Terry and Sanford Cohen were visiting their daughter and family.
The Cohens, visitors in Tel Aviv since April 26, said it alarmed them to hear sirens while driving to their apartment. “It was scary,” said Terry. “We did not want to be outside.”
Though they have been Prescott residents since 1985, the Cohens love international travel. They are founders of Arizona’s Hometown Radio Group, nine different stations throughout Central and Northern Arizona. They especially enjoy visiting the Middle East because of history, tradition, food and “fascinating cross-mixes of cultures.”
Tel Aviv, located near the Mediterranean coastline, is Israel’s technological and economic center. Though the city’s population is only about 500,000 people, the surrounding metroplex makes it Israel’s most populous urban center at 4 million (the whole country’s population is about 9 million). “It is a major target for Hamas and terrorists,” said Sanford.
For comparison, Israel has 8,550 square miles; Yavapai County has 8,128.
On that spring morning, the Cohens stood at their apartment balcony watching rockets sail from the southwest horizon of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military launched missiles skyward to intercept them in counterattack.
Sanford said they had a fully equipped bomb shelter in their apartment. When the Hamas rocket attacks stopped, Terry said Israel retaliated by bombing specific sites in the Gaza Strip identified as Hamas strongholds.
Days later, after a cease-fire had been announced, the couple reported that Hamas launched incendiary balloons. “That really angered me, for the balloons were colorfully decorated, packaged like gifts – fancy paper, ribbons, sometimes with toys or stuffed animal to appeal to kids. And the balloons could explode.”
The Cohens remained in Tel Aviv for several more weeks. They enjoyed touring Israel, though Terry said gasoline was about four times the cost of what it was in the U.S. “We had a small car with great mileage – and we did a lot of walking,” she said.
Longtime Community Amplifiers
The Cohens did not know that when they first arrived in the greater Prescott area in 1985, they would own radio stations. “We came to Arizona from Atlanta because we found an FM frequency – only one of two available in the nation at that time – was available in Prescott Valley,” said Sanford. “We built our first radio station – KPPV – with 500 watts of power. Our transmitting antenna was nailed to a line pole. We were young, poor, but proud of what we did. It was amazing to go out and turn on our car radio and hear our own station.”
They scored another first – nationally – when they received authorization to build the first solar-powered privately owned FM radio station in North America. They did that by building solar panels for the antenna on Glassford Hill. Today, solar panels continue to power the station, making it possible for radio signals to transmit even when commercial electrical power is down.
That innovation won the Cohens an award in 1987 from the national Small Business Association. They also received a special citation from the U.S. Department of Energy. For six years, KPPV was strictly solar-powered.
By 2009, they had grown their station ownership to four. In 2010, they added a fifth. Today, their nine stations range from ones broadcasting throughout Yavapai County to one in Lake Havasu City/Parker/Kingman/Golden Valley; and another called Grand Canyon Info Travel Radio. In all, they have more than 23 employees.
During their more than three decades in the Quad Cities, they been active in local chambers of commerce and have supported educational, musical and performing arts organizations, and charitable and philanthropic groups.
Both Terry and Sanford admit building careers in Yavapai County was radically different from where they grew up. Sanford, a Detroit native, attended Michigan State University, where he earned an economics degree. But he had been interested in radio since he was 9. Terry was raised in Liberty, a small resort area town in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. She attended Syracuse University. The two met in Atlanta, were married there 40 years ago and have one adult daughter, Michelle, who now lives with her family in Israel. The couple is planning a return visit to Tel Aviv in September. QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN