If you frequented the Round Up variety show and open mic that played on Thursday nights at the Hayloft Inn on M-72 between 2004 and 2020, you might recognize the new public address announcer’s voice at Traverse City Pit Spitters’ minor league baseball games this summer. That’s Cedar resident Bill Dungjen—a musician, sometime DJ at the WNMC college radio station, former Glen Lake School theater director, and now the baritone in the booth behind home plate.
Despite rumors to the contrary in recent years, the medium of radio is alive and well. In Leelanau County, independent radioheads share their love of music, practice citizen journalism, and produce feature segments over the airwaves and online, on venues such as Interlochen Public Radio and college radio station WNMC. Here are some of their stories.
If Maria Ulrich is the wizard at the sound board (or more likely these days, at the tablet and monitors), then lucky listeners and presenters alike can relax under her professional support. Ulrich will run Glen Arbor’s Manitou Music series starting next year.