In 2006 Fr. John Silva asked Ralph Turpen (Owner and Operator of WBNL in Boonville, IN and a consulting broadcast Engineer) and Steve Luegers (an industrial wood materials salesman) to attend a meeting to look into bringing Catholic Radio to the Evansville IN Diocese. So, our team begins with three people, each with completely different backgrounds but a common belief in the power of solid Catholic radio to educate and evangelize. Our simple strategy for the first couple of years was to look for an existing station, purchase it and then switch to Catholic programming. Many options were pursued and one or two even got to more serious discussions but ultimately did not work out for various reasons. Needless to say, with our courage and patience often stretched at times, we all learned to lean more on the Lord and our prayer life. Fr. John Silva was reassigned out of our diocese and Fr. Gene Heerdink became a new Board member and our Spiritual Director. Julie Stone joined our team to help with office duties, listener and donor records and many other behind the scene responsibilities. Her help has been a blessing. Also during this time we started attending the EWTN radio conferences held each fall in Birmingham, AL. The conferences provided much good information about starting and operating a Catholic radio station, as well as providing answers to the endless number of questions that come up. The break out sessions covered topics ranging from technical, legal, donations, marketing and much much more. In addition to tremendous support from EWTN we joined the Catholic Radio Association. They have been and continue to be a trusted source for information and networking. Also during this time, we met with Bishop Gettelfinger (Bishop of the Evansville Diocese) to ask for his permission and blessing for our group to pursue Catholic radio in the Evansville Diocese. We were so pleased when he agreed to our request.
2007 - Fr. Gene Heerdink ( past Director of the Guadalupe Center in Huntingburg, IN. speaks Spanish, and a long history of overseas and domestic ministry to the Hispanic population) is asked to join the Board. Fr. Gene is also a member of the Catholic Radio Association. One or two informal Board meetings during the year to discuss radio and the Evansville area. Our strategy is to buy an existing secular station and change the programming to Catholic. No possibilities worked out in 2007.
2008 - Tri-State Catholic Radio opens a checking account at Old National Bank using a generous donation from Fr. Gene. Steve and Fr. Gene attend the 2008 Catholic Radio Association conference and hosted by EWTN covering many areas of getting a Catholic radio station on the air, ie buying a station, marketing, legal, government regulations, advertising, etc. Board met near the end of the year and reviewed the stations discussed during the year, but no possibiliies panned out.
2009 - Tri State Catholic Radio Inc. registers as a non profit business entity with the State of Indiana. The Board met in the fall with discussions covering area radio stations and market conditions. The Board meets with Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger and receives his support of a Catholic radio station for the Evansville Diocese. He agrees to write a letter of support to the Pastors of all 69 parishes in the Evansville Diocese, once we have a radio station up and operating. This is critical support of our endeavors. God please be with us and guide us!
2010 - Board met in the spring to discuss radio stations, not much available right now. In October, Fr. Gene, Ralph and Steve attend the 2010 Catholic Radio Conference in Birmingham, AL. Each of us attended different modules and traded notes on the six hour drive home. The conference gave us all plenty of encouragement and lots of good information on radio stations. The economy continues to struggle with no real optimism in the short term. This situation may push some stations into being sold. Still by the end of the year no workable options had materialized, some stations were sold to other buyers, some didn't quite fit our needs, etc.
2011- Some news comes up about a couple of stations during the year. Ralph meets or talks with the contact persons. Unfortunately , after more discussions, none of these stations worked out for us. Board got together late in the Fall to review the year and discuss if there are any changes needed in our strategy.
2012 - This year showed about the same activity in radio station availability. We continued to keep the word out that Tri State Catholic Radio is looking to buy a station for the Evansville Diocese. We also contacted a radio station broker to expand our options. Ralph continues working his network to learn of any stations that might be coming up for sale. Steve attends the 2012 Catholic Radio Conference, gaining more good information and meeting several new people to help us once we get on the air. One significant item was mentioned at the Conference-the FCC may be opening a short window of opportunity for LPFM's sometime in 2013. Board agrees if this happens, we need to apply for several locations.
2013 - The FCC opened the window for LPFM applications. We applied for 4 different cities in the Evansville diocese.
2014 - On May 22, we received a notice from the FCC that Tri State Catholic Radio, Inc. had been granted a Construction Permit for an LPFM station in Jasper IN. Fr. Ray Brenner (pastor of St. Joseph Church during this time) and an early supporter of Catholic radio very generously offered us two rooms in the St. Joseph ministry house to serve as an office and a studio. The board signed a lease for these two offices. We are grateful to Fr. Ray and St. Joseph Church. The hard and exciting work of getting the station up and running began.
October 2015 - We held a well-attended Launch Party and officially "Flipped the Switch". Our keynote speakers were Dave Vacheresse- GM for EWTN and Dr. Ray Guarend - host of "The Doctor is In" on EWTN radio. WTJW is a full-time affiliate of EWTN and broadcasts their programming 24/7. In addition, we broadcast local programming such as special LIVE events and interviews of prominent Catholic leaders and lay people.
2017 - We took our local artist Jennifer Kluemper's recording "The Chaplet of Divine Mercy" in word and song with pianist Jane Persohn and we started broadcasting this at 3:00AM and 3:00PM daily. See more information on the Divine Mercy under our Prayer + Faith button.
Linda Luegers (Steve's wife) joins the staff and becomes the primary Adminstrative Assistant as well as taking care of the website and programming the PSA's (public service announcements) on the radio. Her organizational skills will be of great value to the team and our listeners.
Julie Stone had wanted a little lesser involvement due to other activities taking up more of her time and schedule. Thanks Julie for all you have done for WTJW!
October 2018 - We celebrated our 3 year anniversary with a gathering of listeners and supporters. Our keynote speaker was Dr. David Anders - co-host of Called to Communion on EWTN radio.
September 2019 - We upgraded with the installation of a double bay antenna to our tower improving signal strength and broadcast reach. The installation of our antenna greatly improved reception in Ferdinand, St. Henry, Dale and Santa Claus.
October 4, 2020 - Marked the 5 year anniversary of WTJW 93.1FM. Due to Covid-19 restrictions we were unable to hold a large public celebration. We took the opportunity to be a little creative and had a different celebration. We mailed out a letter to listeners in our broadcast area asking this question- "What does Catholic radio mean to me?" We then personally invited some listeners to come into the studio (practicing social distancing and wearing masks) spaced out over the day. We had a joyful day discussing the Catholic radio question LIVE on the air.
January 2021 - Fr. Eugene Schmitt (Pastor of St. Joseph Church Jasper, IN) joined our Board of Directors to replace the late Fr. Gene Heerdink. What a great addition to our Board.