Three Months of Blessings!

The new 328-foot WGNS tower at sunrise
On March 1, 2007 we added FM 100.5 and FM 101.9
That's while keeping AM 1450 and over-the-air TV 11!

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A state of the art broadcast antenna that gives WGNS dramatically better coverage! 
Scroll to bottom for bird's eye view from atop tower

History A Memory In Seconds
    At 7:32am, April 15, 2001 (Easter Sunday) a severe storm hit Rutherford County.  One man was killed, trees were toppled, roofs were lifted off of homes, a section of bleachers in the new Nashville Super Speedway, which opened the day before, were crumpled, and the 328-foot self-supporting WGNS radio tower was downed.
    The 3-months that followed will forever change the Good Neighbor Station (that's what the G N S in our call letters stand for).  Public reaction created what might be compared to a modern day community barn raising.  It has been said that "true wealth is measured in the number of friends who stand by you when trouble strikes".  With that in mind,  not only is WGNS Talk Radio truly blessed--it is an immensely wealthy firm.    Here is our story . . .

Road To Recovery
WGNS (AM 1450) was back on the air within 18-hours using a temporary antenna.    A 330-foot wire was strung between two Murfreesboro Electric utility poles alongside the levee driveway leading to the radio tower.  On Tuesday, April 17, 2001, only two days after the tower fell, the Murfreesboro City Codes Department notified WGNS that since our tower was more than 75 per cent destroyed,  our "grandfather status" of having a 328-foot structure in the Murfree Springs wetlands was no longer valid.  In order for the radio station to rebuild,  we would have to appear before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) and get: 
    (1) a height variance (zoning allows only a 75-foot tower...we needed a waiver for 253-feet) 
    (2) a waiver of "land use" 

The First 45-Days
    This period was filled with getting earth core drillings completed and placing the findings from those geo-technical engineers in the city codes' forms. 

(above: left photo) Bill Barry, owner of WAMB in Nashville, gave Bart his first job the Summer before his freshman year in high school.  Bill dropped everything the Sunday morning the tower fell and was here to help within minutes.  (right photo) Fred Farrer, another Good Neighbor, personally oversaw the construction of the massive foundation for the replacement tower.    

   
(left photo) The new PiRod 328-foot self-supporting tower is being assembled on the "parking pad" in front of the WGNS' transmitter building.  We call it a "parking pad", because the transmitter site is surrounded by water.  This condition makes the signal go farther.  This picture looks as if there are several towers,  but in reality--you are seeing 40-foot sections of the new tower.  The crew put the first 175-feet of tower together in 40-foot sections. They are all placed around the "parking pad" awaiting a 300-ton crane with a 200-foot boom.  It would lift each section into place.  The final top section was 153-feet.   It was lifted in one piece and placed on top of the other sections.   It took a week to put all of the sections together.  Once the "monster crane" arrived,  it took only 4-hours to lift all of the sections in place.  That was a sight to see.  

Was It Divine Intervention?
More community leaders stepped forward to help WGNS in the construction phase of the project.  I ran into two brothers who are local leaders, developers and true good neighbors.  Charlie and Fred Farrer came to our rescue and helped in areas in which I had no knowledge.  Local contractor Fred Farrer took WGNS "under his wings" and suggested ways to build a stronger foundation for the tower.  Mr. Farrer's guidance enabled the tower to be rebuilt closer within the amount of insurance coverage. When told we needed a 300-ton crane, someone suggested Elliott Crane Service.  Bud Elliott, the owner of this large firm, came to the tower site after one of his employees put together a preliminary plan.  Mr. Elliott, who had several major construction projects over the Southeast, became so involved that he spent several hours daily giving guidance to his crew.  Jim Coleman, owner of Southern Broadcast Services, was another person who made the rebuilding a success.  Charlie and Fred Farrer, Bud Elliott and Jim Coleman are the lifelines that helped me through those tumultuous three-months.  

