WRFA’s 2023 Great American Picnic Fundraiser featuring the theme – Women Who Rock – celebrating the some of your beloved female musicians! Presented by Southern Tier Brewing Co., Save-A-Lot Foods, WRFA-LP and Reg Lenna Center for the Arts! June 11, 2023 at Southern tier Brewing Company.

Musical acts include:
Two For Flinching, Marla Harris & Friends, Cindy Love & Friends, Son, Emily Strong, Sara Rafaloski & Gavin Paterniti, Miranda Wilcox, The Assembly, Sixpence, Tempus, and Owen Murphy.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The Great American Picnic is back for another year at Southern Tier Brewing Company!

WRFA’s annual summer fundraiser is taking place Sunday, June 11 from Noon to 6 p.m. at STBC’s Empty Pint in Lakewood, NY and will once again feature live music, food, and tasty STBC beverages!

• BUY TICKETS

The theme for this year’s fundraiser is “Women Who Rock” – celebrating the music from female artists and songrwiters from any era or genre.
Musical acts include:

• Miranda Wilcox – 12 p.m.
• Sixpence – 12:30 p.m.
• Catchphrase (Gavin & Sara) – 1 p.m.
• New Outfit – 1:30 p.m.
• Emily Strong & Friends – 2:05 p.m.
• The Assembly – 2:40 p.m.
• Tempus – 3:15 p.m.
• SON – 3:50 p.m.
• Marla Harris & Co. – 4:30 p.m.
• Cindy Haight & Co. – 5:10 p.m.
• Two for Flinching – 5:45 p.m.

To support WRFA, please consider purchasing a $20 ticket, which includes two complimentary STBC beers.

Hot Dogs will also be sold and there will also be a 50/50 raffle!!
(Attendees under 21 get in for free).

Our event is made possible through the generous support of Southern Tier Brewing Company, Save-A-Lot Foods, and the wonderful local musicians who volunteer their time for the performance!

Call the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts box office for Tickets – (716) 484-7070 – or buy them on line at www.RegLenna.com.

All to benefit WRFA!!

Norman Rodriguez (left) and Max Pingitore (2022 intern) are a couple of voices fans will hear on WRFA during its coverage of the Jamestown Tarp Skunks 2023 season.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The Jamestown Tarp Skunks will return to the airwaves on WRFA-LP for a third straight season in 2023.

Just like the past two seasons, all Tarp Skunks’ home games are being broadcast on at 107.9 FM, as well as streaming worldwide at the station’s website, WRFALP.com. In addition, the Tarp Skunks will also provide the in-game broadcasts for all home games that are video-stream on the team’s Youtube channel.

“We are extremely proud to continue this partnership with Jamestown Tarp Skunks for a third consecutive season. This will be a great opportunity for community members to keep up with the ball club and its performance on the field,” explained WRFA station manager Jason Sample.

The WRFA broadcast team will again feature Norman Rodriguez providing play-by-play for the majority of the games. He’ll be joined by a variety of broadcast partners including Sample, Collin Wood, and Max Pingitore. In addition, the voice of the Jamestown Red Raiders football team Tom Ames, along with Derek Abbey, will also pitch in for a couple of games this season. Studio engineers will be Gavin Paterniti and Anthony Merchant.

Past intern Collin Wood (WVU) interviews one of the Tarp Skunks during the 2021 season. Collin is back in 2023 to provide color commentary during some WRFA broadcasts.

WRFA’s Tarp Skunks coverage will also once again provide an internship program for qualifying local college students. Interns who participate learn and develop skills related to play-by-play and color commentary, player interviews, creating social media content, and more.

“The past two years we’ve had students from Huntington University, Jamestown Community College, Syracuse University, and West Virginia University participate in our internship program,” Sample explained. “This year, we are pleased to have two interns joining us throughout the season – Will Stahlsmith from St. Bonaventure University and Ethan Tyger from JCC.”

All WRFA Tarp Skunks broadcasts are made possible through funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, and Shults Auto Group.

All Tarp Skunks home games are played at Russell E. Diethrick Jr. Park at 485 Falconer St. in Jamestown, NY. The first game of the 2023 season is an exhibition games against the Olean Oilers on Thursday, June 1.

For a complete schedule, along with ticket information, visit TarpSkunks.com. WRFA’s broadcast schedule can also be found on the Tarp Skunks page of the station website.

WRFA will once again broadcast all Jamestown Tarp Skunks home games during the 2023 season.

ABOUT JAMESTOWN TARP SKUNKS: The Jamestown Tarp Skunks are part of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a 12-team collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2010 and featuring teams from across New York State. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate.  The team is owned and operated by the Jamestown Community Baseball ownership group.   

