Volunteers

Mark Abrahamson

Contributions to WTIP: Host of North Shore Morning Monday, Tuesday and Friday; North Shore Weekend on Saturday; Tuesday Classics and Sounds of the Spirit

Tracy Benson

Contributions to WTIP: Hosting and co-hosting North Shore Morning ; Monday & Saturday Night Mix; Musical Chairs

Why I vounteer: I believe WTIP is another fine example of why Cook County is like no other.

Fun Fact: I would rather be teaching skiing!

Bill Burkhardt

Contributions to WTIP: Host of Swing Session and special national holiday programming; voice for sports and fund drive promos; business planning.

Why I vounteer: To ensure that Radio, the most personal of mass media, is available to touch the lives of Cook County residents and visitors when most needed.

Fun Fact: If I discover their birth date, I've been known to call people up on the telephone and sing "Happy Birthday" to them!

Bill Hansen

Contributions to WTIP: Community Advisory Board, underwriter, on-air talent/pitch person for pledge drives, West End News community voice.

Why I vounteer: Because WTIP makes a significant contribution to our region’s quality of life. It’s a miracle!

Fun Fact: I was an on-air volunteer at KUMD in Duluth, off and on, for more than 25 years.

Tyler J. Howell

Contributions to WTIP: Host various programs including Swing Session, Monday Night Mix, Wednesday Night Jazz, Thirsty Boots, Roadhouse, Boomer Jam, Saturday Night Mix and Women In Music. I also help out with remote broadcasts, remote set up, pledge drives and the Radio Waves Music Festival.

Why I vounteer: I really enjoy the people I've met at WTIP. Many I can call friends. I am passionate about the music I play on the air and love to share what I've found.

Fun Fact: I love to sail, instruct adults and work with my hands.

Marcia Hyatt

Contributions to WTIP: I'm the creator of and voice behind the weekly feature Best of Ourselves (airs Saturdays on North Shore Weekend), as well as other special programming. I also answer phones during pledge drives.

Why I vounteer: Because WTIP is a valuable community resource.

Fun Fact: I was on my college football team for one season.

Peter Igoe

Contributions to WTIP: I was involved with the idea of WTIP, long before the station existed, as the first chairperson of the group that began the process of bringing community radio to the North Shore in January of 1992. Many meetings around the kitchen table later, many applications to the IRS and FCC later, WTIP has taken root and has far exceeded my expectations. I host Old Time Radio Hour on Tuesday evening.

Fun Fact: When not hosting Old Time Radio Hour, or working two jobs, I enjoy high school hockey, being in the woods and listening to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Saturday afternoons.

Jerry Lilja

Contributions to WTIP: Host of Tuesday Classics once a month, and membership drive co-host and contributor.

Why I vounteer: WTIP is about our community, it's quality radio and it's just a great place with great people to be around.

Fun Fact: Playing the music I love on the radio is "out of the box" fun for me.

Roger Linehan

Contributions to WTIP: I was the WTIP Program Director from late 2007 to early 2013. During that time we went to 24-hour-a-day WTIP programmed broadcasts. Currently, I produce and host the monthly All Around The Beatles as well as hosting Musical Chairs once or twice per month.

Why I vounteer: WTIP is a good way to draw the community together for entertainment, news, weather, emergency info, community and cultural events, and more. It's important.

Fun Fact: My first career, decades ago, was as a journalist including time with United Press International.

Susan Maijala

Contributions to WTIP: I don't remember exactly what year I started volunteering. Probably around 1994 when I began attending planning meetings, bake sales, dance-a-thons and eventually on-air broadcasting in 1998. I served on the Board of Directors from 1996-2002, Programming Committee from 1998-2002, and have been an on-air host since 1998. I currently host Thirsty Boots, Small Change, Polka Time, Classic Country, the occasional North Shore Morning and Digest, and volunteer at the Radio Waves Music Festival.

Why I vounteer: Volunteering at WTIP enables me to help provide a service to the community and allows me to share music and entertainment with listeners world wide.

Fun Fact: I traveled the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Khabarovsk, 5,700 miles!

Martha Marnocha

Contributions to WTIP: Volunteer music program host and feature producer since 2013.

Norman Moe

Contributions to WTIP: I volunteer as an on-air sports announcer for both football and basketball games of the local high school teams – Go Vikings!

Why I vounteer: I enjoy being a part of the great team at WTIP that contributes in multiple ways to the community.

