Hey Southern Alberta! Turn your radio dial our way

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There's something new in the air in southern Alberta. Transmitting from a field somewhere near Fort McLeod, CFWE Radio The Native Perspective is your newest radio station. You can find it at 89.9 FM.

CFWE has been broadcasting to 44 communities and 45,000 people across central and northern Alberta, but now, with a new, high powered transmitter in the south, listeners in Lethbridge and Pincher Creek, and on the Peigan and the Blood Reserves will be able to tune into the Native Perspective for all the music, news, cultural programs and of course the thrill of CFWE Radio Bingo every Monday and Thursday.

Allan Standerwick, CFWE director of radio and radio bingo organizer Ethel Winnipeg were on a southern tour in early-May to help acquaint the south with the radio station.

Standerwick said the new transmitter is packing quite a bit more power than the other locations across the province which transmit the Aboriginal radio station.

"One of our normal sites is about 10 watts. This site. . . is the equivalent of 1,500 to 1,600 watts," he said.

The new transmitter is a pilot project which, if successful, will be brought into communities with existing low power transmitters. The end result is expected to be a wider coverage area, potentially doubling the listening audience and better reception in remote communities.

But before more people listen, they have to know about the station. Standerwick and Winnipeg traveled to several communities in and around Fort McLeod to spread the word about CFWE Radio

"The response so far has been very positive," said Standerwick from his car phone while driving the CFWE truck through Lethbridge.

With the radio station audible in the background, Standerwick said hearing the station so clearly in the southern extremes of the province is a good feeling.

"It's like our new baby and we are here welcoming the southwest portion f the province to our family," he said.

Winnipeg, riding shotgun on the tour is introducing the south to the very popular radio bingo.

She is setting up southern contacts where people can pick up their bingo cards for a shot at some big cash prizes.

With a larger listening base in the south, programming at the station may alter somewhat. Blackfoot programming, specific to the southern region and Cree programming for the north are two definite possibilities for the radio station in the months to come.

Standerwick and WInnipeg have planned a return visit to southern communities to do some remote radio broadcasts from "the new territory" and make it an official launch of the radio station. The community visits shoulds begin in the third week of May.

Since the radio station has been serving the north primarily since it started up, Standerwick encourages any listener in the south to send tapes of groups or musicians who sing Blackfoot to the radio station. That way the Blackfoot musical library can begin to build.

After just a few weeks in operation, the reception from the communities has been very positive. Standerwick said the radio station is looking to the Slave Lake, Elizabeth and Frog Lake regions for the next signal boost.