RE: First time on the air

["Larry A. Lovering" <lloverin@genuity.net>]

It was Monday, the first day of the Blizzard of '78.  I worked late at my
retail job, and fought my way home, where I worked a ham radio net with the
National Guard to find people stuck in cars on route 95 south of Providence.
I fell asleep about 7 in the morning, and woke up that night.  I turned on
the local radio station, WWON in Woonsocket, RI for an update to the storm
and heard the GM announce a "pretty popular record around the country."  He
started the turntable, let it spin for about ten seconds, then tore the
needle off the record muttering on-air" we'll never play that thing around
here again."

Supposing they were burned out from the storm, I called him and volunteered
my time to help (I lived within walking distance from the station).  The
next morning, I arrived after trudging through 52 inches of snow, and stayed
at the station until Sunday night.  I at first took phone calls, primarily
from the elderly running out of food and fuel, then made some on-air
announcements.  By Sunday afternoon, I was offered a part time DJ job, which
lasted (music program and board-op for the sports teams) about two years.
That was the last time I was in radio on the air, but I made a fun career
recording spots for many stations in Boston and Providence.

-Larry Lovering
Cranston, RI
www.southstation.org