Ad Astra Radio owner, president and CEO Chris Shank and a team of Ad Astra employees were in Great Bend on Thursday to host the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Coffee. Shank shared some of the history of the family-owned radio business that his dad started 40 years ago with one station. It has expanded to 11 stations and 15 signals.
The flagship station is Kicks 106.1, KXKU, a 100,000-watt station in Lyons playing mainstream country gold.
Golden Belt listeners will also be familiar with KLQR Classic Hits and KGBK Real County, both in Larned.
KLQR 92.3 FM/1510 AM carries K-State and the Royals.
“Our slogan is ‘Your hometown radio stations.' We always try to make sure that when you listen to our stations, there’s lots of local content. That’s something we really believe in,” he said.
“High school sports is one of the things we hang our hat on,” he said, adding Ad Astra stations cover 60 high schools. “We want to make sure that we entertain people and inform them with local news, weather and sports, and good music.”
The team of long-tenured employees and new hires provides 24/7 programming on its stations and offers apps for easy access to the stations.
Shank came back 13-14 years ago to work for his father and continue the family business. “There were a lot of people that had been there since I was a kid,” he said. “It’s funny, one of the people I was supposed to be the boss for, I remember her picking me up off the ground as a little kid when I got hurt one time.”
Chamber announcements
• Mark Mingenback said Heart of Kansas Mercantile and Miss Pretty Pickles on Main Street will be closed for two weeks, starting Monday, as workers do some plumbing work upstairs on the future loft apartments. The loft project is going according to plan, he added. The elevator has been installed.
• The Barton Theatre production of “The SpongeBob SquarePants Musical,” runs March 5-7, with a March 8 matinée.
• Saturday, Feb. 28, is the American Heart Association Heart Walk, sponsored by Heart of Kansas Family Health Care Inc., from 9 a.m. to noon at the Great Bend Recreation Activity Center, 2715 18th St.
• Charell Owings at United Way of Central Kansas said she has a stack of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library books that were returned to the Post Office. “They used to destroy them. Luckily, they now hold them and give them back to us.” Community members who work with children can contact Owings, who has about 100 books she can give out.
• Eagle Media’s Home and Garden Show, presented by Kelly’s Garden Sense, will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, at the Great Bend Events Center. Admission is free.
• The next Chamber Coffee will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 5, at the Chamber, 1125 Williams St. It will be hosted by Massage at Eades. Local massage therapist and Great Bend resident Jason Eades is competing in the Mr. Health & Fitness competition, which supports families battling childhood cancer through the B+ Foundation. On Wednesday, he had advanced into the Top 10 nationally and wsa attempting to push into the Top 5.
