Community Radio Station Manager Marries On The Air

Ken Cartwright Program Director of AM 1620 Community Radio. "It's not how big your watts are, It's how you use them!" www.kencradio.com

(STAYTON, Ore.) - On October 18, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. hundreds of listeners heard Ken Cartwright and Jan Castillo exchange vows and become husband and wife on local community radio station AM 1620 KENC.

As Ken and Jan considered how they were going to get their family and friends to their wedding conveniently and because they were scattered all over the United States, Ken jokingly suggested they send out invitations to have them tune into his radio station that they stream.

After they talked about it, it began to make sense. So they sent out invitations with those instructions. One of their best friends, Paul Toews, an artist, logger and ordained minister offered to marry then. He had never done any kind of high tech wedding, but because he was a good friend of the couple offered to give it a go.

Jan's son, Louis Downey, wife Lisa and their two children and 9 others crowded into the small converted bedroom on the second floor above Cartwright's Music and gathered behind the couple at 1:00 p.m.

Ken did a station ID, announced the wedding was about to begin and told the listeners who was in the room, and asked Paul to begin the ceremony. It went without a hitch and by 1:15 p.m.

Paul announced the couple husband and wife. The attendees applauded and Ken went to the computer and played "The Photograph" by the Chapmans that he and Jan had selected as their favorite song.

Because of pre publicity with a story in the Statesman Journal and the Oregonian, plus all the friends and relatives that had promised to be listening, they couple anticipated there might be a lot of folks listening.

Later that day, the couple received acknowledgment of this as they received congratulations from hundreds of listeners; people they knew and didn't know sent emails or called them, congratulating the couple.

The next day Ken checked his server stats and though the states are subject to adjustment, they counted over 1200 listeners for that ceremony. Many of the comments about listening to the wedding are posted on the station's web site. One of the more interesting ones was from a friend that said it was the first time she had ever been to a wedding in dirty sweat pants outfit.

Ken's niece Wendy Sassman in Florida said, though she was a big Steelers and Bills fan and they were playing at that time, she listened and was glad she could. The couple are planning a getaway honeymoon in a few weeks.

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