Early radio station captured listeners' attention

A few days ago, I was walking down Main Street looking at the building that once housed the Sandpoint City Hall.

I just happened to glance at the building that sits on the northwest corner of Main and Second Avenue and decided to take a look around. I knew the building had been around for some time, and many things had happened, within its walls, that were part of Sandpoint's history.

If we had the power to turn back the clock to the 1920s, we could experience an event that Sandpoint and Bonner County had awaited with great interest. It was from this place that the people of Bonner County first heard voices over the radio.

People gathered around their receiving sets, tuned in between 0 and 10 on the dial, and soon a voice was heard saying, "Good evening, everyone. This is station KGKX in Sandpoint, Idaho, on beautiful Lake Pend d'Oreille, operating on a frequency of 1420 kilocycles by authority of the Federal Radio Commission. The first speaker on tonight's program will be Mayor H.E. Brown of Sandpoint who will officially open KGKX."

The voice was that of 21-year-old C.E. "Bud" Twiss, owner, engineer, manager, announcer, writer, salesman and janitor of the new station. The broadcast, heard by hundreds, was coming from the "lounging room of the Elk's Club." The permanent home of the new station was located above Gardner's Store, which later became The McFarland Office Building, located at 200 Main St. in Sandpoint. With Twiss was F.R. McCann, who was in charge of the plant and equipment.

The program consisted of several speeches and a variety of musical numbers. Bub's Bubblodians, a five-piece orchestra directed by "Bub" Senft, gave a 15-minute program of popular music. Professor Owen Bandy, on the Hawaiian steel guitar, performed several numbers including Humoresque and Hilo March. There were vocals by Margaret Barnes and Stanley Bower. J.L. Nye presented one of the musical highlights of the evening when he played "Girl of My Dreams'" and "My Wild Irish Rose," on his musical saw. The Elk's Quartet gave a medley of popular numbers, and the program concluded with a 30-minute program by an orchestra.

During the initial broadcast of KGKX the telephone was busy receiving the many calls reporting reception and offering congratulations. The Pend 'Oreille Review reported that the local telephone exchange experienced one of its busiest evenings since its establishment.

People reported reception from as far away as Dover, Kootenai, Colburn, Cocolalla, and Murphy Bay. In October 1929, the power of KGKX was increased to 100 watts. A local paper reported, "The present transmitter has been heard all over the United Sates and Canada."

Clinton E. "Bud" Twiss, who started KGKX, later went to NBC's Radio City in Hollywood as NBC's chief announcer. F.R. McCann went on to be in charge of the FCC in Portland, Ore. In 1940, he and two other men constructed a facility capable of picking up Japanese radio broadcasts.

It seems that during the war years Sandpoint did not have a functioning radio station. No records could be found, and many long-time residents do not recall a station in the area.

In 1947 KSPT AM was started by Norm Bauer. Barbara Blood, who has lived in this area for some time, remembers how the radio helped many people during the blizzard of 1948.

She states, "People who were out when the blizzard hit could not make it home and they would stop at the nearest house. They would phone the radio station and ask that their families be notified. The announcer on duty would relay, over the air, the news of the person's safety to the concerned family."

From that day, more than 80 years ago, Sandpoint radio has grown to three major stations: KSPT, KPND, and KIBR.