January 22, 2021
CROW-FM has a new-look management team for 2021 with the appointment of a new chair and general manager at the community radio station.
Long-serving chairman John Box’s resignation was tendered at CROW’s annual general meeting on Thursday.
John – who was named South Burnett Citizen Of The Year at the 2014 Australia Day Awards – has served on CROW’s Board since 2010 and was chair from 2012.
His resignation was announced by vice-chairman Winston Burrows who paid tribute to his many years of voluntary service.
The chair’s role will now be filled by fellow Board member and former South Burnett councillor Ros Heit.
Chantal Harth has been appointed the station’s general manager after former GM, Chris “Corky” Corcoran, left in December.
Corky has worked as an announcer at CROW since 2008 and was appointed GM in 2012. He was awarded an honorary CROW-FM Life Membership at the station’s recent Christmas party.
Chantal started at CROW as a trainee in 2012 and in 2013 was selected as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Regional Student of the Year at the Queensland Training Awards.
She has since gone on to assume increasingly senior roles at the station, as well as hosting the Saturday Country Hour.
Corky’s breakfast slot is now being filled by former drivetime announcer Shaz Birkett.
The drivetime role has been taken over by Matt Collins, who has returned to the station after a year on the Sunshine Coast.
Winston said 2020 had been a challenging year for CROW due to the pandemic, but the station had emerged in good shape.
One improvement he hoped to see this year was the installation of a repeater station on Mt Wooroolin, which would allow Kingaroy listeners affected by black spots to pick up the station more easily.
The Kingaroy repeater will broadcast on FM 97.9.
Another improvement will be an upgrade of the station’s IT systems.
Re-appointed to the Board were vice-chair Winston Burrows, secretary Andrea Steele and treasurer David Sewell and Board members Kirstie Schumacher, Felicity Jorgensen and Andrew Hobbs.
An eighth Board position is expected to be filled within the next few months.
[UPDATED with correction]
Congratulations to all on a great 2021. We moved from Memerambi to Kingaroy 18 months ago. We can’t get CROW FM in the house but can on our patio. We miss it. Love the station so hopefully when the new tower is up we will be picking you up again.