DeeDee Berger, Assistant Administrator with Kno Ho Co Ashland Community Action Commission came to WNZR to talk about a special event planned for this week. They are hosting a Breast Cancer Awareness Event at the Ramser Center located at 700 Perimeter Drive on the Knox County Fairgrounds. This Thursday 10/16/25, from 6pm – 9pm, they will provide valuable information to women, host a professional panel to answer questions, have free giveaways and a silent auction. You are invited!
Click HERE to hear our conversation with DeeDee Berger.
Click HERE to find out more about Kno Ho Co Ashland.
WNZR got to sit down with Dr. Carson Castleman, as he give us the October installment of our MVNU Presidential Update!
This month, Dr. Castleman shares about enrollment, MVNU’s fall revival, and the upcoming Tragedy into Triumph event that is coming to our campus in November! He also gives us an up to date look on what is happening with MVNU Baseball’s On-Deck Campaign.
Lisa Lloyd, Senior Program director for the Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon talks about her role with Kiwanis and how she was the president in previous years, and she’s been an official member since 2011.
She talks about the history of Kiwanis and its programs that it is a part of. They kicked off their annual Coats for Kids collection on October 1, the collection started in 1987, and their goal for this year is ~500 coats.
Lisa talks about the collection points you can go to around Knox County. There are 39 different locations at every public school in the county, Park National Bank, CES Credit Union, The People’s Bank, Knox Public Health locations, and so many more. They’re looking for gently used coats, they will clean them before handing them out.
They’re looking for all size of coats for ages all the way up to 18. The coats are distributed by Interchurch and Salvation Army.
The deadline for donating is October 31st, after which they will be taken to clean so they can be handed out. She shouts out Knox Community Hospital and their own coat drive that they run.
Our very own Eric Brown got to sit down with chart-topping Christian artist Mark Schultz!
He shares with us about his journey to being an artist, his song writing process, and how he hopes people feel after listening to his songs. Mark also goes in depth on one of his songs and shares a story he heard recently from a fan.
Mark will be right here on MVNU’s campus for Starting Point’s “Evening with Mark Schultz” tomorrow! It is a night of music and conversation that you won’t want to miss.
One of WNZR’s Founding Fathers, Bill Bridges who was a part of the original Mount Vernon Nazarene College Staff in 1968, stopped by to celebrate the 39th anniversary of WNZR!
Click HERE to hear the entire conversation with Bill and Station Manager, Marcy Rinehart!
Bill helped found the Speech and Communications Department. Bill says that Founders Hall wasn’t ready, so they met in October in various places throughout Mount Vernon.
Bill said that the dream of having a radio station started around 1978. He said that they interviewed Dr. Henry Smith (who was one of Marcy’s professors) and he joined the staff.
Bill said he taught a radio class before they even had a radio station. He says WMVO in Mount Vernon gave them an old sound board, so they were able to have radio classes. They would broadcast to those in the breezeway between Founders and Faculty Halls.
Bill says that he and Dr. Smith started researching what it would take to start a “real” radio station. Bill stayed until 1980 and passed the department to Dr. Smith while he returned to the ministry.
Bill says the staff at WNZR is living out his dream. He talks about what he thinks that God has done to make his dream come true. He says the current ministry of WNZR is more than just a radio station. It is a Lifeline. WNZR does more than just play good Christian music and read the news, but what kind of impact it has on the community.
Bill gives some wisdom to WNZR staff members, “Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be afraid of failing. You never truly succeed unless you really try and take chances. He says trust God and trust your fellow workers.”
Click HERE to check out WNZR’s awesome website and learn more about our ministry!
This week we are featuring Orange Barrel’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest!
Lily Davis plays Merriman and Grimsby in the production and she got to talk with us. She tells us all about the show, her characters, and her acting past!
The show opens up on October 3rd at the Mount Vernon Developmental Center and you won’t want to miss it!
Katie is excited to kick off their 2025 Campaign and she shares some exciting details about the goal. Katie shares the mission of the United Way of Knox County and what the United Way means to her.
Katie shares some of their major partners for the 2025 campaign and the power of those partnerships. She likes how agencies can come together for a goal instead of feeling like they’re competing. Their goal for 2025 is $1.11 million to help cover all their internal programs and over 50% of the money will be redistributed to other agencies.
She talks about how they decided on their $1.11 million goal; they looked at the scope of how much they could get and how much they needed to distribute to agencies before deciding their goal. She hopes they can hit the $650,000 from the community goal by the end of the year. Their major contributors are you, the community, and local businesses who will match their employee giving. Their fundraising year doesn’t end until March 2026.
Katie breaks down the three pillars of a community: education, healthy living and financial stability; she talks a bit about those and what they are doing to help achieve that.
She talks about the agencies and programs the campaign will help support. The campaign goes to support internal agencies and programs they host, and she highlights some of the agency’s part of the united way. The grant application period to become an agency or program of the united way opens Wednesday October 1st and is open until the 31st, interviews happen in November, and she talks a bit how you can do that. The process is largely for vetting agencies and ensuring agencies are meeting community needs and she talks a bit more about that.
Click HERE to find out more about the United Way of Knox County!
WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart recently had a sit down with Jennifer Furay, the Executive Director for Starting point Pregnancy and Family Resource Center for a fantastic talk.
