I’ve been in radio since 2001! As a high school senior, I turned on my first mic, but it wasn’t until I landed a morning gig at the legendary 106 KHQ in Northern Michigan with Heather Lee in 2009 that I truly found my footing in the industry.
KHQ has been a powerhouse in Petoskey, Traverse City, and Northwest Michigan since the early ’80s, when FM began dominating and AM took a backseat. During my five years there, we celebrated KHQ’s 30th anniversary, reuniting original talent like Captain Bill Vogel, station founder Tim Moore, and Bob White. It was an unforgettable moment, highlighting KHQ’s major market influence despite being in a small town.
This past weekend, a powerful ice and wind storm took down the station’s 600-foot tower in East Jordan, knocking out power across the region and causing major disruptions. When I asked the chief engineer if he had ever seen anything like this, he simply said, “Never. A once-in-a-200-year storm, I bet.”
Here are some images from Brian’s Facebook post showing the aftermath, Brian has been the main man when it comes to engineering at KHQ since before I arrived. The man truly knows his stuff and kept us sounding major market the entire time I was there.
(Feature image courtesy of Facebook.com/106KHQ)