(Left Photo) Jim Coleman (second from left) and his tower crew were true professionals.  Jim is a broadcast engineer who knows the technical side of radio in addition to the skills needed for tower construction.  The Southern Broadcast Services' crew was always helpful, courteous and hard working.  WGNS is a true "family business".  Scott Walker (right photo) was on-the-job almost every waking hour during the 3-month rebuilding period.  His help was and continues to be very much appreciated.  Scott is now in charge of many of the day-to-day operations at WGNS...including sales, local news, and the new television production services.  And even though we did not have as good of coverage with the temporary antenna, our advertisers stood beside us during this trying period.  By saying, we've been blessed, is really putting it mildly.  The advertisers and our listeners all stood beside us.  We all celebrated together when the new tower was completed on July 14, 2001.  That was the day before my birthday, and the friendships made with this experience were gifts that I will cherish all of my life.  Watt Hairston, WSM's chief engineer, told us about the Birmingham based tower construction firm.  This team of caring professionals turned a catastrophic event into a blessing!  And Watt was another good neighbor.  He is a perfectionist!  When the tower was up and connected, Watt fine-tuned the system for a perfect match between the tower and Nautel solid-state transmitter.  This not only assured greater coverage for WGNS Talk Radio,  it also has dramatically improved the audio quality.  Tune to AM 1450 and see if you don't agree. 

(Left Photo) That's Bud Elliott on right side of this photo.  This is the smaller crane that was used to lift the fallen tower out of the swamp.  Bud Elliott is another Good Neighbor who personally oversaw the "lifting portion" of this project.  (Right Photo) Bud's massive 360-ton all terrain crane lifts the final 150-foot section of PiRod tower into place. 
 

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Return to Full-Coverage
It took almost 3-months to totally rebuild the 328-foot self-supporting tower.  At 3:30pm, Saturday, July 14, 2001, the new PiROD tower was perfectly tuned and full-coverage resumed.  Listeners phoned, sent e-mail and wrote with "reception reports" showing dramatic improvements from the old tower.  

WGNS' Tower Party
Listeners Invited To Celebrate
Corner of SE Broad Street and South Church Street

Thank You Celebration
On Saturday, August 25, 2001, a steady flow of  listeners gathered under the shadow of the new tower for a "Community Tower Celebration Party".   In the brief 2-hours between 10:00am and noon, more than a thousand listeners joined-together for fun and true fellowship.  It was a hot Tennessee day, and WGNS gave out hand-fans with a cartoon of a giant cloud huffing and puffing but not having any affect on the new super-strong tower.  Large safety-lid drinking glasses with similar illustrations were handed out to the crowd.  Listeners attending the party share their stories of how the tower being down effected them.  Believe it or not,  the two big areas of enthusiasm were being able to clearly hear Swap'n Shop again each morning and going to the Braves Baseball games with the Good Neighbor Station.  There was much conversation about how much louder, clearer and stronger the WGNS' signal was.  At the beginning of this page, we identified this as a 3-month Parade of Blessings.  Hearing the comments from the crowd of good neighbors was a true blessing.           

Money Machine Popular
One of the popular attractions was the Alexander Ford "money machine" (Photo left).  A male listeners tries to grab the cash flying inside the "money machine", while a woman walks out with a "fist full of cash"!  Many WGNS' listeners walked away with pockets full of cash.   They kept the cash grabbed in the air within one-minute and forty-five seconds (get it...WGNS is 1450 on the dial).  This is an example of how other local businesses jumped-in to help WGNS in our time of need.  Don Alexander and his staff at Alexander Ford have been long-time WGNS friends.  Their encouragement and support during the three-month rebuilding period helped us through what could have been dark days.  Instead, they were challenges that gave new opportunities! 

A Truly Blessed Celebration
Church of Christ preacher and long-time WGNS supporter Leamon Flatt started the Tower Celebration with a prayer.  That was not the only time prayers were given for the new tower.  The day after the job was finished, Eric Laverentz, Associate Minister of First Presbyterian Church, gave a private blessing of the tower.  He asked that it be used to open new lines of communications between people in this community, help citizens to work harmoniously toward the same goals and serve as a voice of encouragement when life gets rough.  Later,  State Representative John Hood joined us in this "live" broadcast. Special thanks to everyone at the Bi Lo Grocery on Memorial Boulevard for giving away ice cream, soft drinks, water as well as a DVD player and color TV that were won by two lucky WGNS listeners.  There were many leaders in the community who took time to help the "Good Neighbor Station" celebrate the new tower.  Right Photo) Community leaders Myrtle Lord and Bill Rowland participated in the fun.  As you looked around, the new tower celebration attracted the who's who of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. 

Fun, Games, Prizes, Food!
A "Moonwalk Clown-house" from Stewart's Party Rentals was a popular site for the younger set.   Here (L-R) Bart Walker, Bryan Barrett and Scott Walker do a "live" radio show from the celebration.  They also help youngsters into the Moonwalk.  You can see the McDonald's sign in the background.  Special "thanks" to McDonald's on Broad for allowing us to have this event in their parking lot,  which adjacent to the new 328-foot WGNS tower.    

