ED BREMER 1952 - 2020

 

On December 22, 2020, Ed Bremer died peacefully at home in Everett with his loving wife Lucia by his side.

If you're a long-time KSER listener, I probably don't have to tell you much about Ed Bremer.

Ed was hired by the Jack Straw Foundation in October of 1990, several months before KSER went on the air.  

He was hired to be the brand new station's Public Affairs Director.  But he became so much more than that.  He was instrumental in developing and producing programming in our early years when the KSER studios were in High-Point Plaza, a strip mall on highway 99 in Lynnwood.

Later, after the KSER Foundation was formed to take over the station operations from the Jack Straw Foundation, Ed worked tirelessly to oversee the move to downtown Everett and our development as a community owned broadcast facility.

For years, there was only one employee at KSER: Ed Bremer.  I'm not sure the station would have survived without his tireless work, enthusiasm and incredible dedication to our community.

I had the great honor of working with Ed for 8 years.  "With" being the key word.  On the org-chart Ed reported to me.  But who Ed really reported to was you, our listeners and our communities. 

He had an incredible and unending passion to serve our listeners.  He worked tirelessly with volunteers, especially new volunteers, to train them on how any citizen with an important, but often, unrecognized point of view could end up on the radio. He mentored  volunteers from the League of Women Voters, the Communities of Color Coalition, Amnesty International and other organizations - groups whose voices were often locked out of commercial broadcasting.

Ed was the conduit working with Pacifica to bring Amy Goodman and Democracy Now to KSER.  He paved the way for Thom Hartmann to be added to our lineup.

 Day after day, year after year, Ed was here editing programs, producing shows, interviewing guests, running the control board for volunteer hosts, answering the phones during pledge drives, solving technical problems, drinking way too much coffee, and on at least one occasion I witnessed Ed standing on the top of a step ladder in a driving snow storm, in the dark at 4:30 in the morning, using a broom duct-taped to an extension pole to knock the snow off of our satellite dish so that we could broadcast Amy Goodman at 5 a.m.

Dedication.

Until Ed's cancer diagnosis in December of 2019, I had never seen him call in sick or come in late or leave early.  I almost had to order him to take vacation time.

One of the things Ed was most excited about was early planning for a 2021 30th anniversary event for KSER.   We'll still celebrate our 30th. Ed would insist.  But we'll also make it a combination: 30 years for KSER and a celebration of Ed Bremer and the incredible, heroic contributions he made to keep KSER on the air.

You can also expect details soon on a special on-air tribute to Ed Bremer

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us.  I know many of you are exhausted by the impact of the pandemic, some of you have lost loved ones to Covid.

But I wanted you to know about Ed's passing.  And I hope you'll join me in offering condolences and thanks to Ed's wife Lucia who shared her husband with KSER for three decades and to Ed's five brothers and their families back in Ed's home state of Illinois and in Michigan.

I hope you’ll join all of us here in mourning the passing of Ed Bremer, but also in your continued loyalty to one of his great passions and accomplishments: KSER.

Rest in peace, Ed.  You did good and legendary work.  

As a precaution, we're cancelling our pledge drive.

We’ve decided to cancel the ‘normal’ KSER Spring Membership Campaign.

Given the concerns of the novel coronavirus we feel it’s in the best interests of our staff and hard-working volunteers to make this decision now.

While the Spring pledge drive is the most important fundraising campaign of the year for KSER, the health and safety of our on-air volunteers and those who volunteer to answer phones is even more important.

If you’ve ever helped out during a KSER pledge drive, you know we operate in a relatively confined area.  Having dozens of volunteers sharing phones, workspace, computers, microphones, headphones and food & drink for two weeks is just an unnecessary risk right now.

So we won’t be asking volunteers to come in to answer phones. In fact we’re not even going to ask our listeners to call and make pledges.  Instead, to sustain our operation and to be able to continue to serve the communities of the North Puget Sound, we would like to ask you to consider making a donation online at KSER.org.

Public radio stations - especially independent community-owned stations like KSER and KXIR - depend on donations from listeners to stay on the air.

And now, more than ever, independent voices are vital.  You've read and heard the stories about consolidation in the media landscape.  Local, community-owned media is no longer all that common.

We want to make sure KSER is here for future generations.  We can only do that with your help.

Sandy Thompson

Our friend and extraordinary KSER supporter Sandy Thompson passed away this week.

