On February 1, KRVN Radio in Lexington, NE, celebrated its 65th year on-the-air. Joe Gangwish said, “This year's anniversary fell just ahead of a blizzard on the plains where 18 inches of snow fell with 40 to 50 mph winds. This was quite appropriate since two of the driving forces behind creating the station were the blizzards of late 1948 and early 1949. Several lives were lost along with many head of livestock thanks to those storms, simply because rural Nebraska did not have a radio station to bring up-to-date weather information. The coverage just wasn't there.” Ag producers wanted the latest market information and news. So, the Nebraska Coop Council went to work, forming a partnership with the Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska State Grange and the Nebraska Farmers Union to create a station to serve agriculture. It was "1010 for KRVN" when we went on the air that cold morning in 1951. KRVN, and its affiliates are the only farmer and rancher-owned stations in the country. They have a board of directors and offer memberships to those actively involved in agriculture. The Nebraska Rural Radio Association also owns KNEB AM/FM (Scottsbluff, NE), KTIC AM/FM (West Point, NE), and KAWL-AM and KTMX-FM (York, NE). KRVN Farm Broadcasters: (L-R) Jesse Harding, Dewey Nelson, Dave Thorell and Joe Gangwish. Not shown is Shalee Peters.
