PRESQUE ISLE – Northern Maine’s only full-power commercial television station, WAGM-TV, is creating a scholarship award with the Northern Maine Community College Foundation through a $10,000 gift to the Campaign for the County’s College.
Contributed photo
WAGM-TV’s, from left: Rene Cloukey, Kelly Landeen and Cathy Donovan present the first payment of a $10,000 pledge from the station to the Campaign for the County’s College. Accepting the generous gift are NMCC President Timothy Crowley, Raynold Gauvin, chair of the NMCC Foundation; and Robert Clark and Brian Hamel, co-chairs of the major gifts campaign.
“The staff, management, and ownership of WAGM are extremely pleased to be able to help the residents of Aroostook County further their education at a superior, local institution of higher learning. NMCC represents all that is good in the Community College system and WAGM is proud to participate in NMCC’s major gifts campaign,” said Gordon Wark, president and general manager.
The WAGM-TV Scholarship Award Fund will provide a minimum award of $455 each to up to four deserving students who are matriculating in a degree program at NMCC. Students receiving the award must be residents of Aroostook County enrolled for the first time as a full-time candidate in a two-year degree program at the Community College.
“The significance of this generous donation from WAGM is the retention impact it will have on students who want to stay in Aroostook County,” said Raynold Gauvin, chair of the NMCC Foundation board of directors. “This gift will allow several students the opportunity to pursue their higher education at NMCC, who may not have been able to afford to otherwise.”
College President Timothy Crowley, who everyday sees the difference that scholarship funds make in terms of student access to NMCC programs, also lauds the commitment and contribution of WAGM.
“The County’s College is most appreciative of this generous donation from the county’s television station. WAGM has not only been the county’s source of television news, information and entertainment for the past five decades, it also stands out as a vital partner in the economic development and community betterment of this region,” said Crowley. “This newly established scholarship award is a perfect example of the station’s commitment to the region and the people it serves. We are so pleased that WAGM has partnered with NMCC in this manner.”
WAGM-TV first went on the air Oct. 13, 1956, and is owned by NEPSK, Inc. A long-time CBS affiliate, the station in September of 2006 added a digital multicast channel affiliated with the FOX Network.
Currently WAGM TV’s analog signal is carried on all cable systems in the region and in over 15,000 cable homes across the border in neighboring Canada. WAGM also operates a full power digital station on Channel 16. The FOX 8 signal is also carried on all cable systems in Aroostook County.
The station’s extensive news products carry the overarching title of NewsSource 8 and feature several different editions ranging from early morning to late night and weekend. The weekday Evening Edition consistently has the highest ratings and highest shares of any early newscast in the nation.
WAGM employs 34 people. Its studios are located at 12 Brewer Road in Presque Isle with a transmitter located on Mars Hill Mountain. The station will return to its Channel 8 allocation in 2009 when analog transmission ceases.