Half a century after first hitting the Texas Panhandle airwaves, Amarillo College’s premier radio station is opening its doors to the community for a landmark golden anniversary event.From 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, July 9 music lovers, alumni, and community members are invited to gather at the FM90 and Panhandle PBS studios on the Amarillo College Washington Street Campus at 2408 S. Jackson St., to honor five decades of broadcasting excellence.

The year was 1976. The date was March 15.On a bright spring day in the mid-1970s, precisely at noon, a brand-new voice came alive on the airwaves—one that would shape generations of music lovers, students, and community members across the Texas Panhandle.That voice was KACV-FM, Amarillo College’s FM90—a 100,000-watt, non-commercial radio station broadcasting at 89.9 FM across the Texas Panhandle.