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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 29. 2022
Where's That Radio Station?
After death of spouse, WXJR owner hopes someone with love of radio will keep station alive
k
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Scott and Susan Erickson, the founders of WXJR FM, 102.1 FM. The station was
loved by many for the eclectic selection. Scott has since passed away and Susan is hoping
another person with the same vision to take over the station.
By Dan Huth
Contributing Writer
A week or so ago I
snapped on the kitchen radio
for the right soundtrack to ac
company the making of a
sandwich. I should have
heard WXJR FM, my fa
vorite radio station but in
stead I got static with some
distant station trying to over
power it.
I checked the dial—yup.
102.1 FM. Where'd my sta
tion go?
Next Door, the neighbor
hood chat group serving the
Jasper area became inflamed
with concern and questions
about the mystery of the
missing music. Everyone ex
pressed hope that the station
would soon be back on the
air.
Linda Blanchette wrote, "I
do hope she will be back on
air. I loved the eclectic range
of music. I shall miss 'Over
the Fields and Through the
Woods' this Christmas."
I remembered the interest
ing story the Progress had
run when the station went on
the air in 2011. It was a not-
for-profit enterprise created
and delivered by a hus
band/wife team with no pre
vious experience in radio.
That did it. I had to know.
I checked the website at
WXJRFM.com where I read
their mission statement and
saw a photo of the couple
that ran the station. I called
the phone number on their
'site and left a message. Al
most immediately Susan Er
ickson called back.
I soon found that there
was much more to this story
than would appear.
During his years of serv
ing as a pilot and aircraft en
gineer, Scott Erickson
breathed a lot of jet fuel and
exhaust.
His lungs became termi
nally damaged. All that
would save him was a lung
replacement. After a stressful
three-year wait, his name
came up and he underwent a
successful double lung-re
placement surgery.
Susan and Scott are spiri
tual people who felt com
pelled to do something to
express their gratitude and
somehow give back.
They settled on a not-for-
profit low power radio sta
tion. This station would play
all kinds of music inter
spersed with funny drop-ins
from old radio programs,
movies or TV shows like
"Batman and Robin."
You might hear a big-
band hit next to a rapper fol
lowed by a show tune or a
bluegrass gospel song. It hit
a chord and the love-notes
rolled in! (see website) Susan
feels that the reason people
find the music endearing be
cause it's done from the heart
and from listener sugges
tions.
And the music draws gen
erations together by exposing
them to each other's music."
I keep it quirky so people
won't take the music too se
riously," adds Susan.
And did it work. The
unique station found fans all
over the world were stream
ing it on the internet. "What
a way to spend a dull Sunday
in cold and cloudy Wisconsin
preparing taxes....make it the
best time listening to Wxjr
Jasper Radio." Mary Ann R."
Listeners appreciated the
eclectic mix.
"I was listening to you
playing Bill Monroe yester
day and someone said to me,
'Did you change radio sta
tions?' I said of course not;
what your hearing is some
thing called variety." Mark
W.
Four and a half years of
running the station together
was a blessing Susan remem
bers gratefully.
Then, in 2016 Scott
passed away on his 59th
birthday leaving Susan to do
it all. She threw her life into
their legacy of loving the sta
tion, their sponsors and their
listeners. We continue to hear
Scott's voice to this day be
cause the sponsors insisted
on keeping him on the air.
About two years ago
Susan had to move to Dallas,
Texas to help support her son
who is on oxygen from a
bout of Covid. Then Susan
developed serious cardiac is
sues. She had brought the
computer-driven station with
her and used the internet to
stream the programming to
the transmitter in Jasper. But
this patched-together deliv
ery system left the station
with problems.
Because she felt badly
about the ongoing technical
problems and the poor fi
delity, she took no money
from her sponsors for a year.
Although she was ap
proached by investors ready
to give her a check she
wouldn't sell to someone
who didn't share her and
Scott's mission to give back
to the community.
Unable to solve the prob
lems and not wanting to hurt
her sponsors or listeners, the
only remaining choice was to
shut the station down.
