Covenant News

New Book Chronicles Faith, History Behind KICY

CHICAGO, IL (June 28, 2004) - It was just before sunrise Easter Sunday, 1960, when Art Zylstra slipped into the studios of a brand new radio station in Nome, Alaska. Tests on the station had been completed a few weeks earlier, and now, after years of preparation, it was ready to go on the air.

After taking a few minutes to look over his notes, he sat behind the microphone, flipped a switch, and signed on with these words:

"This is the Voice of the Arctic, radio station KICY, initiating with this announcement. KICY is broadcasting with a transmitted power of 5,000 watts. On this, our first day of broadcasting, and daily throughout the weeks and months of the future, you will be able to tune this frequency for the very latest world, regional, and local news, and programs of interest for your listening pleasure, entertainment, and enlightenment.

"This is Art Zylstra, manager of radio station KICY, inviting you to remain tuned and reminding you of this bit of good news: 'Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.' "

With that brief announcement, the ministry of KICY, the Covenant radio station "at the end of the earth" was launched. In a remote area with no phone service, and which had never even had access to live weather forecasts and warnings of approaching storms, KICY was literally a godsend, providing vital news and information, and linking together a listening audience of more than 40,000 Alaskans.

Ptarmigan Telegraph: The Story of Radio Station KICY, a new book by Covenant author and pastor Greg Asimakoupoulos, chronicles the history of KICY--the vision and faith of those who founded it and how the station continues to connect people not only to each other but to the gospel message as well.

The book debuted during the Covenant Annual Meeting, and is named after KICY's signature program. Because of its remoteness, the FCC allows listeners in western Alaska to call or write in to radio stations with messages for friends and relatives--these messages are then read on the air during the "Ptarmigan Telegraph" segment six times a day, reaching people in remote fishing camps, in boats on the Bearing Sea, or in other locations where no other means of communication is available.

Drawing on station records and interviews with station pioneers such as Ralph Fondell, Ralph Hanson, Roald Amundsen, Bill Hartman, and Native Alaska pastor Fred Savok, Ptarmigan Telegraph highlights the vision and faith of the Covenanters who brought KICY to life.

Dave Oseland, who was interim general manager of KICY from 1998 to 1999, said that the new book does "an excellent job" in chronicling the history of the station.

"In page after page of this new book," said Oseland, "the reader will be held captive by the awesome stories of God's miraculous intervention in the hearts of people and the efforts of those who so obediently sought to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this land of frozen tundra." Oseland, senior producer of "Prime Time America," is a member of Ravenswood Covenant Church and serves of the board of the Arctic Broadcasting Association (ABA), which oversees KICY.

Gail Phillips, former Alaska state representative and executive director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, said Ptarmigan Telegraph brought back fond memories of her childhood.

"As a person who grew up in Nome during the time when there weren't any radio stations, except for the Armed Services station," she said, "which was aired late at night, the advent of KICY coming 'on line' was a huge event in our lives. Our growing-up years were closely tied to the Covenant Church (my grandparents were Reverend L.E. and Ruth Ost) and KICY was one of the strings that kept us tied to the church."

The release of the book comes during a remarkable renaissance for the KICY. Four years ago, the station was $600,000 in debt and had an uncertain future. Last November, the ABA board held a mortgage burning ceremony to celebrate the retirement of that debt--and during the last four years renovated the studio, put up two new towers, and installed a new transmitter.

In December, KICY was given permission from the FCC to broadcast at 50,000 watts, expanding its potential listening audience from 40,000 to 600,000 people. The station also beams Russian language programming across the Bering Sea to Siberia and the Russian Far East.

"I pray this book will increase the awareness of KICY and our unique, international radio mission to new generations," says Dennis Weidler, KICY general manager. "The vision of the early radio pioneers, the continuing ability to touch lives and God's hand in the process is clearly detailed in this extremely readable history."

An excerpt from the Ptarmigan Telegraph appears in the July issue of The Covenant Companion. Ptarmigan Telegraph is available for $16.99 from Covenant Bookstore, 1-800-621-1290.

More information about KICY is available at www.kicy.org.

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