Mic drop

KRFY station manager Suzy Prez sets her sight on retirement

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

What started as a group of friends meeting upstairs at Eichardt’s Pub to discuss founding a commercial-free radio station eventually blossomed into a Sandpoint institution that not only informs and educates the community, but also entertains it. 

The idea took hold several years after that meeting in 2006, with the founding of 88.5 FM KRFY Panhandle Community Radio, a nonprofit radio station with an emphasis on locally produced programming.

Suzy Prez was one of several people who put effort into getting the station off the ground, officially joining the operation in 2011 and ultimately serving as station manager until the present day. After nearly 15 years, Prez announced she is retiring from her position as soon as the station hires a replacement.

The story of KRFY is one of success thanks to the combined efforts of a community. A year after that group of friends met in 2006, the FCC opened a seven-day application window for full-powered community radio stations. The group applied and spent the next 18 months fundraising and reaching out to see if their crazy idea was possible.

“In 2007, I was still working in administration at the Sandpoint Waldorf School,” Prez told the Reader. “[One of the original founders] approached me and said, ‘Suzy, you should get involved in this community radio station.’”

Prez did get involved, helping raise funds to cover the cost of building a broadcasting studio and infrastructure that is integral to operating a radio station.

The station received a construction permit in 2009 and began the engineering and physical construction of the broadcasting booth. It was originally called Sandpoint Community Radio, but rebranded to Panhandle Community Radio a few years later.

KRFY went live for the first time on Jan. 25, 2011 and has stayed on the air ever since — no small feat, thanks to Prez and the many other volunteers who keep the reels spinning.

After Prez retired from the Waldorf School — and thanks to her skills working in nonprofits — she stepped into a role as a KRFY broadcaster and eventually station manager. She divided her time between hosting shows and administration duties to help navigate the FCC rules and regulations to maintain the broadcasting license.

Prez said she developed the idea for her first show after traveling to visit a songwriter friend in Colorado.

“When I was coming back from songwriting school in Colorado, I stopped at a friend’s house and he played a song that I really liked,” she said. “I asked who wrote it — Guy Clark, Steve Earle — and he said, ‘No, I wrote that one.’”

Prez realized then that perhaps nobody would ever hear his song. So, while driving back to Sandpoint, she came up with a proposal for the show Between the Notes, which would showcase independent singer-songwriters and their work to a wider audience.

Like many start-up ventures, Prez said she worked over two years before finally drawing a paycheck.

“All of our broadcasters are volunteers — that includes myself, too,” she said. “Every one of our broadcasters is so committed to their program, and they also engineer their own shows, too.”

Prez said it’s thanks to combined contributions from a number of underwriters, grants and personal donors — one of which was Viggo Mortensen, who continues to support KRFY and even guest hosted two on-air shows in July — that got the station off the ground and sustains it to this day. There are also annual membership drives engineered to raise funds, but also to promote community radio.

“My new campaign is, ‘Turn on your radio, let’s have fun together,’” Prez said.

When asked why she was retiring, Prez said it was the right time.

“I could keep doing this for the next 10 years, but there just comes a time,” she said. “It’s incredibly rewarding and I’m so grateful for the board of directors and the support they’ve given me over the years. Our broadcasters are a great group of people.”

Prez said she’ll remain involved in some form or fashion, continuing her show, Medical Musings with Dr. JoAnn and hopefully reviving Between the Notes, now that she’ll have more time to dedicate to it.

“I want to see this station thrive,” she said. “We all live in our little houses, but we are a community and hopefully this station strengthens that. Plus, it’s entertaining! We have some of the best shows in the world. Most of all, I’d like to thank you all for being open to having and supporting an endeavor like this.”

As far as Prez’s next plans, she said they will most likely include music and children.

“I have always found that the dusty trail in life usually leads to something that is a way to be helpful and fun at the same time,” she said. “From working with farmers and Farm Aid in Iowa to helping start the Waldorf School to being a part of building a community radio station … there is always something right around the corner to get involved with.”

KRFY Panhandle Community Radio is seeking a station manager to fill Suzy Prez’s shoes. Those interested can visit KRFY.org to find a link with a job description.