Sandy was a dedicated volunteer and board member of KSER for more than 15 years. He had a relentless passion for independent radio, and especially for KSER, our DJs and hosts.  His volunteer work and energy for our organization was boundless.

Sandy graciously gave his time and energy to so many parts of  KSER - never missing a meeting; pitching during pledge drives; bringing food for other volunteers during drives; answering phones; making thank-you calls to donors; helping with our database and so much more. He persistently wore a KSER hat and had a KSER logo button pinned to his shirt and told every person he met about what he called 'our incredible radio station.'

I'd like to especially thank Sandy's wife, Kathy Kamel, and his loving family for sharing so much of Sandy's time and energy to help KSER.

Sandy and his family allowed us to present him with a KSER Voice of the Community Award last month at Tulalip Resort Casino to honor his years of dedication to KSER. His speech at the celebration was inspiring. 

My sincere condolences to Kathy and his family and to everyone who was touched and inspired by Sandy's incredible passion.

Thank you, Sandy!

Honoring Six Important Community Voices

It was a full house this week for the 2016 KSER Voice of the Community Award celebration at Tulalip Resort Casino.

Karen Crowley of Edmonds Center for the Arts was our MC

KSER was honored to salute six individuals and organizations, nominated by our listeners and members for their work in our communities.

Snohomish County Train Watch is a volunteer organization formed by Dean Smith to work around the clock counting and monitoring oil trains moving through the area after Smith learned that there were no statistics available to the public on such train traffic.

Curtis Rookaird was recognized for his efforts as a former BNSF railway conductor and whistle blower calling for increased safety precautions for trains hauling hazardous cargo.
 
Red Curtain Foundation operates the Red Curtain Theater in Marysville and has been a champion of arts and education.

Frank Fargo realized one of the things that homeless individuals needed most was to simply have a warm shower. So he created his own mobile shower which he takes to local churches, providing nearly 10,000 showers since he began his work.

Bill Corson worked to create Edge Effect, a non-profit which works with 'at risk' young people and focuses on assistance, prevention and intervention programs.

John Olson was saluted for his work as director of the Everett Community College Foundation, bringing together donors and students with assistance and scholarship programs for those seeking a better education.

Senator John McCoy presents the award to Curtis Rookaird

Frank Fargo (left); John Olson

Debbie Copple (left) of Sky Valley Arts Council presents award to Beckye Randall of Red Curtain

Bill Corson of Edge Effect

Dean Smith, Snohomish County Train Watch

Curtis & Kelly Rookaird with their sons Roman & Reese

Every year, KSER is proud to honor those who do great work in our communities. If you'd like to help us salute a deserving individual or organization, let us know.  Nominations for the 2017 Voice of the Community Awards are just a few months away.

Going 'Silent' - FAQ

We want to give our listeners something special this month: fewer interruptions to KSER programs!

We're calling it the KSER 'Silent" Pledge Drive.   So, what is a 'Silent' pledge drive?  Well, here are our answers to some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. Is it really Silent?
A. No. Silence is generally not good for radio. But we are trying to raise the money we need without doing longer interruptions where hosts ask for support and urge you to call. We're just running a few brief promos each hour asking for your support.

Q. If you're not asking people to call, how can you get donations?
A. It's as simple as going to our web page, KSER.org and clicking the big DONATE NOW button. You can make a recurring monthly donation or a one time donation to KSER.

Q. Can I still call KSER to make a financial pledge of support?
A. Sure. We don't have our normal phone bank of volunteers standing by, but we can still take your call at 425-303-9070.

Q. Will KSER be able to hit it's required goals with this kind of campaign?
A. We hope so, but that's up to our listeners.  We hope that in two weeks we're able to reach our modest goal of $40,000. But, if we're starting to see that the silent drive, by itself, isn't going to work, you will probably hear some of the more traditional pledge drive 'pitch breaks' toward the end of the campaign.

Q. Why does KSER have to do pledge drives?
A. Support from listeners makes up nearly 70% of our annual budget. Without listener support there would be no KSER.

Q. Don't you get money from the feds or the state thanks to my tax dollars?
A. No.We don't receive any funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; no money from the federal government and nothing from the state. We don't just say we're listener powered. We really are.

Q. So what do I get for my money.
A. What you really get is all the great programming you can hear on KSER and KXIR, plus online at KSER.org and on our Radio Replayer where all programs are available for two weeks after their original air-date.  You also get peace of mind knowing that the North Puget Sound has something many communities don't have - a full-power community owned radio station. Most people complain about a small handful of corporations owning a large chunk of the media landscape. But KSER is a fully independent radio operation. Your station.  But it only works with your support.

