Regional Catholic radio station startup in the works
Knights of Columbus insurance agent Tom McMahon is the moving force behind an effort to establish a Catholic radio station in northern Michigan.
It is hoped it will broadcast to the entire Diocese of Gaylord, and may begin within the next two to eight months, depending on funding.
McMahon has moved permanently to Hammond Bay to a home his family established before he was born, 62 years ago.
?I moved up here in January. I work for the K of C as an insurance agent, and I handle the Indian River, Cross In The Woods group,? McMahon said. ?In the Detroit area, we had two Catholic radio stations and I learned more in about a year about being a Catholic than I learned for the 50 years before that!?
MCMAHON HAD mentioned the idea of a radio station to the Indian River K of C group and they recommended he talk to the Rev. Harry Speckman from Cross In The Woods.
?It turned out that Fr. Speckman used to run a radio station in Illinois at one time at a Franciscan college. I approached him and told him I knew the people at Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor because I had been interviewed down there before,? McMahon said.
?I told Fr. Speckman it would be great to get somebody to start a Catholic radio station up here and he said, ?I?ve been waiting for somebody to come along for awhile now.? ?
With the expertise and advice from Fr. Speckman, McMahon decided it should be taken to the Bishop in Gaylord.
?Most of the radio stations aren?t under the auspices of the Bishop, but Father Speckman thought it was important, so I asked my boss, who lives in Gaylord, if he knew anybody who knew the Bishop and he told me he knew him because he served Mass with him three or four times per week,? McMahon recalled.
IT TURNED OUT to be the key to the project as the time was reserved for McMahon to have a meeting with the Bishop and he brought along with him the program director from Ave Maria Radio.
?We had an hour and a half meeting with the Bishop,? McMahon said. ?We started putting the project together and set up a board.?
McMahon contacted his longtime friend Laurie Przybyla of Rogers City because she is involved in the church.
?I feel there is a hunger for the ?Word? in our area and all over the world,? Przybyla said of the radio station effort. ?I think this is an excellent way that we can bring the ?Good News? into homes.?
?It turns out there is a station available out of the Mio and Gaylord area. We?re into trying to purchase that station now,? McMahon said. ?We?re putting together a broadcast that would pretty much cover the Diocese of Gaylord.?
The broadcast would start with about 95 percent of the programming coming out of Ave Maria Radio s
?We?re getting close to putting it together,? McMahon said. ?We?re hoping people will want to be involved and help out. You know, the most productive and least expensive way to educate Catholics is through radio.?
McMahon said many people don?t have time to take classes but they do have the time to listen to the radio while they are driving.
The programming will be 24/7 and is expected to reach a 30 percent non-Catholic audience. It will cover local news, mostly talk radio, with some music and call-in questions and answers.
?The programming will take a look at life through the lens of scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church,? McMahon said.<