Fun Fact: Being the serious guy that I am, I find it difficult to come up with a fun fact about myself. However, I am sure there are many people who have lots of ideas concerning facts about me that they might view as fun or even hysterical. At least that is my hope.

Brian Neil

Contributions to WTIP: I small-c cohost on North Shore Morning, as well as small-c cohost on The Roadhouse. And if someone calls during a pledge drive they just might hear my voice answering.

Why I vounteer: I volunteer with WTIP as my part of helping to build community.

Fun Fact: When I'm not volunteering at WTIP you'll likely find me out searching for a tree to hug. Have YOU hugged a tree today?

Phil "Dr. Oz E" Oswald

Contributions to WTIP: A member first, DJ second.

Why I vounteer: A great chance to be a member of the North Shore community.

Fun Fact: My first radio gig was at KMSC 650 AM at Moorhead State College in September, 1971.

Joni Peterson

Contributions to WTIP: Program host of Thirsty Boots, Women in Music, Saturday Night Mix, Monday Night Mix, Polka Time and Classic Country. I also have volunteered to help during pledge drives and for the Radio Waves Music Festival.

Why I vounteer: It's a chance to share the music I love, a chance to contribute to the community and an avenue for getting to know people.

Fun Fact: Live for music, WTIP & my swimming children, teaching at Y since 1983. These and my loving dog are my life.

Annie Possis

Contributions to WTIP: Small Change host, music fill-in host, proofreader for website and anything else WTIP needs, former board member.

Why I vounteer: because it's one of the best things going for Cook County, bringing the community together, providing information and entertainment, and drawing in visitors and friends.

Fun Fact: I'm torn between wanting to be a willow tree or a rock and roll drummer in my next life.

Kurt Redborg

Contributions to WTIP: I have been hosting and programming String Theory since 2013 and I am one of the four hosts for Tuesday Classics since 2018.

Why I vounteer: It gives me connection to the community and allows me to share music that I love and that people might not be familiar with. In addition, research for the programs brings me in contract with music that I had previously not been familiar with.

Fun Fact: I taught entomology (insects) and human physiology to students at a small Iowa college for thirty years.

Mike Reeves

Contributions to WTIP: Host a number of music programs: Boomer Jam, Women in Music, and Monday Night Mix. Co-host for membership drives; Minnesota State Fair co-host; Board member.

Why I vounteer: I was impressed with the community of people associated with WTIP, both staff and volunteers. The station presents unique opportunities for volunteers to share their interests and passion and, for me, that was music.

Fun Fact: I was a drummer and played in a rhythm and blues soul review in St. Louis in the '60s and '70s.

Lin Salisbury

Contributions to WTIP: I'm the producer and host of Superior Reads and Superior Reviews.

Why I vounteer: I love books and want to support authors and our community by bringing them together.

Fun Fact: Years ago, I was jailed in Budapest through no fault of my own … ;)

John Silliman

Contributions to WTIP: I host the Classic Country, Polka Time, Thirsty Boots, Women in Music, and Monday Night Mix shows.

Why I vounteer: I enjoy being part of something that brings this community together in a way that nothing else can.

Fun Fact: I play eleven different types of musical instruments.

Carl Solander

Contributions to WTIP: I host a number of music programs about once a month, including Blues with Carl on Saturday afternoons, and Women In Music, Polka Time and Classic Country on Sundays.

Why I vounteer: Variety is the spice of life!

Fun Fact: A favorite pastime of mine is traveling (to music festivals in the summertime), and also gardening. A favorite quote: "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep." -- Robert Frost.

Paul Stucker

Contributions to WTIP: Keeping the music mixes mix-y for a variety of shows and a Small Change host. Proud member since before I called Cook County home.

Why I vounteer: This station is a true gem and is representative of so many of the qualities that make this a great place to live. Sharing music that I love and have discovered is a treat. Hearing others do the same is even better.

Fun Fact: As a high schooler, my first job was as an overnight radio DJ on my small town's polka radio station. I played classic country western.

Rainbow Trout

Contributions to WTIP: Host of Polka Time and Classic Country…and on occasion Thirsty Boots and Monday Night Mix. I also help ‘behind the scenes’ with remote broadcasts, parades and many other events.

Why I vounteer: The listener-members are WTIP. The volunteers and staff just operate the station for them.

Dennis Waldrop

Contributions to WTIP: Rotating host of Saturday Night Mix and Monday Night Mix.

Why I vounteer: I admire the WTIP organization and all it has to offer to the community.

Fun Fact: I enjoy expressing my thoughts and words through the music I play being a DJ.