CGabriel and Blog Harbor: Change is in the Air
Christopher Gabriel | May 21, 2009 | Comments 18
For those of you who are regular visitors to Blog Harbor, you’ve probably noticed a little less activity here over the past week or so. Several days ago, the normal Eye on Monday feature was no where to be found. And the same for today, as The Farmland Almanac with Harrison Beillor is not running in its normal Thursday time slot. The reasons have to do with change in the air for both yours truly and Blog Harbor.
Two months ago I got word of a talk radio station in Fargo, North Dakota – AM 970 WDAY - looking for a new weekday host. I did a little research and discovered WDAY was a “heritage” station with more than 80 years of history. In a nutshell, they were the real deal in a smaller market. They are also the voice of the North Dakota State University Bison. NDSU is relatively new to Division 1 sports but has made quite a splash in their big-time infancy with an appearance in this year’s NCAA basketball tournament (losing to Kansas in the first round) and the NCAA softball tournament, the Bison currently in the round of 16 about to face Arizona State with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
So I sent my materials up to them hoping for the best. About a month passed and then their program director contacted me saying “You’re in the good pile.” It wasn’t much more than that. I emailed back to thank him for the heads-up and filed it away as hopeful. Another month passed and this time, he called. He had one question: Would I consider coming up for several on-air auditions. Naturally I agreed. Two days led to five. And five days led to an offer to be a new weekday host.
To suggest I’m excited for the opportunity given to me by WDAY would be an understatement of mammoth proportions.
Obviously this will necessitate leaving Minneapolis, a city I’ve come to love. Fortunately, my older daughter hasn’t yet entered kindergarten, the younger one is only two and she goes anywhere there’s food and places to run, and my wife, herself a syndicated writer, can do her thing anywhere. So on the family front, all is well.
As for Blog Harbor, within the next few months you’re going to be seeing some significant changes. Namely, Blog Harbor is going to be absorbed into my website when the redesign is complete and released. And while features like The Farmland Almanac with Harrison Beillor, the Gabriel Theatre on the Air, Eye on Monday, Nikos, videos and obviously my posts will continue as always, the programming of the content – when, how often and what days things show up - will be getting reworked as well.
Finally, one other change: The name “Blog Harbor” is probably going to be retired when the website is fully open for business. There are several reasons for that, the primary one being a matter of simplicity. Looking at the bigger picture, it becomes a case of Less is More.
The next month promises to be just this side of insane with selling one home, finding another, beginning a daily radio program, continuing to write and create content for my blog . . . and all of this being done in a new town.
Fortunately, we’re blessed to be going to a warm and welcoming place like Fargo. The people there, both those I’ll be working with at WDAY and so many others we met, extended themselves in ways unlike anything my wife and I have ever experienced in the 20 years we’ve been together. As native Midwesterners, we shouldn’t have been surprised.
They made us feel like one of them.
Filed Under: Christopher Gabriel • Fargo • Life • Media • North Dakota • radio • WDAY
Wow, what an amazing story. Congratulations. I’m wishing you well for this new journey in your life
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Congrats! I am so excited for you guys. Only 3.5 hours from MN so you can still visit friends and family. Baby Q and I will come visit from CT, but def. NOT in the winter!!! Best of luck with your crazy month!
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Wonderful stuff. This opportunity reeks of success. Can’t wait to hear you shine!
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Congratulations, my friend! Fargo is gonna love you!
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Sounds like a great opportunity where everything fits! Have fun with it!
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I almost pee’d my pants when I read this. I know you’ve wanted this a LONG time!! Congratulations. You deserve it, to say the least.
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Oh Mr. G!
I am so excited for you! Actually, I am conflicted as you know for purely selfish reasons. You have been the most amazing teacher at Stages Theatre Company – going so far above and beyond that there needs to be a word invented for you. All the very best. Fargo should have a band playing when you and your beautiful family get there! They are indeed lucky!
Your Buddy,
Jennifer
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As the program director of WDAY AM Fargo, I am very excited to be having Christopher as a new part of the WDAY AM family. I truly know I have discovered a real gem; a talent that will be a great addition to our radio station.
Ben Ziegler
WDAY AM Fargo
Program Director
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Christopher! This is great news! Congratulations on what will be a great adventure for you and your family.
Will you join Facebook when you get to Fargo? ha ha ha ha
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So wait… does this mean that Harrison Beillor got another job and will not be doing the Farmland Almanac? What the heck do I have to look forward to on Thursdays??? This way is worse than when Seinfeld went off the air.
Congratulations! But what about me???
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PhillyPat, so very nice to hear from you again. Christopher has informed me quite emphatically that I will continue to work with him. But now, with his wonderful new venture on WDAY in Fargo, I may be appearing live, on the air…..with him! This is quite exciting. I’ve already contacted Big Sky Press asking for another 50 poems.
He’s also mentioned to me once he and his family are settled up in Fargo, Thursday will again be the day for The Farmland Almanac.
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Fantastic – Many Congratulations. Getting a job that one really wants is always a blessing. I’m looking forward to seeing all the changes and following your posts not to mention your comments (for a while there I thought you had been abducted by the small mammal workers union). But man you are even further removed from New Mexico now
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Hey Christopher! CONGRATULATIONS! I’m so happy for you and your family. You’ve worked so hard to make this happen, and you SO deserve it! Can I crash on your floor next time I’m in Fargo?
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Jenny – as long as you don’t mind the deafening, subway-like noise of two little girls…
And thank you for the very kind words. Those Saturday mornings doing Chowhounds with Andrew (Zimmern) and you were a hoot. Some of the best times I’ve had in radio.
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My sincere thanks to everyone who has stopped by and/or emailed to offer good wishes on our move to Fargo. It’s greatly appreciated and means a lot to me.
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Thats great! I wish you great success!
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Well done! Hope you’ll like the new residence! Are you gonna develop a Fargo accent? Good luck with the uprooting and settling! Take care!
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Thank you for the good wishes! No Fargo accent on the horizon, but…I may bring a few hills from Minneapolis with me. Fargo is a cool little city, but it’s quite flat. One particularly clear day, we were looking out of our third floor hotel room and we could see Portland.
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