ABOUT WRFA: WRFA is a listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station provided as a public service by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. It is dedicated to providing access to the arts, cultural and educational programming and a forum for the discourse of both national and local public affairs. Funding for WRFA comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, corporate underwriting, and donations from individuals and groups in the community. It broadcasts at 107.9 FM in Jamestown and also streams worldwide at WRFALP.com.  

Arts on Fire LIVE continues in February 2023 with a performance from rock band The Elektra Kings!

theelektrakings.yolasite.com/

dannyimig.com/

www.facebook.com/TheElektraKings

open.spotify.com/artist/5hqn5Qu7PQhyOpTcx22dT1

ABOUT AOF LIVE:
Arts On Fire LIVE brings you the very best of Chautauqua County’s local artists via a live, in-studio performance!

The program was not only broadcast live, but also replayed during our regular Arts on Fire time slot – Fridays at 5 p.m. on WRFA!

The show is produced and broadcast by WRFA-LP 107.9 FM, Kranky Plate Productions, and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY.

All 2023 Arts on Fire LIVE performances are made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization Grant.

On Saturday night, Nov. 13, WRFA welcomed Cold Lazarus to the Reg Lenna Multimedia Studios for a special live broadcast performance!

WATCH VIDEO

ABOUT AOF LIVE
Arts On Fire LIVE brings you the very best of Chautauqua County’s local artists via a live, in-studio performance! For five Saturdays in the Fall 2021, we’ll bring you a new live session featuring well-established acts, spanning styles and genres! The program will not only be broadcast live, but also replayed the following week during our regular Arts on Fire time slot – Fridays at 5 p.m. on WRFA.

The show is produced and broadcast by WRFA-LP 107.9 FM, Kranky Plate Productions, and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY.

All Arts on Fire LIVE performances for 2021 are made possible in part by support from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County Projects Pool Grants Program and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization Grant.

The WRFA Staff with the limited edition WRFA T-Shirts that will be given out during the 2021 Fall Pledge Drive. L to R: Julia Ciesla-Hanley, WRFA Public Affairs Director; Jason Sample, WRFA Station manager; and Gavin Paterniti, WRFA Program Coordinator.

JAMESTOWN, NY – WRFA LP 107.9FM, Jamestown’s only locally owned and operated Community Radio Station, will be holding its first ever Pledge Drive later this month. The WRFA Fall 2021 Pledge Drive will begin Sept. 10 and continue through Sept. 17 with a goal of raising $7,500 from its listening audience.

As an incentive to reach its goal, anyone who pledges $50 or more during the eight-day pledge drive will receive a limited edition “I Support Community Radio” WRFA T-Shirt.

The graphic that will appear on the back of the Limited Edition WRFA T-Shirt, be given away as part of the WRFA 202 Fall Pledge Drive.

“Over the years WRFA has benefited from countless contributions and donations from our community and this Pledge Drive is intended to serve as a gentle reminder that we are a non-commercial radio station that relies on community support to stay on the local airwaves,” explained WRFA General Manager Jason Sample.

Sample also said that by raising money locally, WRFA can continue to qualify for additional programming support through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 to serve as the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting.

“Much of our nationally syndicated programming listeners have come to enjoy during weekday mornings and afternoons, and also on the weekends, is paid for by CPB funding. But we also use some of that money to help cover the cost of our public affairs and programming coordinator positions,” Sample explained. “We really get a lot of ‘bang for our buck’ from our CPB funding, but that can only continue if we also receive local financial support from the community we serve.”

The Fall pledge drive will not only serve as a fundraiser for the radio station, but also a birthday celebration for WRFA, which first went on the air on September 13, 2004. In addition, WRFA will use the pledge drive to launch two new special programs – A three-part Community Conversation focusing Marginalized and Under-served Groups in Jamestown, and Arts on Fire Live!, featuring five live musical performances. The pledge drive will also serve as a platform to highlight other local programming on WRFA, including the return of the popular and informative Election Candidate Debates and Meet the Candidates Forum.

“We’ll also have other special announcements and surprises during pledge drive. But one thing we wont be doing is constantly interrupting programming to request donations,” Sample said. “It will be less intrusive than your typical public radio station pledge drive because we know our listeners enjoy the wide variety of programming we offer. Instead, we’ll just put out gentle reminders the pledge drive is underway and also offer daily updates on how close we are to our goal.”

Anyone wanting to make a one-time pledge, or schedule monthly donations, can do so by going online to WRFALP.com/donate and clicking the “2021 Pledge Drive” link. Donations can be made at anytime, but to qualify for the Limited Edition WRFA T-Shirt, contributions should be made during the days of the Pledge Drive, Sept. 10 through Sept. 17.