Q. If I make a donation at KSER.org how do I tell you what show's I'm supporting?
A. Just leave any feedback you'd like in the comment field, like some of the donors below.

From Albert in Monroe:

 Timothy in Snohomish was listening to the Sunlit Room Wednesday morning with JJ:

From Nicholas in Everett:

Michael in Greenbank:

Peter in Edmonds listens to Flashpoints, weekdays at 6 a.m.:

When Jim in Woodway donated he wanted to make sure we knew he was listening to one of KSER's great Saturday Night 'Blues' hosts:

Our very first pledge drive was 25 years ago this month - June of 1991.

We wouldn't have survived 25 years and we wouldn't be able to attempt our first 'silent' pledge drive without your support. Thanks!

Trails to Success

Special visitors at KSER this week!

Jeb Bolton, a Snohomish County corrections officer who helped create the "Trails to Success" program stopped by with several young men who are involved in the program so they could learn more about community radio.

(l.to r.) Steve Nguyen Phu; Raul Ramirez; Ana Maria McCleary; Michael Day; Jeb Bolton

Trails to Success, is a pilot program at Denney Juvenile Justice Center that gives kids a chance to gain work experience and prepare for job interviews. The program was recently profiled in the Everett Herald.

Ana Maria McCleary, a Snohomish County Juvenile Probation Counselor, arranged the visit for us and helped explain the importance of community radio and the different programs on KSER.

And while they were here, we also put them in the studio so they could record some station promos which you'll hear soon on KSER.

Steve and Michael behind the microphone!

The participants in "Trails to Success" also met with KSER News & Public Affairs Director Ed Bremer and learned about the process of producing news programs and what's involved in becoming a volunteer DJ at KSER.

This week's visit, and hopefully more in the future, is one of several educational tours we're able to present thanks in large part to a grant from the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund.

Plus we may have discovered the future stars of KSER!

Salulting Two Spectacular KSER Volunteers

KSER has been on the air for 25 years, and for 22 of those years, Jeff Hofman has been a mainstay of our weekend listening lineup. 
 
Jeff's program, Dusties, has played some of the greatest hits of all time, including great interviews with remarkable artists and incredible insight. But Jeff's 'real life' schedule has changed, so his volunteer work at KSER is coming to a close - for a while. This Saturday, March 5th, 2016 will be Jeff's final show on KSER.

The above photo shows just one of the many remarkable moments on Jeff's show.  That's Jeff in the middle with the incredible "Brothers of Soul" - (l. to r. Richard Knight; Bobby Easton; Ben Knight; J.J. Barnes).

Jeff's show - with great music and guests - even drew the attention of the Nashville Scene.  You can still read their story HERE.

Don't miss this weekend's  "Dusties", Saturday at 5 p.m.  It's going to be a very special send-off for Jeff and his show.

Starting next Saturday, March 12th, you can catch the new "Gumbo Mix" every Saturday at 5 p.m. with KSER's newest DJ, "D. Duane."

Another amazing KSER volunteer who is going to be taking a hiatus from her long-time work at KSER is Kinuko Noborikawa. 

Kinuko started the Communities of Color Coalition in 2004 and has helped host and produce Color Commentary every week on KSER.  Last week, the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County honored Kinuko with their Democracy in Action Award.

  
In recognizing Kinuko, the League of Woman Voters pointed out that for years she has been a tireless advocate for social justice. Thanks to the League for the award and thanks to Kinuko for her relentless work for our communities and for KSER.

Without dedidcated, hard-working volunteers like Kinuko and Jeff Hofman, KSER wouldn't exist.  We have more than 100 volunteers - from DJs to public affairs producers to board members - who have kept KSER on the air for a quarter century.

But the other important part of KSER is you.  Without the financial support of listeners, there would have never been a Color Commentary or Dusties. No Democracy Now or Thom Hartmann.  Sound Living wouldn't be on the air.  And we couldn't broadcast Rick Steves Travel every weekend.

While the volunteers sometimes move on, the one thing that never changes at KSER is the importance of your financial support. 25 years ago we held our first pledge drive:

 
No commercials. No federal tax money. No corporate owner.

We're for people, not for profit. So this week, we begin our 25th anniversary Spring membership campaign. You'll be able to call and make a pledge of support at 425-303-9070; or simply go to  KSER.org and make an online donation.