Emmanuel Radio plans local show, Radiothon

By Tanya Connor

WORCESTER – Emmanuel Radio is planning its first local show and its second radiothon, with a kickoff featuring a nationally-known speaker, according to its new general manager.
“It’s a beautiful thing, taking this from the ground up,” Cindy R. Dorsey said of succeeding Nick Everett as general manager of WNEB 1230 AM Aug. 13. “I just feel extremely blessed because it melds together my entire professional career in television and radio and my personal mission teaching CCD for 10 years.” The Marlborough resident said she taught religious education classes at her parish, St. Anne in Southborough.
She said she plans to visit all the parishes in the diocese and connect clergy with Emmanuel Radio, to help them serve local Catholics.
Emmanuel Radio, which broadcasts Catholic programs from Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), can also be accessed on www.1230radio.com and on smart phones with the application Live 365, Mrs. Dorsey said.
The first fall radiothon is scheduled for 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Oct. 17-19, Mrs. Dorsey said. Like the spring one in April, it is to include guests and prizes for donors.
To kick it off, Patrick Coffin, host of Catholic Answers Live on EWTN, is to speak at 7 p.m. Sept. 27 at Anna Maria College, Mrs. Dorsey said. His topics are: the value of Catholic radio, the Year of Faith and “Apologetics 101.” Coffee and desserts are to be provided. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Those wanting tickets or more information can call Mrs. Dorsey at 508-767-1230.
She said guests for next month’s radiothon include Jack P. Calareso, president of Anna Maria College, and Father Manuel A. Clavijo, chaplain and campus ministry director, talking about campus ministry; Christopher Klofft, assistant professor of theology at Assumption College, talking about books he’s written and the value of Catholic education; Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan, pastor of Christ the King Parish; Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office; Sandra Kucharski, communications coordinator of the local 40 Days for Life campaign to end abortion, and Michael Mudd, president of the Worcester Sharks, with some of his fellow Catholics from the team. Among prizes will be Worcester Sharks game tickets, she said.
Emmanuel Radio can have up to five hours of local programming a day, but so far local information has been limited to announcements and a community calendar, Mrs. Dorsey said.
John Laracy, a member of St. Columba Parish in Paxton and owner of The Bagel Inn in Holden, is to launch the first local program, for which he will choose Catholic books to talk about, she said. She said it will probably start as 15 minute segments from 4-7 p.m. on Thursdays, providing listeners with ideas for “a great read” for the weekend on their evening commute. A starting date has not yet been chosen, she said.
Mrs. Dorsey said she got her bachelor of arts in television and radio communications from Central Connecticut State University, where she founded the communications club. While there she had an internship with WFSB TV-3 in Hartford, then was hired for Hartford Cable TV, she said.
“We rode the tide of growing cable TV – from its infancy,” she said. She said she worked for Hartford Cable for 12 years, ending as its national director in California.
She said she then returned to the East Coast, where she married and became first general sales manager for New England Cable News.
“You can see the trend – launching, launching, launching,” she said. “I can contribute, from all my past experience, to helping launch WNEB.”
Mrs. Dorsey said she took time off to raise her sons, Kevin, now 17, and David, now 16. After they started school she worked part time as a photo journalist for The Community Advocate, based in Westborough, for more than four years.
She said she was director of sales for WTAG and WSRS, then a radio and integrated marketing specialist for Citidel Broadcasting’s WXLO, WWFX and WORC.
Then David began acting for television, movies and commercial print, “so we moved to Hollywood,” she said. She said he was national Minute Maid juice boy and national Verizon Wireless pizza boy and appeared in commercials in People and ESPN magazines, among other places. He also has a part in a movie which is not out yet, she said.
So David could do this, his mother said, she transferred to a Citidel office in Los Angeles, where she worked for KABC, KLOS and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ radio network, spending much time at their stadium, which her sons loved.
Now David is helping her with production at Emmanuel Radio, and Kevin can be of
help with the computer, she said.
“I’ve raised them as devout Catholics and none of us have ever turned away from the Church,” she said. Kevin attended St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, both attended North Hollywood High and now they are at Marlborough High, she said.
Kevin, a professional golfer since age 6, has been recruited by Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy to play golf, she said.
Mrs. Dorsey said she founded the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation Youth Golf Tournament a few years ago. She said it is now held in Southborough, and has raised nearly $100,000 for about 150 scholarships.
She said she expects her work for Emmanuel Radio to be “full-time professional and full-time personal, because you’re never off the clock when you’re doing ministry.”