, entertainment and creativity.

On Oct. 1, 2010, WRGY was broadcast for the first time from its Main Street studio. Station Manager Iris Ramirez said the station was brought to life by Dr. Dave McMillan and the late Ron Hoar. With no great signal from commercial radio stations, the two believed a community radio station would fill a void.

“They started the station together. Dave was on the business side of it, and Ron was more on the broadcasting side of it. Dave has helped this community so much, and he helped get the theater going. He had this dream of having a radio station in town, and now we’ve been doing that for 15 years,” Ramirez said. 

The station still plays repeats of “Ron Hoar’s Oldies” at 9 a.m. daily.

Throughout the week, WRGY airs live shows hosted by locals. “Pine Tree Prog,” hosted by Russ Murley, airs Fridays at 4 p.m. His show has aired on WRGY for more than a year, he said.

“I fell in love with radio when I was a teenager and started working on both college and commercial radio as a student in college,” Murley said. “I had a brief career in commercial radio as an announcer in the 1980s and early ’90s before focusing on my television career. I love getting back to my roots and helping to build this station for the whole community to enjoy.” 

Tim Straub has been part of the fabric of the station since its early days. His show, “Straub Power Hour,” is broadcast on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. and repeats on Sundays at 6 p.m.

“I began a collaboration with WRGY back in 2011 as a teacher, introducing students to the historical, technological, and creative aspects of radio,” Straub said. “It became a weekly (Rangeley Lakes Regional School) show for around a year, as part of the Media Club. I began my own show four years ago and it transformed into a weekly gig two years later. It’s usually thematically driven and includes music, movies, literature, comedy, live guests, both locals and those from away, and often resembles some of my old lesson plans.” 

Ramirez said the station is a creative outlet for people to share stories and to create their own.

“Audio arts is not a traditional art like visual arts or theater. People have this creative freedom to do something different that they normally wouldn’t get to do anywhere else, like tell a story on live radio,” she said.

With segments like the community calendar and weather updates, the station serves as a communication hub for the region including Phillips, Andover, Eustis and Errol, NH.

“If you want something aired instantly or within a few days, we can put it on the air for you. Honestly, it is just a way for people to connect and get to know the community,” she said.

It takes about $80,000 to operate the station, including rent, marketing, equipment upgrades, licenses and royalties for both broadcasting and streaming. Ramirez is the station’s only paid employee, she said. Local hosts volunteer for weekly hourlong shows.

“Right now, we are doing a whole studio facelift which will include a backup transmitter. If our transmitter on Saddleback ever goes down, we will be able to switch the backup on and we’ll be back on air,” she said.

The station relies on private funding through business underwriters, individual donations and fundraising.

“We don’t get any federal funding, which has been a good thing for us as of lately. There are stations in Maine that did receive federal funding and are affected, like one of our sister stations, WERU,” Ramirez said.

The Down East community radio station lost a quarter of its funding when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was defunded by Congress.

“They were able to raise over $100,000 in two weeks. It just shows how much people need and love radio,” Ramirez said.

Murley said community radio is important to the region due to the lack of reasonable signal from other stations.

“It’s an important part of our community in that we pass on local weather, warnings, information and I feel WRGY contributes to the overall culture of the Rangeley Lakes region. It’s another small piece that connects the citizens to the unique feel of our community,” he said.

Straub said WRGY is a purveyor of the local identity.

“It promotes the best of who we are, and it has become an essential ingredient to our town’s character. Something I hope I never hear in the future is, “Remember when we used to have a radio station?” Straub said.

The biggest obstacle, Ramirez said, is finding people who are interested in helping with programming or having their own show.

“We are seeing a bit of a surge in that area but we are always looking for new hosts. When I first started in 2023, we had one show. Now we are up to nine and I’ve had at least four or five more people tell me they were interested in doing new shows. That alone is a success. The fact that people are interested in participating in what we do daily is just incredible,” she said.

For more information about WRGY, visit wrgy.org.