On 13 April 2025, Indigo FM was very saddened to hear of the passing of one of our founding members – Yackandandah’s Phil Buerckner – aged 79yo.
Phil was one of 3 founding members of Indigo FM, the other two being Shayne Soall and Paul Fitzgerald. He answered an ad in the local paper from Indigo FM’s first President, Paul Fitzgerald – and with Phil’s enthusiasm and drive Indigo FM was born.
Words can’t adequately describe what Phil brought to Indigo FM. His contribution was enormous and multi-faceted. He was Indigo FM’s Treasurer for the first few years and then did a short stint as Vice President.
Phil hosted a regular radio show for many years and would encourage anyone he came across to join up and become a presenter. He oversaw our first Yackandandah site – a spare room at The Star Hotel and then shortly later a move across the road to our long-term home at the Yackandandah Community Centre – or YCEN as it was known back in the day.
Around 2010, Phil was famous for his Friday night pass the hat around fund raisers at Yack’s Star Hotel. On one such occasion he raised over $1,500 largely due to the generosity of an impressed patron who was passing through and wrote out a cheque for $1,000 on the spot.
In 2014 Phil negotiated the current successful annual partnership between Indigo FM and the Yackandandah Folk Festival. He arranged liquor licences and ran the bar as an Indigo FM fund raiser at the folk festival as well as local functions.
Those who knew Phil, will recall how proudly passionate he was about his home town of Yackandandah. Indigo FM was very fortunate to have had Phil step into our orbit as were other community groups such as the Lions Club, the Yack Community Centre and the Yackandandah Museum to name a few.
We send our deepest condolences to Phil’s family at this time, whilst also acknowledging the huge, very positive legacy he leaves for others to enjoy and build upon.
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