<I>DAMIAN?MULINIX/Chinook Observer</I><BR>Bob Frankovich looks through some of his vast collection of jazz LPs to create a playlist for his next show on KMUN. While he will use CDs from time to time, the majority of his sets come from original vinyl albums.

PENINSULA – When Ilwaco resident Margarita Cullimore began volunteering as an envelope-stuffer with KMUN radio five years ago she had no intentions of ever becoming a deejay.

“In the beginning I never liked being on the air,” admits Cullimore, who hails from Mexico. “I was self-conscious because I felt I needed a good voice, and I have an accent!”

But when the Astoria-based station was short staffed for a Latin music program one Thanksgiving day, she offered to fill in – and successfully completed the show using the only six Latin music CDs she owned. Since then she’s been hooked; she now owns around 2,000 Latin CDs and is one of many volunteers from around the region who help keep the station tuned (pun intended). Rotating weeks with Manuel Lerma, Cullimore’s Latin music program entertains local ears on Thursdays from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The programmer says she chooses to narrate her radio show in English because, “Most of my listening audience is Anglo, and I know that because I get the calls. And I know that Latin listeners will be able to understand the words and the meaning of the song.”

Some of Cullimore’s music choices include Mexican, Puerto Rican, Argentinian folk music, tango, Afro-Cuban and many more “from the entire Latin world.” In addition to the great music, she shares the history of the music, the musician and the countries from which the songs originate. She also enjoys discussing how Latin music has evolved due to different cultural influences.

“Cuban music is particularly great music, most of Latin music comes from Cuban music. The musicians are very well trained in government sponsored conservatories … but they live in poverty and yet they are able take music to new boundaries.”

“What I really enjoy is sharing the music and tidbits of background that I have with the audience that I have, which is a very loyal audience and it is rewarding to hear from them,” she says. “What I love about KMUN is that it’s diverse programming, it’s a connection to information you’d never find here – BBC, alternative radio, classical music … It’s a community effort to be able to bring to us what is happening locally, it’s a point of connecting … Listening to KMUN is really a unique experience, because you have the input from the cultures – the local culture and the local input.”

Ocean Park couple Bob and Wilma Frankovich first hit the airwaves three years ago when she was listening to the radio on her way to a substitute teaching job and heard about KMUN’s need for an opera programmer.

A two-time finalist in the Metropolitan opera semi-finals, Wilma has also studied opera, held lead roles in operas and taught junior high and high school vocal classes in Pullman and Moscow, Idaho. Using many records from her own collection, Wilma’s opera program airs on the first, second and fourth Sundays of each month from 9 a.m. to noon.

Classically trained in music, Bob taught band classes in the Moscow-Pullman area for years. Upon arriving at KMUN, he hosted a classic music program a few times each month and filled in for the jazz program whenever he was needed. Now he hosts “Evening Jazz” – featuring some hits from his own record collection – the second and fourth Mondays of the month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Wilma says volunteering at KMUN has brought their love for music back into the forefront of both their lives, “We just love it! It’s like being reborn, here we were retired from it and now we’re back in it!”

Thanks to KMUN’s live radio stream on their Web site, Wilma says she has listeners from as far as Phoenix, Minnesota, Boston, Manhattan and even Belgium.

“It’s just so much fun,” says Bob, who also plays the French horn in an Astoria brass ensemble and North Oregon Coast Symphony. “It’s just like a big family over there. … Most of all I’m doing what I love and that is to share the music that I love with people that share the same interests.”

For the past two years, Ocean Park resident Lori Buckwalter has been a volunteer programmer at KMUN. Prior to that, her voice filled the airwaves as a programmer and reporter in Portland, where she was also a voice in the political field.

Upon arriving at the coast, Buckwalter says she noticed that the arts community contributed to the area, and felt KMUN provided an outlet to discuss issues with openness to variety of types of programming and people. Though she originally planned to do documentary work, she actually became part of the “Women’s Music” Wednesday night program, where she plays music from a variety of genres.

“It’s an autobiographical picture of my love for the music and what it means to me and how it provides a way to reach out,” Buckwalter says of her show. “I like to include a part of me in the program, and I like to push some boundaries – and push myself. My musical tastes are progressive and evolutionary, I think we all need to stretch our imaginations and appreciations … It’s a therapeutic event for me, I hope people appreciate my music.”

