Driving Notes

It’s that time of year again — flowers, chocolates, cards, and teddy bears abound as people all over the country hurry to make their loved ones feel special. Regardless of whether you have a sweetie or not, never forget that God has a never ending, unconditional love for you. Happy Valentine’s Day from The Afternoon Drive and WNZR!

On this Friday’s edition of the NZ-Top 10, our featured back-to-back artist is Josh Wilson. We mentioned that Josh had a pretty cool moment in an airport in Newark, NJ: while there were major security delays, Josh whipped out his guitar and played some songs to entertain the crowd. Check out the viral clip here: http://youtu.be/HQeG1kaddsw

Enjoy Valentine’s day and have a great weekend!!!

In advance, happy Valentine’s Day from us here at the Afternoon Drive and WNZR!

The season of love is upon us and we’re celebrating with the 16th Annual WNZR Valentine’s Banquet. Unfortunately, tickets are no longer on sale, but we are excited to host this event for the community. The theme of the event is “Love Take Me Over”, after the Steven Curtis Chapman song of the same name. $1,000 worth of door prizes, a full Italian buffet (featuring chicken parm, fettuccine alfredo, salad, breadsticks, chocolate layer cake and more!), and a message about a Marriage Journey’s Top 10 from featured speakers Drs. Yvonne and Dennis Schultz are all part of the festivities. We hope to see you there!

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games are upon us, and it seems that all eyes are upon Sochi, Russia. You can keep up to date with Sochi by tuning into the More Than Gold Olympic Updates at 8:30am, 12:30pm, and 5:30pm on WNZR. You can also tune into the station on Wednesday for Who Knew?! Wednesday; Josh and Joe will be sharing some interesting Olympic facts with you to keep your brain ticking on your drive home.

WNZR is gearing up for Lifeline 2014, our annual fundraiser. We’re hoping to raise $60,000 to fund our station for the next year. We would appreciate any form of donation, but would greatly appreciate your prayers for our station in this time. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.wnzr.fm.

Now, onto the point of the title of this post: something new! The Afternoon Drive will be making a concerted effort to AT LEAST write a blog post once a week. We want to connect with our listeners in a way that is much more than just a radio show, so subscribe and enjoy! Also don’t forget to follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook! Find us with these links:

http://www.twitter.com/WNZR_FM
http://www.facebook.com/wnzr.fm

And of course you can find anything WNZR related on our website, http://www.wnzr.fm.

Thank you so much for listening to The Afternoon Drive and WNZR!

-Joe, Josh and Rachel

NOTE: WNZR is happy to provide information regarding the County’s new text or email alert program.

Knox County has implemented an emergency mass notification system that will be used to contact local residents and businesses via phone messages, text messages, and emails in case of emergency or tornado warning.

The system is called “Knox Alerts” and will be used by the Emergency Management Agency to notify residents and businesses of emergencies or critical situations and provide information regarding necessary actions.

The system utilizes the telephone companies’ 9-1-1 database and is able to contact land-line telephone numbers, whether listed or unlisted. If the call is picked up by an answering machine, the system will leave a recorded message. If the number called is busy or does not answer, the system will redial the number up to 4 times in an attempt to deliver the message.

Cell phone numbers and/or email addresses must be registered online. To register, enter the below address into your web browser; or open the attached document to link to the site.

http://entry.inspironlogistics.com/knox_co_oh/wens.cfm

You must register to take advantage of this important notification service.  Each telephone number and e-mail address registered will be contacted only when the street address it is associated with is impacted by a disaster or emergency.

THE MARKS OF MATURITY (from Tim Elmore)

1.      A mature person is able to keep long-term commitments. JAMES 1:2-4

• This is the ability to delay gratification.
• They can do this even when the commitment is no longer new, novel or they “don’t feel like it.”

2.      A mature person is unshaken by flattery or criticism. GALATIANS 1:10

• As they mature, they find that nothing is as good as it seems and nothing is as bad as it seems.
• They can accept compliments and critiques without letting it ruin them.
• They are secure in their identity.
• They take responsibility for their actions.

3.      A mature person possesses a spirit of humility. LUKE 14:11; ROMANS 12:3

• Humility parallels maturity – this is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less!
• Mature people are not concerned with drawing attention to themselves.
• Mature people accept the fact that they don’t know everything.
• They give honor to others who have helped in their success.
• They give honor to their Creator who gave them talent and potential.

4.      A mature person’s decisions are based on character, not feelings. 2 TIMOTHY 2:22

• Mature people live by values and principles that guide their decisions.
• They progress beyond merely reacting to life’s options.
• They are pro-active, understanding that emotions are important, but that their character is master over their emotions.

5.      A mature person expresses gratitude consistently. PSALM 118:24; COLOSSIANS 3:17

• They see the big picture and realize how good they have it.
• They don’t presume that they deserve everything good that happens to them.

6.      A mature person knows how to prioritize others before themselves. PHILIPPIANS 2:3; ROMANS 12:10

• The ability to get past one’s desires and consider the needs of others is a powerful indicator of maturity.
• Their agenda revolves around others, not self.