But the station just might
come back on the air. Susan
continues to live stream the
station at WXJRFM.com and
has been granted a license by
the FCC to increase power
for the on-air signal, improv
ing the coverage if the station
gets back on the air.
How could that happen?
Most of the tech issues are
caused by the distance be
tween the station (Dallas)
and the transmitter (Jasper).
She'd love to find someone
interested in running the sta
tion locally.
The station's computer
could go in this person's
home using a special modem
which connects directly with
another modem at the trans
mitter with no internet qual
ity loss.
Susan is eager to talk with
anyone interested. Call her at
(706)253-9957.
You may soon be running
the jukebox that brings
smiles back to north Georgia.
Plants of the Southeast
Ironwood, Hornbeam,
Carpinus caroliniana
By John Nelson,
University of
South Carolina
I am grateful that in my
part of the world (South Car
olina), the winters are usually
mild, and snow is a rare
event. Even with last week,
we can bear with whatever
kinds of winters we have to
put up with, and it’s that way
for plants, too. This plant has
settled down for the chilly
months, getting ready to re
sprout its leaves in the
spring.
Ironwood (or Hombea-
mas it is also known) is a na
tive, deciduous tree, found
from eastern Canada to Ne
braska, and south to Florida.
It occurs widely in all the
Southeastern states, so you
have likely seen it some
where on travels. It is partic
ularly at home in floodplains
of deep swamps, often lean
ing over creeks.
Ironwood is usually a
small tree, commonly con
sidered a member of the un
derstory, although every now
and then you can find one
that is up to 40’ or so tall.
Lots of slender branches,
very twiggy. It produces very
small, insignificant flowers,
both male and female, in the
spring, but the handsome,
toothy leaves (which remind
me of those of a beech or a
birch) and the bracts sur
rounding the flowers are
bright, attractive green.
It’s not much for a fall
color tree, as the dead leaves
are sort of gray or brown.
Those little flowers will form
small, ribbed nutlets sur
rounded by the papery bracts,
dry and papery. (I know I
shouldn’t say that the flowers
are “insignificant”. They are
quite significant in their own
way, of course, and after all,
they are the reason that this
species is able to reproduce.
It’s just that the flowers
probably won’t be showing
in corsages or in bouquets.
Maybe I should just say that
they are “humble”.) All in all,
I think this is an attractive
tree, but I don’t see it often
used in landscaping.
The wood is particularly
interesting, in being excep
tionally hard and dense; the
trees are difficult to cut for
this reason. Perhaps the most
interesting thing about this
species, and surely the easi
est identification trick (espe
cially for beginning botany
students) involves the trunk.
The trunk of the tree is
covered with thin, mostly
smooth bark, and even on
small trees it is commonly
rippled and waved, appearing
to some like taut muscle.
(Maybe we should be look
ing for it at the beach!)
By the way, this species
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Photo/John Nelson
The trunk of the Ironwood tree is covered with thin,
mostly smooth bark, and even on small trees it is commonly
rippled and waved.
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received its scientific name
(Carpinus caroliniana) in
1788, described by the
British-born botanist Thomas
Walter, who lived along the
Santee River in present-day
Berkeley County, SC. The
book that Walter published
was called “Flora Carolini
ana”, and it represents the
first American treatment of
plants employing the “new”
Linnaean system of classifi
cation. Great reading, and a
bit of a Latin workout.
©JohnNelson2022
[John Nelson is the retired
curator of the A. C. Moore
Herbarium at the University
of South Carolina, in the De
partment of Biological Sci
ences, Columbia SC 29208.
As a public service, the
Herbarium offers free plant
identifications. For more in
formation, visit www. herbar
ium, org or email
johnbnelson @sc. rr. com.]
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10 ffeal thou not; Jot 3 cun with thee:
he not dismayed; fot 3 am thy (yod:
3 will strengthen thee; yea, 3 will help
thee; yea, 3 will uphold thee with
the light hand of my lighteousness.
Jsaiah 41:10 (JCuuj James Version)
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