WGNS' listeners represent a wide span of ages.  One thing all of our Talk Radio listeners have in common is that "they are involved in the community".  They are the "movers and shakers" in each of their demographic groups. 

(Above L-R) Pastor Woodrow Medlock talks with Bart.  Mary Glass, Jack Welchance and Jean Vaughn enjoy the party.

(Above photo) Tower party Broad @ S. Church Street.  (L-R) community leaders Leamon Flatt and Myrtle Lord.

(Above photo) Kristin Walker (white T-shirt) gives out WGNS T-shirts and Tower-mugs.  Lee Ann Walker hands out mugs.

(Above) WGNS Traffic and Religious Director Bobbie Hayes (center first photo) talks with friends.  Listeners line-up to win prizes at the "standing room only" WGNS' TOWER PARTY.   

True Friends
I am grateful for friends like Bill Barry (WAMB radio in Nashville), who gave me my first job in radio when I was 14 years old, and continues to be a friend and mentor today. He dropped everything on Easter morning and rushed to Murfreesboro. Bill Barry gave me guidance throughout this entire period.  WGNS' Engineer Gary Brown (Photo left) is another "Good Neighbor"  For the 3-month period when PiROD was designing and manufacturing the new tower,  Gary worked his "magic" to keep the station on-the-air with very close to full-power.  A 300-foot longwire antenna that was 30-feet in the air and alongside the levy type driveway kept WGNS on the air.  Engineer Gary Brown constantly checked the new foundation to make certain that the ground system was still secure to the new copper 6-inch strap that surrounded the underground section of this new tower base.  Gary and Bart are friends who have worked together since the 1970's.  Gary is another one of those Good Neighbors.
    Our special thanks to Rick Templeton with the City of Murfreesboro for keeping the water level DOWN at the tower site.  Beavers would stop the water, and the flow from Murfree Spring would begin to fill the wetlands.  Rick's crew opened the spillway twice weekly to keep the land dry so that tower construction could be completed.   
    And like the Egyptian legend of the Phoenix bird that rises from its own ashes invigorated with a youthful freshness, your "Good Neighbor Station" is back with a reaffirmed and stronger commitment to better serve our community. THANK YOU!

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Tower Construction Story
The massive foundation that was constructed by Farrer Brothers Excavating.  100-yards of concrete, much rebar and anchoring it all to the solid rock underground will assure that this new tower will not have problems.   "32-stories of solid steel towering over the 'Boro!"   Farrer Construction completed the foundation on which the new WGNS tower is placed.   Special thanks to Fred Farrer, who took a personal interest in seeing that the foundation was completed quickly and with extreme strength.      Geosciences Design Group, LLC (GDG) from Nashville did the earth core drillings. With the use of a "sonic pulse meter" GDG was able to test the strength of the four existing pillars.   John Carpenter along with the GDG designed the massive new foundation on which the 37,000 pound Pi ROD tower was constructed.  In addition to the concrete/rebar foundation,  the tower base is also anchored to the solid rock that is four-feet below the earth's surface.  This tower is definitely "built on a firm foundation".  The massive solid steel PiROD tower is UP!    
    Southern Broadcast Services, Jim Coleman's Birmingham based tower construction firm, erected the massive 328-foot self-supporting tower!  Jim's crew really knew broadcast engineering.  You couldn't have found more pleasant team of professionals to work with either.  
    So many local leaders had a hand in getting WGNS back to "full strength".  We especially thank Murfreesboro's "Bud" Elliott for sharing his knowledge and personally working to erect the new WGNS tower!  His 200-ton crane with a 300-foot boom placed final section into place on Thursday, July 12th.  Thanks to everyone at Elliott Crane Service.   
    The fine-tuning of the new tower to our Nautel transmitter was completed on Saturday, July 14, 2001.  At 3:00pm WGNS was back at full-coverage.  The new Kintronic's antenna greatly improved WGNS' signal strength, loudness as well as clearness of sound.  That means you'll hear the "Good Neighbor Station" clearer,  louder and farther away!  
    A newly designed TV-11 Scala antenna was installed on the tower.  There is a dramatic improvement in the channel 11 TV coverage!   People in Shelbyville and Lewisburg have called to report a clear signal from TV-11.  
    E-mail and let us know if the radio and TV signal is better at your place:  news@1450wgns.com     
    Special thanks to Joe Sneed, owner of Joe's Body Shop, for allowing the cranes, dump trucks, concrete trucks and other heavy equipment to travel through his business.  Joe was inconvenienced over the 3-month preparation and construction period.   He always smiled and said,  "That's what neighbors are for."   All of us at WGNS thank Joe Sneed.  
    How tall is 328-feet?  It is 32-stories of steel towering over Murfreesboro. That would be the equivalent of stacking two downtown Murfreesboro NHC City Centers on top of each other and then adding two more floors!  It is more than Nashville's tallest building (Bell South's BAT building).

