Community radio keeps Huntley area connected

Every day I am asked, "what is a community radio station?"

In its simplest terms, a community radio station serves geographic communities and communities of interest. The community stations are usually operated, owned and run by the community they serve.

At Huntley Community Radio, our mission is to "keep the community informed and connected."

Anyone who lives in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago knows it is difficult to get news, sports, weather and entertainment based in our area. Huntley Community Radio aims to fill that need in Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, Pingree Grove, Gilberts, Hampshire, Union, Elgin, Lakewood and parts of Crystal Lake and Woodstock.

And while those are the people who can tune in on 101.5 FM, everyone can listen on the Internet at huntleyradio.com.

The most incredible part of the station is the opportunity for local residents to get involved in an all-volunteer run organization. There are elementary students and seniors and everyone in between. We have several college students who have moved on to radio stations throughout the country because of the opportunities they had at Huntley Community Radio.

The future of Huntley Community Radio is bright. We are always looking for new volunteers for positions on-air, as producers, behind-the-scenes or volunteering at one of our sponsored events.

A focus of 2016 will be our presence in the community sponsoring or participating in events such as the Huntley Business Expo, St. Baldrick's Day, Santa's Village, Huntley Memorial Day Parade, Lake in the Hills Summer Sunset Festival and many other events.

There is something for everyone on Huntley Community Radio. There are shows about sports, news, finances, food, health care, gardening, pets, books, traveling, veterans, flying and many more talk shows. There are music shows that include genres such as classical, swing, polka, rock, symphony, as well as music from the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s and today.

Are you interested in learning more?

We have a website that allows for listening live, streaming shows, and learning about hosts and their shows. We also have many social media pages including Facebook at facebook.com/HuntleyRadio and a Facebook page for the evening news at facebook.com/huntleynews. We currently have over 40 programs that are listed at huntleyradio.com/hcr/programming/.

Give us a listen, or get involved. We are always looking for new talent.