WYCE prepares annual party to celebrate, support community radio

WYCE will once again be holding its 16th annual Bubble Bash on Thursday, December 17 from 5-8 p.m. in partnership with The Gilmore Collection. The event, held at The B.O.B.'s House of Music and Entertainment (H.O.M.E.) at 20 Monroe Avenue, NW., will be a celebration of the radio station and the community around it.

The Bubble Bash is “a great party for a great cause,” says AJ Paschka, Station Manager of WYCE.

“The $25 door donation lets people sample 14 varieties of sparkling wines and goes to support community radio. There’s great food, too, from the Gilmore Collection," says Paschka. "We have games and play WYCE 'best of' music throughout the night. Each year we try to make it a little bit better.”

Paschka notes that celebrating the YCE community in person is always a special time. 

“Radio is not a brick and mortar enterprise, so since we’re broadcasters, it’s great to put faces to the people that call in, the bands that come in [and] the programmers that play the music. It’s an opportunity for our listeners to interact with us and each other," he says. "The YCE community has a lot in common with each other when we all get together in one room and it’s a pretty wonderful time.”

He notes that even hough he has the opportunity to see a lot of them, the programmers only get to know the people who come on before and after them, so it’s a great opportunity fellow programmers to get to know each other.

“We have about 70 programmers in addition to our two full-time and two part-time staff. There’s programmers that have been doing it since the beginning and volunteering here for 20 years. The most amazing part is they do it every week. They’re so consistent," says Paschka. "That’s where we really are a real community and what makes us pretty unique.”

Paschka points out that radio doesn’t have a lot of events where people get a chance to talk to each other or have many chances to interact outside of a concert.

“That opportunity to interact and just celebrate the holidays together is wonderful," he says. "YCE is a much more open community than just an internal department or nonprofit. We’re here because of our listener-sponsors. And any way that we can continue helping them find relationships with each other, spend time with each other, spend time with us is a big benefit.”

H.O.M.E., formerly known as Crush, is located on the first floor of The B.O.B. There are no advance tickets, but a $25 donation at the door, payable by cash or check to WYCE, gets attendees in and able to sample all of the sparkling wines. The event is made possible by The Gilmore Collection and Denison Financial and is for attendees 21 years and older.