KKRN IN REDDING KNOWS “THE POWER OF PANCAKES”

Hungry fans of KKRN gather for the All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfasts

at the Mountain Community Center in Round Mountain

KKRN near Redding in northern California has found something everyone can agree on: Pancakes.

The all-volunteer, community station says thank you to the folks in the area with Our Famous All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfasts. 

The breakfasts are held twice a year as the culmination of KKRN’s Spring and Fall pledge drives.

In the rural and beautiful area near Mt. Shasta covered by KKRN, members are counted one by one. KKRN [link] depends on its members to keep the station running.

Ellen Sugg

Ellen Sugg, the unpaid General Manager of KKRN, told Spark News why the pancake breakfasts are so important to KKRN:

“The pancake breakfasts bring KKRN listeners together. One of our goals is to build our community. The breakfasts are a way for people to meet our program hosts while they enjoy live music and eat some of the best tasting pancakes in the nation.”

“In our rural area, these gatherings bring friends together from little nearby towns and from the “big city” in the area – Redding (population: 92,000) – about 35 miles from the event site in Round Mountain (population: 155).”

The proceeds from the pancake breakfasts are vital for KKRN to continue operating. The admission fee is $12 per person, $5 for kids age 6 to age 12, plus “generous family discounts.

Volunteers preparing breakfast for friends of KKRN

According to Sugg, the two breakfasts generate about $4,000 a year. 

KKRN’s annual budget is around $50,000, so every penny counts. Plus, Sugg says KKRN sees an uptick in new members after the events.

Every helper at the breakfast is a volunteer. They are motivated by their common love of KKRN and the opportunity to sample ground wheat or corn pancakes with generous side dishes of fruit salad, sausage, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee. 

The events typically are on a Sunday morning from 8am until Noon.

Building better communities is KKRN’s mission. Many of the volunteers that established the station were (and still are) community organizers for progressive causes.

KKRN signed on June 28, 2011. They opened a studio in Redding in 2016. 

The station has a few signal challenges in Redding. 

As you can see on the map on the right, KKRN doesn’t cover the entire metro area. 

Perhaps an FM translator will become available so folks in the “big city” will have better reception.

Redding is a competitive noncom radio market. The biggest player is KFPR, a full-time repeater of KCHO in Chico.  All three of Jefferson Public Radio’s program channels can be heard in Chico. There is also a religious/secular hybrid community station, KFOI, that is based in Redding.

We first got to know Ellen and the crew at KKFN when they added their first fee-based national program American Routes [link].