Apple Country Radio began thanks to the vision of Brookfield’s nonprofit organization A.P.P.L.E. Seed, Inc., a community-based volunteer-run organization, and the publisher since the early 1990s of the free 16-page monthly newsletter The Brookfield Citizen.

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in 2013 that it would open a temporary application window for low power FM community radio station licenses, A.P.P.L.E. Seed’s Board of Directors, headed by the late Philip Peirce, saw the idea of a local noncommercial radio station as a worthy addition to its vision of uniting the community through communication.

A.P.P.L.E. Seed applied for and was granted a construction permit for WACF, the only low-power FM station permit in the region. The Board branded the new station “Apple Country Radio” as a tribute to the Brookfield Community Club‘s annual Apple Country Fair, held every Columbus Day weekend on the Brookfield Common.

In early 2017 WACF began broadcasting at 98.1FM from donated space in Gavitt Wire & Cable‘s former office building in the center of town. Gavitt officials also gave permission for the new station to mount its broadcast antenna on the third floor of their adjacent factory building. With the help of donations from local residents and granting organizations, equipment was purchased and volunteers began bringing the long-vacant space up to code and building out a live studio, while broadcasting an extensive automated playlist of hits ranging from the Big Band era to the 1980s.

In late 2019, after the death of its founder, the A.P.P.L.E. Seed Board of Directors voted to cease operations and to transfer the station’s FCC license to Apple Country Radio, Inc., a new Brookfield-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Listeners continued to support the station with donations—including 45 cartons of CDs for our library!—while slow but steady work on the studio space continued.

Once the COVID pandemic hit, renovation on the station location was put on hold. To stay on the air and retain its license, Apple Country Radio continued airing an automated stream of over 850 songs while waiting for the danger to pass. But just as it appeared that the pandemic threat had subsided and the build-out could resume in earnest, Gavitt officials notified us that they planned to sell their Brookfield factory complex—including the buildings where WACF-LP and its antenna were located. We began searching for a new home.

In early 2023, after a fruitless search for an appropriate site, the Town of Brookfield agreed in principle to allow Apple Country Radio to move its studio, transmitter array and antenna to two unused spaces in the Town Hall building, just down the street from our original location. Negotiations with the Brookfield Select Board to finalize the move into the Town Hall are ongoing. Fundraising for the expected $10,000 to $15,000 cost of relocating and upgrading the spaces commenced (and is also still ongoing—we’re not there yet). If you’d like to help with our relocation you can sign up to help renovate our new spaces, move our equipment, music library and furniture, or donate to defray relocation and engineering costs. Every little bit will help!