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Show Community Radio Station to be a reali Qmj . wnir CMMeiiiiMy Wnffel ByNanChalat I !. . . . i & : v ' 2! , ..ti . - ; , o Jt could be said of Gray Frierson Haertig that he is a dedicated electrician. During his six week stay in Park City he saw only Main Street. To be precise, therpart of Main Street between the Park City Wireless studio and Digger's place at Main Street Express Company with an occasional expedition up to Treasure Mountain Inn to confer with the community radio station's sta-tion's founder Blair Feulner. .. At least ten hours a day Gray intently tackled the task of sorting out connections, testing test-ing equipment and designing a radio station to be operated, for the most part, by rank amateurs. . Gray's only remuneration for his gargantuan effort was the satisfaction of helping a community radio broadcasting broadcast-ing station get off the ground, spare living expenses, expen-ses, a crystal from" the Family Jewels and a train ticket back to Portland. Dedicated in this case - is perhaps too mild a term. It is obvious that we are dealing with a deviation from the norm and as it turns out Gray - is delightfully different. For one thing "Portland Gray" , as he is known to -friends on the rails, is a celebrity. He has been interviewed by the Washington Washing-ton Post, photographed by Penthouse Magazine and was a favorite of the media at last year's National Hobo's Convention in Britt, Iowa. Part of a disappearing breed Portland Gray travels approximately ap-proximately 10,000 miles a year by train. Half the time he buys a ticket "rides the cushions" and half the time I ' ' " " HIM he hops a freight. He has picked up a few locomotive operator's manuals in used book stores and knows as much about how the train is running as any brakeman.or engineer. And he knows as much about the yards and 'jungles as any righteous tramp twice his age. Trains, Gray feels, are the only sensible alternative to the fuel crisis. "We made a serious mistake in neglecting the rail system in this country." But he adds that people are singing a differ- ent tune now. Gray points out that AMTRAK ridership increased by 30 percent last year. In fact, it was popular acclaim that saved the Denver Zephyr from being discontinued last year. Just before he left town Friday afternoon he decided to take a look at the famous Heber Creeper in Heber City. He seemed at home among the historic cars that are being gathered for the museum and he admired the restoration of the still active Heber Creeper which transports trans-ports multitudes of tourists from Heber to Bridal Veil Falls each summer. "Hopefully," "Hope-fully," he says, "These historic railroads will encourage encou-rage people to consider taking a train when . they really need to go some-: some-: where." The yard was full of snow and quiet affording Gray the time to reminisce about the days of steam engines and the days when there was always a clean frying pan hanging on a tree in the jungle where tramps like Slow Motion Shorty, Pasco $lim and Reno Blackey camped out between trips. He shared a few memories of hours stuck in Minnehopeles and of hopping on Onion Specific flatbed in the summer to watch the stars. The call of the rails was tugging at Gray's sleeve and it was time to return to Park ;;;;City. ;-::.;:v.;: r Gray packed his duffle in the anteroom of the studio. He assured Blair that everything every-thing was carefully documented docu-mented and laid out to minimize problems for amateurs. ama-teurs. Anyway, if any questions arise, Gray plans to return in a month or two to put the finishing touches on Com-. Com-. munity Wireless. In the meantime there is much to. be done. This weekend the 130th Electronic Instalfation Squadron of the Air National Guard will be in Park City to , string 2,000 feet of cable from the studio to the transmitter. The transmitter is currently located on the second tram tower across from the Coalition Mine Building. The use , of the tower was donated to Community Com-munity Wireless by Jack Sweeney but Feulner: hopes . that by next summer the transmitter will be .moved to a higher point (approval has already been granted for a transmitter at Lewis Peak) enabling the station to reach Coalville, Kamas and Heber in addition to Park City and Portland Gray Haertig . , ' I c; W 'j-'y -vt ,'t, v ' ' ; lit n i '' 'i "'i'" ? " ilff IvCte"" """" ,T-rsir '-'if MMWMMRnpMMMMWMMWMMIIiilM WUU IJIW iflMiJil.W i. niiLjii.irii.Lj n wimuj 'jw&.BW.jiijjiwiipiiiiijjiijuinjiwwtiWwwW v) f ! i - . - f b'A (l r - - :' ' ' p-f r:." 1 y . nil i ii w Mil a i iMiriHi If-litri wmmir- ftrf- " n .'in 1 ' Just before the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, Gray travels across the country distributing free Mulligan stew coupons to encourage his fellow tramps to attend the Convention. TV. . . . .. ; i n -T ,T-rrn , r I, I, , rJJmm.intrww'1!.0 r mo $25,000 and according te'S ' FeUl"er' Peple'S dna,ed Ume WOul5 " i - Hp liil r--v.'"- ' ' - - ir , : ' - v :,. ' "'.:'.' ;v;: .-" :.tJ;T' ..." ' .. : : !-'.'.'.'.-.'.' Snyderville. It is Feulner's hope that the station will provide a regional source of communication. communi-cation. "In an impacted area which is experiencing such rapid growth it is essential to establish a daily source of information We are all so interrelated, he elaborated, " A housing shortage in Park City affects Kamas just as energy resource development develop-ment in Coalville affects Park City. And the reopening of the mine in Park City affects Heber just as the proposed Jordanelle Dam will affect Kamas and Park City. At this point, Feulner sees no real communication between the communities and he hopes that Wireless will fill that gap- Before Feulner's dream can become reality, however, there are numerous obstacles obstac-les to hurdle. Thus far with the help of people like Gray Haertig, Jay Meehan (programming (pro-gramming director), Pue, Greg Vinson, Ron Burnett, Michael Eberlein and Dan Wilcox all volunteers Park City," and soon the entire region will have an opportunity to air their concerns on their own radio station. Gray stopped to admire the Heber Creeper while he was in : town. , . --:" , , ,. ' - - W ftW) Gary demonstrates proper form for hopping a freight. |