Every Now And Then, Something Fun Happens

["Chuck Igo" <Chuckigo@worldnet.att.net>]

Just thot i'd pass this along.

     This evening, I had the pleasure of spending time in the company of
people who, along with being good friends and professional acquaintances,
are an abundance of radio history in and of themselves.
     I'll start by mentioning Cousin Bob Walker (Willette).  Cuzzin' came to
Portland by way of WOKQ.  He arrived to do mornings on WGAN in Portland and
never left Maine.  He did, however, venture from radio to find peace at the
helm of one of the many tour boats that make the runs in and around Casco
Bay.  He has, of late, been dealt a cruel hand by fate, and his health
concerns are serious.  His arrival at our unofficial confab tonight was in a
wheelchair, his body weakened by treatments designed to help him.  Those of
you who know "The Cuzzin'":  a good thought for him would help, i'm sure.
     Also in attendance was Bud Sawyer, the dean of Portland radio, still
alive and doing well at WLAM in Lewiston (although his studio is now at the
corner of Prebble&Congress in Downtown Portland);
      Bob Rose, who years AFTER Bud left WGAN, held court each morning in
The Rose Room.  After a stop in Connecticut, Bob migrated back to Portland
to WYNZ-FM (Y101FM) do to mornings before finally calling it a broadcast
day;
      Gary Dixon, who has logged a bunch of hours behind the mic in locales
ranging from Worcester to Providence to Portland and points in between.  He
was the production director at WGAN when i first met him in 1981.  He's
since moved those talents in many directions, including writing and
entertaining... you might catch him on a weekend evening behind the keyboard
at any one of a number of Kennebunkport night spots, or even hear him doing
one of many things on a web-only broadcast operation;
     Bob Gerathy, who was my defacto "first pd."  He was at the helm of
(now-Bob Bittner's) WJTO.  He'd hired me to do afternoons in 1979; my first
shift would be Thursday.  On Wednesday, he was fired.  I spent 36 hours
wondering if i'd get my first break... never happened.  We caught up again
when he returned from CT in 1981 to take over middays at WGAN.  He survived
in radio and still does, now holding afternoons on JJ Jeffrey's Red Hot 95,
WRED.
      Bill Therriault, a man of many talents.  I first met Bill when he was
a budding news hound at WYNZ-AM in Portland, fresh down from the radio mill
on Berry's Mill Road in Bath (for directions, ask Bob B...)  Bill then moved
over to WPOR News, where he then morphed into THE MOST AMAZING Promotions
Director with whom i've ever had the pleasure of working.  (Ask me sometime
about the "Therriault Unplugged" sessions; also about the
Concert-Trip-To-See-Garth-That-Made-Monica-Seem-Like-Heidi)  Bill is now the
official mouthpiece for the Maine Ass'n of Non-Profits;
      John Hussey:  Engineer extrordinaire and damn fine announcer behind
the mic.  First met John at Grahm Junior College in Boston.  He finished
school and wandered up to Upstate NY.  When the C/E job opened up at WGAN, I
made some calls and found him (by way of Rich Hopper) sleeping on a cot in
the building where a whole new, ground-up operations was being built/wired
by him.  He came east and stayed, and built a lot of brand new studios,
along with programming a damn fine country station under the nom-du-guerre:
Dan McCullough.  He's currently doing freelance engineering here in the
area.
     When this happens again, and it will, if you'd like to be included,
please let me know.  I'm not the unofficial secretary, but when i find out
about the next gathering, i'd be happy to pass it along.

- -Chuck Igo