The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

Murray County

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  • Those in attendance at the ribbon cutting bow their heads in prayer at the radio antenna Saturday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

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December 12, 2010

Chatsworth church starts radio station

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

CHATSWORTH — More than two years have passed since members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church here got permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch an FM radio station that reaches most of Murray County and parts of Dalton.

On Saturday afternoon following worship and fellowship, more than half of the church’s roughly 65 active members attended a ribbon-cutting and witnessed 97.9 FM LifeTalk Radio come on air in Chatsworth for the first time.

Pastor Wendell Stover said he had his doubts about the church’s vision for the 150-watt radio station when he first arrived, but he sees now that God’s hand was in the plans that have been under way since at least 2003. Out of about 500 applications, the church’s application to the FCC appears to have been the only one approved, he said.

“Does that just happen?” he said. “I think God is good.”

Stover said the church plans to use the station to better the community through programming that reaches out to those in spiritual need and serves Christians as well. He added there will be room for a few minutes of local programming in addition to the syndicated content so announcements and promotions relevant to Murray residents can be on air.

“It’s not just to provide entertainment 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to build a better people and to unite those of many different faiths together in preparing to live in a place that we call heaven.”

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dinah Rowe was among several community members and public officials who attended the dedication. Rowe said she was excited about the station opening.

“It’s fantastic economic development,” she said. “We can do all kinds of community slots, and we are very supportive of this project.”

Tim Holbrook oversaw construction of the tower for the station that reaches about a 30-mile radius. Holbrook’s father, Frank Holbrook, started the church, which became officially organized in 2000 but was meeting in a storefront in Chatsworth as early as 1997. Members’ focus since then, said member Robert Cook, was “to be a witness” to those around them.

“I wish (my father) could be here,” Holbrook said. “He would be really happy about it.”

Church members and others donated money to build the tower, and volunteers will operate the station, Holbrook said. He said the satellite feed from LifeTalk allows operators to program content in advance and select from among hundreds of choices in educational and inspirational programming as well as music.

Phil Follett, a past president of LifeTalk, said there are about 72 stations across the country that receive the satellite feed that originates in Collegedale, Tenn. 91.3 FM in Dalton and 102.9 FM in Calhoun were the closest LifeTalk stations for Murray residents until the Chatsworth station opened.

For more information about the station, visit lifetalk.net.

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