One of Newton County’s local radio shows is celebrating 10 years on air today, April 9, with the show “Thy Brother & Sister’s Keeper” with Forest and Sharon Sawyer.

Live every Sunday on 1430 WGFS AM starting at 3 p.m., the Sawyers spend three hours spreading the good news of the community through interviews with community organizations, local politicians and religious leaders.

Forrest Sawyer said he believes he has interviewed every elected official and every church leader in the community over the last 10 years.

The show initially started when Forrest was invited to do a 15-minute feature on the radio. After about a month, 15 minutes turned into an hour and Sharon was invited to join the show. Since then, the show has grown into a three-hour special featuring gospel music and local entertainment.

“We spend about 90 percent of the time giving glory to Jesus Christ and he allows us to keep going,” Sharon said.

The show is completely funded by donations and out-of-pocket funds from the Sawyers, Forrest said. He is grateful for the community’s continued support over the years. Over the 10-year span, the Sawyers have only missed about 10 Sundays.

Forrest said the show started with the goal of covering the activities of a 90 mile radius of Covington, but have since expanded their coverage area to include international news because of their listenership. He said roughly 15,000 to 20,000 people listen to the radio show each week, through the radio, a live broadcast on YouTube, the website or over the phone.

The Sawyers are long time community activists who, throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, participated in numerous civil rights events around the South.