The year 2013 was a busy year for volunteering. Most of my attention was devoted to Little Raleigh Radio, both as a boardmember and as a volunteer. We obtained equipment and set up a studio on St. Mary’s Street. I configured a music server and helped integrate it into the studio. We worked together in the fall to locate suitable transmitter sites and filed our FCC application.
Then the filing window closed and we saw we were one of five groups to apply for our frequency. Not only that, we were the youngest organization to file, meaning we almost certainly lose out to the others when the FCC grants its license. We’re still plotting our next steps but it’s depressing to see this opportunity slipping away with little we can do about it.
I also joined the board of Friends of Dorothea Dix Park (FDDP) this year and have enjoyed helping guide this project towards its goal. As you know, earlier this year the General Assembly threatened to tear up the contract Gov. Perdue signed to lease the Dix land to the City of Raleigh. Work is being done to come up with new terms and the group is doing whatever it can to assist. If it was worth doing one time, it’s worth doing again.
Toward the end of the year, I attended a redistricting forum by the North Carolina Center for Government and Lobbying Reform (a.k.a., End Gerrymandering Now). Immediately I saw a need to offer my data organization skills to help this group get its message out. I’ve only had a few meetings with them so far but see many ways I could lend a hand to this important effort.
I still update the website of Friends of World Music but I haven’t been asked to do much more. I hope I can do more for this group, too, as I get back into listening to world music on a regular basis.