Local arts organization free103point9 begins public workshops for a new community radio station this month with events at the Catskill Community Center and hosted by the Cairo Library at the Cairo Town Hall. free103point9, an 11-year-old arts organization, recently won a license for a 3,300-watt non-commercial radio station broadcasting at 90.7-FM that will be a community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform for local participation. The station’s inclusive programming will connect diverse voices, and distribute information across the public spectrum in New York's Greene and Columbia Counties.

Studios for the station will be in the Catskill Community Center as well as in Hudson, Cairo, and other towns throughout the two counties, and live programming may also originate from a number of other local venues, and including town meetings, workshops, lectures, school events, and local performances. “We are being overwhelmed with people calling and e-mailing that want to be involved,” says free103point9 Program Director Tom Roe. “These first public meetings are a chance for anyone who wants to be be a DJ, or help organize fundraisers, or interview your neighbors, to come out and meet others who are working to bring community radio to this area in person.” The station is hosting a community meeting and workshop for anyone who wants to get involved. The first is from 1-3 p.m. Sat. Feb. 14 at the Catskill Community Center, with a live internet radio show. Admission is free. Tune in at www.free103point9.org.

The meeting at the Catskill Community Center will be in conjunction with a children’s Valentine’s Day program there. Children (ages 5 - 10) will participate in arts and crafts, have a snack, and watch a Valentine's Day movie. (The children’s program is free, but registration is required. To register please call 518-719-8244.) “Murals of Catskill’s Historical Buildings” is the current art show on view at the Catskill Community Center. Admission on Feb. 14 to this work by local fourth-grade students, a joint project of the Catskill Central School District, Arts in Education Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and Ruth Leonard, artist and teacher, is free. Folks who stop by that afternoon can also record audio for the new community station, and meet organizers behind the effort.

An online version of the new community radio station will begin in May, and the FM community radio station is expected to get on the air by June, 2010. To volunteer to help get the radio station started contact Tom Roe at tr@free103point9.org, or call 518-622-2598. A web site with more information about the station and these events is at: http://www.free103point9.org/communityradio/

The Catskill Community Center is located at 344 Main St. in Catskill, 518-719-8244.