7.      A mature person seeks wisdom before acting. ROMANS 1:21-23; JAMES 1:5

• They are teachable.  They don’t presume to have all the answers.
• The wiser they get, the more they realize the need for more wisdom.
• They aren’t ashamed of asking for counsel from friends, colleagues and most importantly, God.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is the place to be this Saturday. Sonfest 2013 brings a full lineup of incredible bands to 2 stages! **Make sure to stop by Big Blue at Sonfest on Saturday! We are giving away TWO Boogie Boards autographed by ALL Sonfest 2013 artists. Sign up to WIN!**

*PLUS – the first 50 people to visit WNZR at Sonfest get a FREE flashing LED glow bracelet!*

 Tickets are $15.00 per person, $12.00 for groups of 15 or more. Groups get 2 FREE tickets with their order! Tickets purchased at the gate will be $20. *PRE-SALE tickets can be purchased through THIS Friday at 5pm!!*

Sonfest Stage Lineup (Tentative  – times could change)

12:45 Satellites and Sirens – MAIN stage
1:10 Wyndsor – SIDE stage
1:50 Capital Kings – MAIN stage
2:15 The Orphan and the Poet – SIDE stage
2:55 Wolves at the Gate – MAIN stage
3:20 Last of the Wildmen – SIDE stage
4:00 Andy Mineo – MAIN stage
4:30 Josh Wilson – SIDE stage
5:15 Plumb – MAIN stage
5:45 Compassion International slot – MAIN stage
6:10 Mikeschair – SIDE stage
6:50 Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – MAIN stage
7:35 Come Wind – SIDE stage
8:20 Thousand Foot Krutch – MAIN stage

For more information and to see videos of the artists go to www.mvnu.edu/sonfest

Get to know our Sonfest artists better! Click here to hear interviews from Josh Wilson, Plumb, Capital Kings and many more artists that will hit the Sonfest stage this Saturday. http://soundcloud.com/wnzr

Today Marcy and I were thrilled to be part of the on-air tributes to our friend Dave Bevington, as he steps away from full-time work at WMVO/WQIO Radio in Mount Vernon.

Dave has been an important influence in my professional career and a good friend over the years.

When I was a 4th grader at Pleasant Street Elementary School in 1979, I met Dave for the first time.  He spoke to our class during a career week about radio.  That was one of the first times I thought about broadcasting as something I might want to do.  Little did I know that 12 years later, as a recent college graduate with a broadcasting degree, I would be hired at WMVO as Sports Director and have to fill Dave’s shoes!

That first year was an incredible post-college learning experience as I was literally thrown into the fire doing Mount Vernon High School sports and whatever else the station needed.  Dave took a couple years off from radio and was running a business in town, but was still a constant encouragement to me.  I made my fair share of mistakes and flubs…and I’m sure there were days when the listeners wished Dave wouldn’t have left…but thanks to people like Dave, Ron Staats, Charlie Kilkenny, Rodger Hill and parents and fans of the Yellow Jackets, I survived that first year and worked to get better and better each year.

A few years later, Dave and I finally got the chance to work together as Ashland Broadcasting merged the old K-Country (98.3/107.7) with WMVO and WQIO.  We had a great run together for several years until I left in early 2005 to join MVNU.

I remember sitting around with management trying to make a decision about where to put “Sports Roundtable” when 98.3 went to a Top 40 KISS-FM format in 2002.  We knew the value of the program to the community and honestly, the region.  Putting Dave’s show on WQIO was probably one of the smartest decisions I was ever a part of, even though at the time it went against traditional “radio programming” strategy.  Putting a sports show on a station targeted to 25-54 females?  Crazy.  But it worked.  It made sense. And it’s still going strong today!

Dave has always been someone I could trust.  He’s a great family man.  He’s wise, sharing his life experiences and advice with those who are willing to listen, and doesn’t shy away from what he believes.  Seeing him renew his relationship with God has been so exciting. Plus, he’s got a great sense of humor and we have so many hilarious stories that will last for years to come.

Dave, my friend, I wish you many blessings during this transition period.  This one’s for you!

-Joe

I was reminded again yesterday about the power of a moment.  As I left the station last night to get Rachel home and get some dinner, I took my typical route out of campus.  I turned right on Martinsburg Road and headed towards downtown Mount Vernon.  As we approached the 586/13 split, out of the corner of my left eye, I saw a figure briefly cut across the sunlight coming from the west.  Now, if you’re like me, living and driving in Knox County, that’s a warning signal to slow down.  My foot immediately went off the accelerator and toward the brake.

Sure enough, something was darting across the street.  But not what I expected.  It was a female deer running full speed.  Not what you expect to see by Burger King at 6:15 on a Thursday night!  Yet it darted about 5 feet in front of my car and headed east toward between two homes there.  I was thankful for that instinct that kicked in.  Another 5-7 feet, who knows what would have happened?  Rachel and I said a short prayer of thanks as we tried to pull our hearts out of our throat.

As I continued driving to the house, I remembered that the instinct kicking in was something that started many years ago with my dad.  He taught me during those influential teenage driving years about the value of defensive driving, and how to spot signals of animal or deer movement.  I’ll admit, there were times that I wasn’t the best “driving student” with my dad, but he stayed patient with us.  My family loves to tell the story of the time I made too sharp of a left turn while headed to my grandparents’ house and ended up ruining two large pizzas that were in my dad’s lap.  The infamous “cheese slide.”

Sometimes it’s those little moments in life that can make a big difference.  Thanks, Dad…for being willing to stay patient with three boys of very different personalities and teaching us the basics.  Thanks for loving us, supporting us, challenging us, spending time with us, and most importantly, introducing us to our heavenly father.

-Joe