The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting will celebrate 75 years of the VOA Bethany station with a Sept. 21 fundraiser to improve access to the West Chester Township museum.
The fourth annual benefit will provide money to make the east meeting room and the main exhibit hall accessible for people of all disabilities from the repaved parking lot on the east side, says Jack Dominic, VOA museum director.
The Art Deco relay station at 8070 Tylersville Road operated from 1944 to 1994.
The "Celebrating 75 Years of VOA Bethany Station” party 5:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, will include dinner-by-the-bite; cocktails; wine; Cincinnati Liars Lager beer from Grainworks Brewing Co.; smooth jazz; and "friendly table-to-table games of Trivial Pursuit," he says.
Participants will also be able to tour the VOA Museum, which includes the Bethany control room; the area's largest collection of Crosley products and memorabilia; Media Heritage's Cincinnati Museum of Broadcast History with the Larry Smith puppet collection; and the Gray History of Wireless antique radios.
"Our volunteers are creating a unique community asset drawing visitors from around the globe," said Ken Rieser, board president, in the museum announcement. "The impact the Bethany station has made on global understanding and appreciation of the United States is extraordinary. Almost weekly, VOA listeners from countries near and far come to the museum and share their stories of listening to or viewing VOA news."
Tickets to "Celebrating 75 Years" are $125 per person or $250 per couple until Sept. 1, then $150 per person and $300 per couple afterward. There will be a cash bar; two drink tickets per person will be provided. For reservations, email Dominic at admin@voamuseum.org or call the museum at (513) 777-0027.
The VOA museum is open Saturdays and Sundays 1-4 p.m. General admission is $5 for adults and $1 for children.
Crosley Broadcasting engineers built the Bethany station, which transmitted Voice of America broadcasts via shortwave radio to countries worldwide -- first in Europe and northern Africa during World War II, and to South America during the Cold War. Most of the 625 acres were redeveloped for the Cox Road shopping area and a Butler County park.
