Musical message aired out
By Jesse Phelps

Local parishioners have a new reason to give thanks and praises. A banner ceremony took place at Rancho Arnaz on Wednesday welcoming a new Christian radio station to Ojai.
The station, noncommercial KLFH 89.5, is located on Sulphur Mountain and makes worshipful music available 24-7 to local residents.

The Christian contemporary programming is simulcast via satellite from KLFF (K-LIFE) in San Luis Obispo, 130 miles up the coast. The new station, permitted last year, was the result of 14 years of work. Shepherd Communications filed for the construction permit in 1989.

Station general manager Jon Fugler was on hand in Ojai for the ceremony and said it's great to add Ventura County to his broadcast area.

Fugler said that the station, which broadcast the same content from both locations, will attune itself to audiences from both locales by teasing events in both areas during talk segments.
Valley pastors are excited.

Pastor Dan Nelson of Calvary Chapel, a 5-year-old non-denominational group that meets each week at the Oak View Community Center said he believes the station is "well-needed" in the community.

"I think that it's great," said Nelson, who has imminent plans to open a new Christian bookstore in Oak View near the current Oak View Library site. "It reaches out to a big piece of the populace that we haven't been able to reach out to before. I'm very excited to have them here and one of my favorite parts is that the station is out of Ojai. Any time we can get the name of Ojai tied in with the name of Jesus Christ I think it's a good thing. They have my complete support."

The new station is dedicated to getting the latest Christian recordings on the air, targeting a younger demographic than Ventura County's other Christian station, Oxnard's KDAR 98.3, through a format that, according to Nelson, features mostly music with a little bit of talk.

Nelson, who hosts a show on KDAR, said, "It's almost all music and targets demographics between 14 and 34. They play a lot of the alternative stuff, not carried on other Christian radio stations. (The two stations) are not in competition, they complement one another."

The ceremony at Rancho Arnaz was attended by representatives from several local churches. Pastor James Lair of Church of Living Christ said he thinks the station is great.

"I don't know if there is a station in Ojai except for this one," he said. "I also like the fact that it's contemporary music, so it can also appeal to the youth. This radio station is pretty much excellent Christian music. I think it's just neat that Ojai has this opportunity to have this station right here in our community."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news