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<center>Letters to the Editor</center>

Appreciates local

Humanity support

I would like to thank everyone for their support of the Williams Area Habitat for Humanity pancake fund-raiser on Aug. 19. Special thanks go to Dave Pouquette for the use of his facilities at Twisters, Carol Glassburn and all the Chamber Ambassadors, Dent Brothers Distributing for their donation of orange juice, Brandon Evans for the use of his cook trailer and grill and the Hoffman House for their gracious assistance.

Please support us over Labor Day weekend at the rodeo grounds cook shack. Williams Kiwanis and Habitat will be joint hosts in providing vittles for all you rodeo fans.

Jim Lewis, president

Williams Area Habitat

for Humanity

Details chamber's

advertising stance

I feel a need to respond to Bob Moore’s letter in last week’s paper regarding KRTE radio. There are a couple of items that need to be clarified and this will hopefully take care of that.

First, I want to say that I am truly saddened that KRTE is leaving. The radio station has been a big part of our community and has indeed been very supportive of the community and specifically the Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce. Also, I am personal friends with the owner, Tom Erickson, whom I have known for several years. I will miss his sense of humor and wit.

As to the issue of the $250 per month, Tom did indeed come to a chamber board meeting and ask for support from the chamber for the radio station. To be honest, we would have loved to have been able to help but did not have money in the budget for that.

The funding that the chamber has used in the past for advertising has recently been redirected toward other programs. In an effort to provide a different service to the business community, the chamber has increased its efforts toward the Main Street program and toward improving economic development. We are trying to break the seasonal aspect of our local economy, as well as bringing in companies that are not tourism driven.

The chamber has been coming up with some creative approaches toward keeping the advertising in place. For example, the Grand Canyon Railway has stepped up and helped with the money needed for a matching grant we receive from the Arizona Office of Tourism to do advertising. We are also working with local businesses, which are forming a co-op to advertise Williams.

The only radio advertising that the chamber has paid for recently, is in conjunction with a country/western concert that we are doing for Railroad Days.

When we decided to do the concert, we contacted KAFF in Flagstaff, because they have a country/western format and audience. KRTE did not have the country/western following, and this was discussed with Tom Erickson at the time.

The ads on KAFF were paid for by money that was received at the chamber in the form of sponsorship money for this concert. Many of the sponsors indicated that their involvement was in part because we were using KAFF and they knew their following in the area.

KAFF has a strong signal and reaches into not only Williams, but the Navajo and Hopi reservations, as well as Prescott and parts of the Phoenix area.

It is sad that we are losing KRTE, certainly a valuable asset to our community, and it may be a while before another radio station comes to Williams. I know Tom Erickson well enough to believe that his relocating the station was a business decision and not a personal one.

The chamber of commerce wishes the radio station, Tom Erickson and Bob Moore the best in the future.

John Sullivan,

Williams-Grand Canyon

Chamber of Commerce

executive director


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