When I was young, there were three things that I wanted to be when I grew up.
Hearing the stories of my mom’s youth on a dairy farm in Saegertown, Pennsylvania, in the 1950s:
I wanted to be a dairy farmer.
My love of traveling on long car rides and my childhood obsession with maps…
…Made me want to be a truck driver.
And my love of music and radio?
It made me want to be a disc jockey.
For the past few decades I’ve actually been a meteorologist/hydrologist for the National Weather Service.
I enjoy the science, and I’ve worked with some great people.
But I still need a hobby, right?
Over a decade ago, I discovered a local public radio station:
WOBO. 88.7 FM:
“The Station with Something for Everyone”
Their DJs were clearly amateurs. I would occasionally hear dead air, or two songs played at the same time, or open mics capturing conversation during a song. It was delightfully home-grown.
Their genres ranged from oldies country to bluegrass to rock and roll to even Scottish, Polish, and German music shows.
But Tuesdays were my favorite. Tuesday has always been big band/swing day. It was my favorite day to listen to.
Luckily for me, the station was advertising that they needed volunteer DJs. Wow!
This could be a dream come true. But the station was 45 minutes from home, and at the time we still had our four children going through their school years.
After a couple of them graduated, I contacted the station, and even came in for a little training and off-air practice. But a lack of follow-up communication prevented the idea from coming to fruition. That, and my anxiety that my still busy family schedule would prevent me from being able to fulfill a consistent DJ show.
Years passed. The rest of our children graduated. We moved to Idaho.
Then we moved back to Ohio. And WOBO was still seeking volunteer DJs. I was slow to call the station, but after a couple of years, I contacted the station president, Gary.
He seemed interested in a new DJ, but was difficult to communicate with. We couldn’t get our schedules to connect. And for a while I couldn’t get any response from him. Did he remember that I hadn’t taken a DJ slot when I claimed to be interested?
Had I burned a bridge? Why was I being ghosted?
I eventually learned that Gary had a major surgery. And the next month he dealt with his mother passing away. I’m glad that I kept a cool head and wasn’t overly demanding during that time. I was persistent, but patient. We finally were able to meet over this past summer. But I found out that there was one more hurdle.
Gary said that their big band program was in sad shape. They had only two DJs, and their “real job” schedules sometimes prevented them from working at the station.
WOBO kicks into automation when there isn’t a live DJ present. But automated shows don’t stir up a lot of interested listeners.
During their semi-annual fund drives, the donations for the big band program were at an all time low.
Gary wanted to keep big band Tuesdays, because it had been a tradition for several decades. But he was worried about its viability.
Lucky for me, my enthusiasm came at just the right time. A former big band DJ, Ernie, wanted to come back to work. Ernie had been a mainstay at the station for years, but had retired about five years ago. Now at 93 years old, he was ready to come back! Between my persistence, and Ernie’s return, and the two other DJs, we have breathed some life back into Big Band Tuesdays.
I DJ-ed my first “Swinging Soirée” show on August 27th, 2024, and loved it. My interest in big band and swing music has really grown in the last 20 years, and sharing that music on the air is a blast.
My scheduled slot is 8pm-midnight Eastern Time.
But that has shifted from week to week, depending on the availability of the DJs before me. Sometimes I’ll run from 6-10PM. I’ll accommodate. I’m just happy to be there!
Why am I explaining all of this? Well, it’s fun to tell the story. And, of course, I’d be happy to get another listener or two…
But it’s also a reminder that sometimes good things happen when we work towards a dream.
Working persistently with an end goal in mind can often get you what you want. It may not be on the timeline you expect. It took me a good 10 years or so.
But I’m here now, and I’m enjoying it. May you realize the goals that you are pursuing!
Incidentally, Larry Clinton’s “Feeling Like a Dream” has been my opening theme song for the show every week. It’s not famous, but I first heard it on WOBO years ago, and it remains one of my big band favorites:
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