Starting point has been around for 36 years, they offer family counseling, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STI/STD testing and treatment, they have abortion pill reversals, and they have a mobile unit starting soon. Jennifer has been the Executive Director for two years and she talks about their location on Woodlake trail.
The mobile unit was announced this summer, and she talks about what they’re going to be doing when they are ready to go themselves. Its been 15 years in the making and they’re very excited for spreading their goal of making a community where abortion is unthinkable. The most important focus for their new patients is to get an ultrasound, visualization of seeing their child brings the human element back into the picture. The mobile vehicle is nearing completion; Jennifer hopes to start on the road soon.
Jennifer talks about their fundraising events and volunteer efforts and she talks about how their volunteers are what keep them going, she sees them as partners in the fight for life.
She talks about their MVNU volunteers and their efforts as part of Cougs for KSP and she’s excited for the volunteers they have. She highlights some of the volunteers from MVNU and some of the events they have around campus. She wants the message to be heard that the students are important. She shares how you can pray for them, you can pray for them to have the energy to continue the mission and help them to do all they can.
Don’t forget this Saturday will be a jam packed day starting with Starting Point’s Bubble Run, followed by an Evening with Mark Schultz!
Mayor Starr talks about the Mayor’s prayer breakfast that happened on September 18th, he highlights some of presentations and the success of the event. The message during the Mayor’s prayer breakfast was putting on the full Armor of God, and he highlighted how the belt holds everything together in roman armor, and the belt of Truth holds everything together for the Armor of God.
Matt Starr highlights the update the city’s efforts in Cyber Security and the Mandate for all government agencies focus on Cyber Security and helping agencies and citizens deal with ransom problems. Starr talks about the importance of two step authentication and it’s ability to prevent cyber security issues. He also talks about training that the city will be implementing for staff members in spotting and dealing with potential Cyber Security risks.
Bow hunting season for white tailed deer opens this weekend, and Matt Starr talks about what needs to happen for you to be able to legally hunt and goes over the basic rules for the season. He also talks about the importance of hunting season to help maintain the Deer population and keep them at a healthy number. Matt also highlights different courses you can take and resources to help you during hunting season.
Mayor Matt Starr talks about recent construction that has been underway, they had recent storm drain cleaning on Mansfield Road and he discusses some of the things they have done to help prevent flooding for residents on that road. The shared use path is still under construction and its still on pace to be completed by the end of the year. He also highlights the Crystal Avenue waterway and he talks about some of the issues that area has had with the well water drying up during the summer as well as illness problems for that area.
Starr talks about Electric Aggregation (diversity in the way they produce electricity) the city has been working on trying to work out a new deal as the current deal is set to expire in November (your bill will likely go up). The city has been running into is capacity and cost issues due to data centers. The council is working to find a new deal to prevent scheduled “Brownouts” for the city.
The city has been having meetings with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and he talks about how they’ve become very helpful in recent years. The recent talks have been about the water supply potentially being an issue due to recent growth, and after a study, they confirmed that the water supply is not an issue; however, the city is still looking into infrastructure to keep it that way long term. He also highlights the skill of the Ohio EPA and how well they do their jobs.
Starr talks about MORPC and their sister organization CORPO and their help to educational opportunities as well as communication with D.C. He talks about the upcoming summit on sustainability on the 30th. The summit is to help work with utilities and establish new contacts and learn from other communities, and what they can duplicate for the city of Mount Vernon. He talks about upcoming house bills the city is concerned about, mainly house bill 239 and senate bill 280 the state is proposing to increase pension for police stations. He also discusses short term rental bills upcoming, water lane bills, and upcoming bills about annexation.
Matt talks about H2Overhaul a project that has been underway for the past few years, they have been working to locate malfunctioning water meters, and the project is nearing conclusion in the spring. The city has been losing water and therefore money due to meter issues.
City council updates include changes to legislation for compensation of officials, it’s a time sensitive issue with the election coming up, the compensation changes could change retirement for select officials. Treasurers have been working hard and due to some of their efforts, they are going to be receiving a slight salary increase. He also talks about the public health contract, they have been working with Knox Public Health for a long time now and he talks about the benefits for that relationship. The contract with Knox Public Health is up for renewal here over the next month.
Starr shares the police department update, the new police station is still being worked on, they have been working closely with contractors to ensure the funds are being put to good use and the project will remain on schedule. The fire department concluded their hydrant flushing for the year and fire prevention week is coming on the second week of October and he highlights some of their efforts in the community.
Starr talks about their goals for the fall and they’re working on fixing broken water meters, he also wants to phase out the use of the old administration building now that COTC is located there. He talks about how they’re ahead of schedule on removal for the lime pile. The Johnny Appleseed Fall Festival is coming up on October 3rd, the fire department is having a fire prevention event on October 9th. He also highlights other events coming up. He asks that you pray for them as they fix the things that are broken, he asks for God’s strength and Wisdom in that process.
Click HERE to find out more about what is going on in the city of Mount Vernon.
The Morning Thing shared some exciting news about one of our local ministries. Jessica Reynolds joined us to share the new name and mission for TouchPointe Community Resources. Jessica serves as the Executive Director. She shared stories of how God is moving through their ministry, along with information on programs that they offer and goals for the rest of 2025.
TouchPointe provides Christ-centered mentoring and practical assistance that equips neighbors to heal relationships, create thriving families, and develop employment readiness.
Rise and Shine 