A musician, singer and songwriter, she says music has been an important part of her life as a transgender woman. She “came out” to her listeners during a recent show and says, “It was a good experience and I got good feedback.”

Buckwalter describes the radio station as “an amazing place to meet people and make connections, and it allows me an avenue to be creative on air. I feel like I’m really embraced and accepted by the people there. I felt really confident and really supported by station staff and the underwriters … I feel like I have a place there where I don’t have to second-guess myself.”

“It’s a great way to keep the spirit and the community connection alive for me,” she adds. “It ties the North Coast community together.”

Catch Buckwalter and her “Mistress Morphea” persona every third Wednesday of the month on KMUN at 8:30 p.m.

Judith Altuda’s love of old Hollywood is evident in her “Nighttime Noir” program, which airs every Sunday from 11:30 p.m. to midnight. Recording her weekly program from the comfort of her Tokeland home, Altuda reads adult stories set in the ’40s, ’50s and early ’60s, to which she adds music clips from the appropriate time period.

“I hate to say they’re trashy – they’re a bit on the tawdry side,” she explains with a giggle. “Most of the stories are autobiographical – not all of them, but most.”

Altuda has volunteered with KMUN for one year and says the station trained her to specifically produce her own show.

“I enjoy the freedom, the creative freedom, because I basically gave them the proposal for this show and they gave me the training I needed and they gave me free reign to pick the titles and program them the way I want … It’s been a completely positive experience.”

Some of her tawdry titles include “Tab Hunter Confidential,” Barbara Payton’s “I Am Not Ashamed,” Tenessee Williams’ “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” the autobiography of Honey Bruce, and what Altuda describes as “classic lesbian pulp fiction of the ’50s to ’60s by various writers.” This month her show is featuring stories from “Dark Shadows,” a gothic soap opera.

Wayne Downing’s “In the Mood” big band show airs every Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., with memorable tunes from greats like Louie Armstrong and Billie Holiday.

Self-described as “a white kid who grew up in white suburbia,” Downing’s first KMUN program featured folk music. Now five years later, he says his current program has been a learning experience because he wasn’t exposed to many of the artists he now enjoys.

“I like to tell people, ‘There was music before rock and roll.’ Now I’m charged with a responsibility of passing this music onto the next generation.”

One of his favorite aspects of “In the Mood” is the fact that it stirs up memories for his listeners – stories of wars, travels and relationships.

“I have lots of old lady friends out there,” says the Ocean Park resident. “The radio is a good friend to a lot of people around here because they don’t have a TV or cable. And the road from South Bend to [the Peninsula] is very lonely, so you turn on the radio and hear a comforting voice, and I wanted to be that comforting voice. And I love the anonymity of it.”

He also loves “the thrift shop hunt for a new record.”

“It satisfies my creative urge,” Downing says about his radio gig. “We do our own programming, the programmers program their own shows – not like other radio stations. I enjoy KMUN very much, they are some very creative people … And my gift of gab is finally paying off!”

In addition to Cullimore, Downing, Altuda, Buckwalter and the Frankoviches, KMUN has well over 100 volunteers to help prepare and edit information for programmers and tackle many other behind the scenes tasks.

Now in its 26th year of operation, KMUN is a Coast Community Radio station that is locally funded with the help of membership support, fundraisers, pledge drives and grants.

Along with the many choices of entertainment, the FM station has also been instrumental in keeping their communities informed. Serving Oregon’s north coast and the southwest corner of Washington, KMUN also provides headline news through National Public Radio and British Broadcasting Corporation. Equipped with generators, the station has become a reliable source during windstorms and power outages.

KMUN plays an important role in the region through community project participation, broadcasting community forums, and collaborations with numerous issues, businesses and organizations. Its public affairs program provides learning opportunities about cultures, crafts, recipes, holidays and even issues addressed by Senior Information and Assistance.

Whatever your listening pleasure, KMUN likely has something to tickle your fancy – Scandinavian, Celtic, jazz, blues, Broadway, country, reggae, classical or choral; not to mention political commentary, bedtime stories, ship reports and “After Deadline” with editors, publishers and reporters from local newspapers. Tune in at 91.9 FM or log onto (www.coastradio.org) and see which programs capture your attention.