[Reforma_or] Radio Tierra gives Gorge’s Spanish-speaking community a voice

[Max Macias]

 Radio Tierra gives Gorge’s Spanish-speaking community a voice
SPECIAL REPORTS <https://www.koin.com/news/special-reports/>

The bilingual community radio station was first envisioned in 1999. Now
it's getting international reach

by: Hannah Ray Lambert <https://www.koin.com/author/hannah-ray-lambert/>
Posted: Jan 23, 2020 / 09:00 AM PST / Updated: Jan 21, 2020 / 05:02 PM PST

HOOD RIVER, Ore. (KOIN) — The bilingual community radio station Radio
Tierra has been broadcasting out of Hood River for close to 20 years,
bringing entertainment and education to people on both sides of the
Columbia River and even south of the U.S. border.

A few friends started the station back in 1999, according to Juan Reyes,
president of the Radio Tierra Board of Directors. If station lore is to be
believed, they originally tried to do a Spanish-language show on a
different radio station.

“I guess after the first show, we don’t know if it was content or if it
just wasn’t popular, but they were asked to not do a show anymore,” Reyes
said.

So they solicited donations from local businesses, rounded up some
volunteers, and got to work. Two decades later, the majority of the
station’s funding still comes from donations.

“The station is community funded, community run,” Reyes said.
Juan Reyes is the president of Radio Tierra’s Board of Directors (Hannah
Ray Lambert)

They aim for about half Spanish content, half English. Providing valuable
information to listeners is also key.

“Radio Tierra was created to give the Spanish-speaking community a voice,
but it’s become one of the major sources of information for the
Spanish-speaking community,” Reyes said.

That includes shows hosted by immigration attorneys, interviews with local
organizations, a regular segment with Hood River County Sheriff Matt
English, and even English and science lessons from the station’s youngest
hosts, who also happen to be Reyes’ daughters.

All three of his daughters have hosted shows at some point. Stephanie, the
eldest, got roped into reading stories several years ago.
In her show “Maestra Alexa,” 7th grader Alexa Reyes teaches English. She
has recorded more than 100 episodes!

Soon, middle-child Alexa followed suit after her dad overheard her teaching
her younger sister Spanish and thought it could make an entertaining show
(she switched the language being taught to English, and now her segment is
even broadcast on KBOO in Portland).

The youngest, Allison, started her show “All is Science” about a year ago
when she was 8.

She told KOIN 6 her favorite episode so far has been on the life cycles of
stars, and that she likes doing the show because she gets to learn new
things.
Allison Reyes, 9, hosts her own segment called “All is Science” on Radio
Tierra.

The books Allison uses to research for her segment come from fellow host
Yeli Boots, who works at the local library and does a weekly, pre-recorded
show called “Cuentos Con La Biblioteca” (Stories With the Library”).

Geared toward younger listeners, it features songs, stories and library
announcements. Boots has been running the show for almost two years.

“I was actually very nervous,” she said. “At first it was difficult piecing
everything together like the sound waves … now it’s really easy.”
Mike Nichols hosts a bluegrass show on Radio Tierra (Hannah Ray Lambert)

Radio Tierra <https://radiotierra.org/> has plenty of music in its
rotation, including Mike Nichols’ bluegrass show “A New Kind of Lonesome.”
He’s been a fan of the genre ever since he first heard it on “The Beverly
Hillbillies.” Nichols used to host a show on a community radio station in
Colorado, and when he moved to Hood River, he wanted to continue.

“Everybody down here has just accepted me and my show, like it was meant to
be,” he said.

“Radio Tierra has become this example of what can happen when people from
different backgrounds, different ages, different races, different sexes
can, it doesn’t matter, come together and build something amazing.”
JUAN REYES, RADIO TIERRA BOARD PRESIDENT

The station has been growing, Reyes said, and at some point he’d like to
see Radio Tierra get its own studio (right now they broadcast out of The
Next Door, a local nonprofit) as well as some paid employees. They have
about 20 hosts and are always accepting more.
<https://radiotierra.org/volunteer-opportunities/>

In 2018, they started streaming their broadcast online, reaching listeners
as far away as California and Mexico (Reyes suspects they are friends or
relatives of some of the DJs).

Even in an increasingly digital age, Reyes said the majority of their
listeners are still tuning in to the FM broadcast since a large number are
agricultural workers.

We’re getting information directly “to the Spanish-speaking community while
they’re out there working in the orchards or packing houses, whatever that
may be,” he said. “Radio Tierra has become this example of what can happen
when people from different backgrounds, different ages, different races,
different sexes can, it doesn’t matter, come together and build something
amazing.”
About 20 people host shows on Radio Tierra, Hood River’s bilingual
community radio station (Juan Reyes/Radio Tierra)

Source
<https://www.koin.com/news/special-reports/radio-tierra-gives-gorges-spanish-speaking-community-a-voice/>
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