WRFA is a listener supported, low power radio station licensed to the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.  As a radio station licensed to a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, all financial donations/contributions made to WRFA are 100% tax deductible. Businesses and organizations can also provide corporate underwriting for WRFA by making a tax-deductible contribution of $100 or more.

With the recent retirement of Dennis Drew, founder and long-time general manager of WRFA, the Reg Lenna has appointed Jason Sample as the new station manager. In addition, WRFA is also announcing that Julia Ciesla-Hanley will serve as the station’s new public affairs director.

Jason Sample

Sample has worked in local media for the past two decades as a news reporter in both radio and print media. Before being appointed WRFA station manager, he served for nearly ten years as the station’s public affairs director, covering issues and stories involving the Jamestown community and Chautauqua County. Prior to his work at WRFA, Sample served as editor of the weekly newspaper, Chautauqua Star, from 2008 to 2010. He also worked for over seven years for James Broadcasting/Media One Group covering news and sports, as well as serving as program director for classic rock station WQFX.

In addition to his duties at WRFA, Sample is a trustee with the Chautauqua County Historical Society and has been chair of its programming committee since 2012. He is a Jamestown area native, graduating from Falconer High School and attending Jamestown Community College. He holds a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from West Virginia University.

“I’m looking forward to carrying on the mission of WRFA and building off of the groundwork that Dennis Drew laid for the station during the past 17 years,” Sample said. “It’s not going to be easy to fill his shoes, but hopefully we can do him justice by continuing to ensure WRFA remains the community asset it has become over the years.”

Julia Ciesla-Hanley

Ciesla-Hanley joins WRFA after working for over a decade with the city of Jamestown as the city’s recreation coordinator.  She previously worked as public relations specialist for Chautauqua Opportunities, administrative assistant for Greater Jamestown Empire Zone, executive assistant to former Chautauqua County Executive Mark Thomas, and also for James Broadcasting as a reporter/news anchor. Ciesla-Hanley has been involved with WRFA for more than a decade as a member of its Community Advisory Board – serving most recently as board chair – and also as a station volunteer, when she provided morning news updates at the station. She was also the announcer of the popular Rolling Hills Radio program from 2015 to 2020.

“”I have been involved with WRFA from the beginning as a volunteer and advocate for the station. I’m thrilled to now join the team in continuing to cover current events and supporting the arts in our community,” Ciesla-Hanley said.

Additionally, Ciesla-Hanley is active in several community groups and projects. She has performed as a violinist for both the Jamestown Area Community Orchestra and the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as providing her skills for various high school musical productions. She is also the current communications coordinator for the Jamestown Pride community organization and is a graduate of the Chautauqua Leadership Network program, Class of 2007. A Rochester-area native, she holds a BA in broadcasting from Buffalo State College and also studied both broadcasting and music education at Baldwin-Wallace College.

“I am very excited to have Julia come on board to serve as WRFA’s new public affairs director,” Sample said. “She has a great deal of broadcasting and reporting experience, and also an extensive knowledge of civics and local government. That makes her a perfect fit for this position. Our listeners and the entire Jamestown community will greatly benefit from her work by staying informed on various issues that matter to them.”

In addition to Sample and Ciesla-Hanley, WRFA also has a part-time programming director, a position currently held by Gavin Paterniti. As a community radio station, WRFA also has a team of volunteers who provide various types of radio programming on a weekly basis.

“We’ve got some great ideas about how to expand WRFA’s reach into the community when it comes to not only public affairs, but also arts, education and other quality of life issues,” Sample said. “I’m looking forward to sharing more details on new programming as they are finalized and brought forward. I’m excited about the future of community radio in Jamestown.”

ABOUT WRFA
WRFA is a listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station provided as a public service by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. It is dedicated to providing access to the arts, cultural and educational programming and a forum for the discourse of both national and local public affairs. Funding for WRFA comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, corporate underwriting, and donations from individuals and groups in the community. It broadcasts at 107.9 FM in Jamestown and also streams worldwide at WRFALP.com. For more information on WRFA or the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts, visit their websites or call (716) 664-2465.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

Originally airing Friday, May 31, 2019

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Gavin Paterniti from Cold Lazarus about the band’s new album Color and Lights.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

Originally airing Friday, Feb. 8, 2019.

WRFA GM Dennis Drew sits down and talks with Elektra Kings bassist Gavin Paterniti about the band, its new album and its CD release party at Chadakoin Club on Feb. 9. Also featuring two songs from the Kings!

Gavin Paterniti