Authored by: cgrotke on Tuesday, April 19 2011 @ 03:00 PM GMT+4

Most times when there has been some sort of crisis or
event in town, WVEW's DJ's are able to put a personal
spin on things - they're able to choose songs to
accompany holidays, elections, feeling great on a nice
day, and feeling down when something bad happens.
Listeners are treated to words and music from people in
the community - it pulls us together.

I almost instinctively went to turn on 107.7 on Monday - a
hefty helping of the blues from Blue Monday seemed
appropriate. Instead, static.

We had a WVEW board meeting Monday night to figure out
what next steps would be... a fair amount of it is being
patient while the building is checked out, then going
through the insurance process and so on. Equipment and
records were almost certainly damaged or destroyed.

DJ's will be meeting to come up with a plan to get back
on the air asap. They'll need your support as time goes
on.

Community radio is an important part of the community
media mix in Brattleboro. The streaming is a good short-
term fix, but I think radio is best beaming from an
antenna. I need to hear WVEW in the car. I miss it
already.

Authored by: Rolf on Tuesday, April 19 2011 @ 08:07 PM GMT+4

". Equipment and records were almost certainly
damaged or destroyed."

LP records may be fine. I talked to the fire dept and
was told that they didn't think there was much heat
at that end of the second floor. A lot of water, but not
much heat.

To me, the potential loss of irreplaceable
recordings of Vermont musicians, some of whom
played in Brattleboro, that is my primary
concern. So hearing them state that they think not
much heat got into that portion of the building that
was encouraging.

Of course, we will not know until we get in there.

Rolf

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Dreams Trump Video

Authored by: larrybloch on Tuesday, April 19 2011 @ 08:20 PM GMT+4

Earlier this afternoon I attended a meeting at the River
Garden for Brooks House business tenants facilitated by
Town Manager Barb Sondag, Fire Chief Bucossi, and Public
Works director Steve Barrett.

We were given an update on the structural evaluation of
the building, which is very good, and the extent of
damage to the interior, which is not.

Then we were escorted individually to briefly visit our
businesses, to remove any essentials and assess the
extent of the damage as best we could.

My observations were:

All the records and CD's are soaked.

The mixing board and turntables are also soaked.

The rack mounted components are wet, but perhaps less
so.

The more hopeful news is that the one piece of equipment
that appears to have escaped (maybe) alot of water
damage is our transmitter.

In any event:

Between 7 and 9 am tomorrow (Wednesday) morning we
have our first chance (not sure when there will be another
chance) to remove whatever we want to from our studio.
We must be out no later than 9am sharp and we will be
assigned a fire marshall escort and given hard hats.

If we choose to use a vehicle to transport the equipment
elsewhere, that car needs to arrive before 7am and access
the area via High Street and await instructions.

However, I rent a secure storage unit in the River Garden
for my personal use. There is enough left over room, I
believe, for our components if that is preferred for now or
if no one else volunteers to take possession of whatever
we remove.

I am not sure if there is a limit on the number of
volunteers permitted but I think the more hands the
better.

We will surely need tools, gloves and flashlights.

Perhaps we could also make use of extra large / heavy
duty trash bags and boxes.

There is no power available at the Brooks House.

We will also need to document everything we have lost for
insurance purposes.

I learned from Barb Sondag that there is a SBAP (small
businees assistance plan) that will cover non-profits when
and where the insurance coverage falls short. This is only
available in such a catastrophe but Barb believes that we
would qualify.

BTW, our antenna is secure according to one of the
firemen I spoke with, and access to it will be available as
one of the fire escapes leading up there is intact. For
now, I do not believe this needs to be removed as there is
currently no need or plan to remove that part of the
Brooks House roof.

Let's meet up in front of the River Garden tomorrow
morning shortly before 7am.

Please respond herein if you know you can make it,
particularly anyone who understands the best way to do
this and what you can bring.

I have a few screwdrivers, one flashlight, and one pair of
gloves.

See you tomorrow.

Enjoy the evening,

Larry

Authored by: jasonb on Tuesday, April 19 2011 @ 09:57 PM GMT+4

I'll come and help. I have a flashlight, gloves and I can bring a cordless drill. I can also bring a few empty boxes.

Authored by: larrybloch on Tuesday, April 19 2011 @ 10:31 PM GMT+4

It has been decided to delay the removal of equipment
tomorrow in order to allow our insurance agent to first visit
the studio. Thanks to all who were planning to volunteer to
help and stay tuned.

Larry

Authored by: annikee on Wednesday, April 20 2011 @ 12:37 AM GMT+4

Thanks everyone for the info & please keep us posted. Bratt's not the same without VEW. I'll be sending money as soon as I have some.

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"You can't have everything, or anything, at all." -Alicia Stockwell