Downtown From The Top
Middle Tennessee Two-Way's owner John Hettish gets a bird's eye view from atop WGNS' 328-foot tower that overlooks Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  John's firm does an excellent job of keeping the day and night strobes working properly on the tallest structure in Murfreesboro.  They also do antenna maintenance and tower inspection to keep the WGNS' signal at its peak. (Photo left) view of the downtown Murfreesboro business district.  Picture taken from the top of the new WGNS radio tower by John Hettish.  Murfreesboro is really growing! 
 

Discovery Center From Tower
A bird's eye view of the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring and the Congressman Bart Gordon Nature Trail from atop the 328-foot WGNS radio tower.  The original tower was located in this wetlands back in 1946.  Now, with the museum and boardwalk system, many citizens are able to see first-hand what makes the WGNS signal get out.  (Photo right: view of Discovery Center, boardwalk and wetlands from atop WGNS' tower)  The museum and the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department, who are in charge of the wetlands, have been very gracious and helpful by including the radio station in descriptive markers along the boardwalk.  Many people ask, why is WGNS radio tower located in the swamp?  Back in 1946, when Cecil Elrod constructed the Good Neighbor Station, the engineers knew that placing the tower and ground system in a swampy area would dramatically increase the signal strength and coverage.  The design of the new PiRod tower with Kintronic's folded dipole antenna take even greater advantage of the water.   

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The Boardwalk Winds Thru Swamp
This is part of the boardwalk system that officially opened May 17, 2003.  WGNS' Bart Walker served as emcee of the ceremonies.  They were broadcast "live" over the Good Neighbor Station.  (Photo left) The boardwalk through wetlands lets the public walk beside the tall structure that many say is a landmark that helps them find their way in Murfreesboro.  John Hettish not only maintains the WGNS' tower,  he also played a vital part in the construction of the new self-supporting structure.  John is a grandfather, scuba diver, photographer, outdoorsman, world traveler, etc.  John and his staff at Middle Tennessee 2-Way look for ways to help others.  He too is a Good Neighbor!  By the way, that guy you see (Photo right) is John Hettish.  And yes, he is enjoying the view from atop the WGNS 328-tower.  Murfreesboro's Stones River Greenway goes past the radio station's 328-foot self-supporting tower.  Here you can see some of the boardwalk system that allows the public to view nature in this massive wetland that is located in the heart of our city's business district.  

The Tower Today
The WGNS tower site looks quite a bit different these days.  The massive new 328-foot self-supporting PiRod tower is built on a solid foundation that is bordered with an 8-foot fence.  A 3-foot section of barbed-wire is on top of that section, bringing the fence height to 11-feet.  The Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department's boardwalk system is to the right (above) of our transmitter and tower site.  The boardwalk goes to the beautiful new Discovery Center at Murfree Spring.  Forecasts call for 75,000 persons to pass by the Good Neighbor tower each year. The wetlands is full of lush and beautiful growth during the Spring and Summer months (left photo).  As you walk along the boardwalk (coming from the Discovery Center), here is the view of the WGNS' tower.  The area is beautiful in every season.  In the Fall when the leaves have blown from most trees, the Murfree Spring wetlands is still a beautiful sight to behold (right photo).  Take a stroll past the Good Neighbor tower and experience natural beauty, mother nature, and a part of the Heart of Tennessee that has been hidden from the public for centuries.  (left photo) Lee Ann Walker stands beside the "sound history of WGNS".  This is a part of the park's signage that tells about the history of the area.  Push the "red" button and you'll hear John Hood live from Sewart Air Force Base, Bill Barry doing a big band radio show on WGNS in the late 40s, part of a war time newscast, and Bart Walker anchoring special emergency coverage of the tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes in January, 1991.  WGNS is sound, and this special historical plaque (located on the front of the radio station's transmitter building) lets you hear the Good Neighbor Station in earlier years.  And along the water pools outside the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, you will find a 150-foot Murfreesboro History Wall.  As you can see, the county's first radio station was WGNS and it is in the city's time line (photo right).  Thanks to Congressman Bart Gordon, Army Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department...we can now all enjoy this wonderful area!

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