Ken Boone Is Mr. Nick – Reaching One Heart At A Time Through Children’s Radio

Ken Boone, known on the radio as Mr. Nick, Nicky and Nicholas Hope, had a clear purpose when he began Bible-centered children’s radio programming with We Kids in 1986. Before launching this nationally syndicated collection of programs, Ken had worked as a radio broadcaster and founded the non-profit Family Programs.
As a young man Ken had entertained other trajectories for his life and says he now knows that children’s ministry was his calling all along. He had observed his mother with her natural way of teaching children and, when Ken had three sons under the age of six, he felt he was ready to reach out to children through radio.

We Kids March on Saturday mornings

We Kids program comes into homes early on Saturday mornings when everyone is just waking up and parents are sleepily starting breakfast.

And nothing wakes up a family better than the We Kids’ best-known feature, the “WONDERFUL We Kids March.” Faithful listeners write Ken, or Mr. Nick, and request to be mentioned on the air as marching participants. Mr. Nick picks a march leader and calls out many names before the famous march begins. Kids are encouraged to march around the house, with Mama and Papa in tow. The fun rhythm truly gets the blood pumping. Along with the march, inspiring music makes up about 75% of the We Kids program. Most of the songs are performed by kids because, as Ken explains, young voices tend to naturally grab the hearts of children and adults alike.

This takes us back to the intentionality of Ken’s mission. From the beginning, Ken sought to reach one heart at a time with a simple, loving message of hope and joy, encouraging one little listener at a time. Houston’s radio station KHCB-FM became his flagship station and Ken’s message spread steadily across the nation. In 2018, many of his listeners would collectively encourage Ken during some very low days in his life.

Through the airwaves, boys and girls were very familiar with the location “PO Box 444, Paradise, BEAUTIFUL Paradise.” For 28 years, Ken biked the mile from his house to the post office to collect letters from his faithful We Kids listeners. Although the mailbox and post office survived the Camp Fire in November of 2018, Ken’s house and radio production equipment did not.

The morning of the Camp Fire, with thousands of cars gridlocked on the roads out of Paradise, Ken abandoned his truck and hiked his last journey toward PO Box 444, which meant he was actually moving toward the flames.

Gratitude after surviving the Camp Fire

“I knew I should head toward the big, open parking lot near the post office,” he says. “If I continued trying to evacuate in my truck I could’ve been trapped with others in the flames along the Skyway. It felt providential, sheltering in Paradise that day—although the sounds and sights from the fire were nightmarish. The fire surrounded us from a safe distance and people were saying, ‘What are we going to do?’ I asked them, ‘Do you know how to pray?’ I shared with several people like that who sought shelter in the parking lot that day.”

Ken eventually retrieved his truck and made it to the Red Cross shelter in Oroville with a backpack, a heat-seared face and very disheveled appearance. He was soon interviewed by a Bay Area television station and, even though he sensed the interviewer was probing for a feeling of fear, Ken, in Mr. Nick fashion, conveyed his dominant emotion: gratitude. During those days when people asked if they could do something for him, his standard answer became, “Yes. I’d like a strawberry shake, please.”

Keeping We Kids on the air after the fire

We Kids and Mr. Nick’s years of encouraging words could have all been reduced to ashes along with his house and broadcasting equipment by that day, but he had tossed an external hard drive into his backpack before fleeing his home. With help from others Ken was able to use years of prerecorded We Kids programs, a trailer in Biggs, and a new laptop to keep We Kids on the air after the fire.

Before long, the people of Red Bluff, and its PO Box 44, welcomed Ken and We Kids. Over time he also was able to find new radio equipment, a church family who needed help with their own radio ministry, and then a new home. There was just one thing missing from his life.

A long-distance friendship leads to a wedding

Many people in the Houston area heard reports of the Camp Fire and were asking, “Is Mr. Nick OK?” Houston’s KHCB-FM conducted an interview with Ken and a longtime Saturday morning listener, Carolyn, was tuned in as usual that day. Ken’s voice was still raspy from the smoke of the fire and he coughed a lot during the interview. Despite his vocal trauma, Carolyn noticed that Ken focused his comments on “gains” rather than “losses.” She was inspired enough to start supporting his radio ministry with a monthly check. He called to thank her for her support. Carolyn continued to support We Kids for a year and a half. That led to a Facebook connection and a growing friendship. They eventually logged more than one hundred Zoom conversations on what became their Saturday date nights.

After a unique, COVID-style and long-distance dating relationship, Ken and Carolyn had their first kiss on their wedding day in Red Bluff this past summer. They believe that God brought beauty from ashes for them and families across the nation have celebrated their union.

This Christmas Ken and Carolyn Boone are wishing people a season of hope. Ken says, “Kids are not just our future, they are our now, and they are in need of love more than ever. Instead of focusing on gifts that will be broken by January, let’s focus on nurturing little hearts that will last forever. Kids and Christmas are intertwined.”

To listen to all of We Kids, tune in at 7 on Saturday mornings to KVIP-FM (98.1 in Redding).
You can also hear Ken’s fun-loving radio voice frequently on KNKJ-FM (92.5 in Red Bluff).