HOULTON, Maine — Veteran radio broadcaster, Ken Holck, of WHOU-FM recently accepted the media award from the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) during its spring conference and banquet at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
Fort Fairfield High School Athletic Administrator Timothy Watt presented Holck his award and noted that Holck’s achievements included 17 years of covering County teams on WHOU radio. One of the few people to do 1,000 games on radio, Holck also sells the advertising, schedules the games and works with County athletic administrators.
Close to 200 people attended the MIAAA banquet. Joining Holck and Watt were Aroostook County Athletic Administrators Ryan Guerrette of Central Aroostook, Mark White of Presque Isle, Ron Ericson of Washburn, Susan Parent of Van Buren and Joel Hall of Ashland.
Holck was nominated for this award by the Aroostook League for his work on WHOU-FM radio and the Facebook Page Aroostook County Hoops.
“In 2010, I started a Facebook page called Aroostook County Hoops,” he explained. “This is mainly a page where you will find daily schedules, game recaps shared from the Bangor Daily News, and a lot of photos. I have managed to recruit a dozen photographers throughout the County who go to random games and post their photos for the players and fans to see.”
The Aroostook County Hoops page has grown to over 3,200 followers and for the third year in a row, the page has had over one million views. Holck keeps this page updated himself throughout the year.
Holck is the local sales manager for Northern Maine Media, the parent company of WHOU-FM radio. He is responsible not only for high school basketball coverage, but also for Boston Red Sox baseball, as well as coordinating the station’s live remote broadcasts.
Holck was the first broadcaster in Aroostook to use streamed audio games on the Internet, starting 16 years ago, providing more coverage for County athletes. In recent years, WHOU-FM radio station has also added video coverage, and this year expanded that coverage to include two games per night. Holck is responsible for getting broadcasters for both locations and co-coordinating their schedules.
Holck also added the inaugural WHOU-FM All-County Basketball Team this season.
“I polled numerous coaches, athletic directors, officials, media personnel, and longtime basketball observers to select this first-ever team,” he said. “This allowed a few players a chance to get recognized that may not get noticed outside of The County.”
He also has designed the WHOU-FM annual pre-tourney video show, which is streamed online at whoufm.com.
Holck has also made a regular donation to Larry Gardner’s golf tournament in Fort Fairfield the past three years; proceeds from this tournament go to the new Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.
