Kendal Cooney - Camden-Frontier High School
Kendal Cooney, from Camden-/Frontier High School, will attend Indiana University to become a nurse. She hopes first to be a visiting nurse and then work in pediatric oncology. Her second nursing focus emerged when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Kendal feels a burning passion to help those with cancer based on her personal experience.
Kendal plans to use her experiences and passion to help others change the world in a positive way. She sees a nursing career as the way to do so.
WCSR
Ever since 1827, when two people made their way to what is now Hillsdale County, thecounty has grown and flourished. Being a majority of rural and dispersed area, our community is very spread out, having twelve different schools in an area of only 607 square miles. This makes for county-wide unity challenging. When looking back through the history of Hillsdale County, I searched for something that struck me as an item that had, and still has, the capability of bringing everyone together as one. I searched for a connector in not only the past, but also in today's upbeat society.
Sixty-two years ago a small business began that has been holding our county together up until today; WCSR Radio. The business was started in 1955. When it began the station was only a 100-watt AM station known as WBSE. It was the first thing that allowed everyone in the county to be connected. As time went on, the business continued to grow. By 1962, the station had not only moved to its current location, but had also become a 500-watt AM station and was officially named WCSR. Finally, in 1974, the FM 92.1 6000-watt station came to life.
The business of WCSR has been owned by the Flynn family since 1982. Under theFlynn family, the station has brought the communities within our county together by not only playing a wide variety of music, but also addressing the news, weather, sporting events, and commercializing local businesses. Through the flow of one station, our entire county is kept up-to-date on one another. Instead of being brought together once a year by certain local events, WCSR Radio is constant. The people of Hillsdale County, stretching from Waldron to Litchfield, are able to stay on the same page thanks to WCSR. Whether folks are tuning in to another Pittsford Wildcat’s state championship, news about the city council meeting, or an obituary for a loved one, WCSR is an asset for everyone.
Small businesses such as WCSR that have been around for a good amount of time are easily overlooked and under appreciated. Six hundred, seven square miles kept together by one radio station! Without WCSR, it wouldn't be as easy for our county to keep tabs on our neighboring towns. But the radio allows for news and events to be brought to listeners as it’s currently happening, instead of being delayed. Truly, as I look through the history of Hillsdale County, WCSR strikes me as the connecting piece in our community that holds us all together.
Kendal Cooney - 2017