WNZR is celebrating a 40th Anniversary on 10/1/26! Today, the spotlight shined on the 3rd decade in radio ministry – 2006 – 2015! Joe and Marcy Rinehart shared stories of some of those big moments:
– developing the positioning statement, “The More You Listen, The More You Hear”
– the station’s power increase to 1,300 watts
– and the debut of the station’s cell phone app
Former MVNU Faculty Member and WNZR Alum, Jayme McMillan talked about the debut of online video streaming for MVNU Sports, experiencing the power increase as a student and the purchase and broadcast debut for Big Blue! A lot of exciting things happened for WNZR in this decade!
Click HERE to hear the conversations or click on the picture link below.
History Highlights from 2006 – 2025 with WNZR.
February 2006 – WNZR hosted the annual Valentines Banquet and welcomed Dove nominated artists Bethany Dillon to Mount Vernon. The event was an intimate dinner and acoustic concert in the MVNU dining commons.
February 2006 – Dove award nominated artist Todd Agnew visited WNZR studios. He talked about his ministry and gave listeners a special treat. He played the song “My Jesus” live for us on the air. This was a pre-release acoustic version.
June 2006 – WNZR debuts a new website address, www.wnzr.fm
July 2006 – Canadian Dove award winning artist Downhere visited WNZR studios. They talked about their ministry and gave listeners a special treat. They played three songs from their new album “Wide Eyed and Mystified” live for us on the air. This was a pre-release acoustic set live on the air.
August 2006 – WNZR and MVNU sponsored Gospel Day at the Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival. We welcomed Dove award nominated artist Joy Williams to downtown Mount Vernon.
June 2006 – WNZR debuts a new positioning statement, “the more you listen, the more you hear”
October 2007 – WNZR partnered with the Knox Network of Christian Ministries for the Greater Knox County Will Graham Celebration. Over 5,000 people came to these special services held at Kenyon College and 268 people got saved! Marcy Rinehart served as the Communication Chair.
Summer 2008 – The WNZR expansion becomes a reality. The “old Spanish room” is divided into 3 parts: a) WNZR conference room, b) WNZR work area and c) MVNU Video Lab
June 2008 – WNZR receives a construction permit from the FCC to complete the tower work for our power increase. The construction permit is good through June, 2011.
September 2008 – WNZR partnered with Premiere Theaters to bring Fireproof to the Big Screen. Fireproof focused on strengthening marriage. It stayed in the theater for 6 weeks and over 4,000 people came to see the movie!
May 2009 – Big Blue – our station vehicle is purchased from Fredericktown Chevrolet. It took the entire month to get the logo wrap finished and all equipment installed. The debut of our (then white) Big Blue happened at the Utica Ice Cream Festival Parade.
June 2009 – Big Blue has her first official broadcast at the Danville/Howard Turkey Festival.
October 2009 – The equipment for the WNZR Power Increase was ordered. A 2nd floor was built at the tower site, and the electrical portion of the project was completed.
May 21, 2010 – WNZR’s power increase project was completed. 90.9FM was increased to 1,300 watts broadcasting to Knox, Richland, Licking and Morrow counties.
June 2010 – Joe, Marcy and Rachel Rinehart won a contest to visit the movie set of “Courageous” – the new movie from Sherwood Pictures (the makers of Fireproof and Facing the Giants). Joe & Marcy were able to blog about their experience on the station’s website and in the Mount Vernon News.
October 2010 – WNZR debuts a new children’s program for Saturday mornings – Kid’s Playlist. The show features host Rachel Rinehart and a special guest co-host each week. The program showcases the guest’s top 5 favorite songs.
October 2010 – WNZR replaced 6 computers including 3 broadcast computers and the computer for Associated Press service. Listener support covered this expense. The computer upgrade greatly enhanced WNZR’s ministry.
November 2010 – WNZR debuts online video streaming of Cougar basketball. Listeners now have the choice to view the live action of choice home basketball games. MVNU video broadcasting students participate in the video production.
10/7/2011, Friday – October First Friday – WNZR’s 25th Anniversary Cake Contest, in downtown Mount Vernon. We hosted the event in the vacant Woodward Opera House storefront and decorated it for our big Anniversary. We hosted a big birthday party where listeners got to vote on their favorite cake. We showcased t-shirts and promotional products from 25 years at WNZR.
November 2011 – WNZR hosts our 25th Anniversary with a special concert. Dove Award‐winning band Building 429 and three‐time Grammy nominees Leeland joined forces this fall to co‐headline the 30‐city “Sounds of Hope” Tour, which will also feature emerging pop‐rock band Royal Tailor. The concert was part of MVNU’s Homecoming celebration and happened on
11-11-11.
May 10-11, 2012 – WNZR provided live broadcasts of the MVNU baseball team’s play in the 2012 NAIA National Tournament Opening Round in Marion, IN. Joe Rinehart and MVNU Sports Information Director Dave Parsons called the action.
June 29- July 3, 2012 – a massive thunderstorm (derecho) results in the loss of electric power throughout Knox County and many parts of Ohio. WNZR is able to stay on the air due to generator backup and provides updates throughout the entire power outage. The Mount Vernon News does a newspaper story about our coverage on July 14.
October 5, 2012: WNZR broadcasts from First Friday in downtown Mount Vernon and hosts “Dogtoberfest.” This was a dog costume parade around the Public Square.
January 17-18, 2013 – WNZR partnered with Care Net Pregnancy Services of Knox County to host two showings of the film October Baby at MVNU’s R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium.
April 21, 2013 – WNZR and MVNU co-sponsor “Champions for Life” with the Escape Zone in Mount Vernon. The event featured guest speakers Kim and Corwin Anthony speaking to teens and young adults about good life decisions.
June, 2013 – May 2014 – WNZR Radio hosted live remote broadcasts at approximately 30 off-campus community events. WNZR also hosted three community VeggieTales video premieres on campus in July, November and March.
Fall 2013 – Spring 2014 – Under a new partnership with the President’s Office, Athletics and Marketing, WNZR.TV and MVNU.TV provided live video/audio streaming of nearly 60 home athletic events over the course of this year, 23 chapel services, and two special events – the John Knight Theology Conference and the spring Boesger Business Ethics lecture, plus live audio of another 25 or so athletic events off-campus.
February 2015 – Six students were honored by the intercollegiate branch of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) for placing in the organization’s 2015 student production contests and challenges. The awards were handed out February 25th at the NRB’s annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Wesley Boston (junior) won 1st place in the Radio Original Short Form Feature category
July 2015 – WNZR staff (Joe, Marcy and 2015 graduates Rachel Held and Andrew Yoder) drove Big Blue and attended the Nazarene Youth Conference in Louisville, KY during the first week of July. They provided marketing and recruiting support to the university’s enrollment events and admissions staff.
Here are pictures from May 21, 2010 – when WNZR’s power increase project was completed!
Here are pictures from our big 25th Celebration including the winning cake from our contest at October First Friday and our concert with Building 429 on 11/11/11!
