#WELL-SPOKEN
A Century of News, Ag, Talk and Sports with KFEQ

February 16, 2023

CHARACTER TRAIT: WELL-SPOKEN

DEFINITION: talking in an educated and refined manner.

In February, more than a century ago, one of our city’s longest-running storytellers was born.

KFEQ, established by the Department of Commerce on Feb. 16, 1923, took to the radio air that same week with an afternoon broadcast to kick off its decades of service, news, talk and community to the St. Joseph region.

In fact, KFEQ has been a presence for so long that its 200-watt transmitter predates even the creation of the Federal Communications Commission.

It’s a name that’s come to mean talk, sports and news, as well as the farm reports, with trusted honesty and consistency. Founder John Scroggin isn’t one of St. Joseph’s own, but was an engineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When a case of the measles meant he had to return home to Oak, Neb., Scroggin started having some creative fun with this new platform they called radio. The broadcasts Scroggin shared were part of a homemade ham radio, and later his home, where he featured ag, news and music.

Three years after its founding, a few St. Joseph area legendary businesses – namely, the St. Joseph Grain Exchange and the St. Joseph Livestock Exchange, working with the St. Joseph Booster Club, talked Scroggin into planting that station here in St. Joseph.

The rest, as they say, is history. But it’s also the future.

Fast forward several decades and several hundred watts. KFEQ operates today with a 5,000 watt directional antennae at 680 AM that serves not only listeners in St. Joseph, but across northwest Missouri, northeast Kansas, southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa. The show lineup features well-known names:  Red Eye Radio, America in the Morning, Dave Ramsey, Agriculture of America and the Midday Farm Report. From the KFEQ website, listeners can tune in live all day long, and enjoy access to weather, contests and community happenings that would have put Mr. Scroggin in a complete information tizzy.

KFEQ has served as the voice of so many core stories of our region, ranging from Missouri Western State University, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. The KFEQ Hotline, with Barry Birr as the show’s host, has remained a popular part of the programming, too.

It’s about communication. It’s about the magic of radio. It’s about history and dedication. But mostly, it’s about community. Thank you for a century of service, KFEQ, and all you uncommon characters who tune in daily.

RESOURCE LINK:

KFEQ

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More than a decade of service later, the program continues to grow. Most of the kids who live in this St. Joseph neighborhood receive free or reduced priced breakfast and lunch during the school year, but have limited food resources in the summer.Â