DICKSON, Tenn. (WKRN) — Radio station WDKN is celebrating 70 years of serving the community with owners working to continue a legacy of helping Dickson County residents connect with their neighbors.

"It's great for me in particular because I'm a native of Dickson. It's my hometown," explained Lori Forte, who has owned the station with husband Kenneth since 2009. "To be a part of this community in this way, to make a positive impact and to carry on the legacy of a station that's been on air since 1955, it means a lot."

"We're on the corner of Mulberry and College. My great-grandparents have a home on Mulberry, so I can see it right from the station," Lori Forte shared.

The station broadcasts a number of shows in addition to bringing classic hit songs to their listeners. WDKN also hosts and partners on a number of community events to help support Dickson County residents.

"It's been something that's been the legacy of WDKN for 70 years. What it does is it endures us to the community in our partnership with sponsors in the community," said Kenneth Forte. "It adds value to this community in which we operate so for us to be able to go out and do different events whether it's live broadcasts at Old-Timers Day celebration whether it's a live broadcast for our Kringles Kids program that the community supports, I think it's significant because the lifeblood of a community is its local radio station."

They use connections with local leaders like mayors and law enforcement to bring the latest news and information to their own neighbors.

"I think that some of the previous folks who worked here who were out in the community were keeping an eye on the same things that we are. The sports in the area, new businesses, the schools, the city. And so we're doing the very same thing, and we're trying to do it even on a bigger scale," said Lori Forte. "We are business partners for large and small business, for the school system, for the city of Dixon, for churches, for nonprofits, and we just want to, we're community partners."

Local sports are also a big deal. WDKN is the only station where you can find high school football, basketball, baseball and softball. This is all while Dickson County has grown by tens of thousands of people since the Fortes owned the station.

"We get to meet the best people. Really being involved in so many areas within the city of Dickson, we get to see why the city is what it is, why people love to be here," said Lori Forte.

The husband and wife duo work side by side on an endeavor that's now 16 years in the making.

"It's really a blessing because my wife is my business partner, and we've been doing this, as I mentioned, for 16 years," said Kenneth Forte. "I can remember back to the day that we cut the ribbon to go on the air. WDKN signed off the air in March, and we were fortunate enough to bring it back on in July of '09. And at that ribbon cutting, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law and our family. It was significant, and the community, as well as our staff members. I think it's a pretty significant experience for us and for me personally."

The Fortes are building on WDKN's legacy while fulfilling their personal mission of serving the local community.

"We certainly hope for it to grow and that it will continue to be a beacon for the community, that people will continue to look to us for information and know that we'll be there and deliver it with the same kind of care and consideration that they would expect, that they've come to expect from us," said Lori.

You can listen in on 101.5 The Ride or learn more at WDKN.com.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/on-tour-middle-tn/wdkn-dickson-county/