14 years ago...

May 12th, 1995 was my first day on radio as a "DJ." I found out the day before that my first show would be the next day.

It was a rainy morning on the campus of King's College in Wilkes-Barre. Finals had wrapped up the day before. The campus was kinda barren, since everyone had moved out.

What set 88.5 WRKC apart from the other college stations in the area was the Radio Home Visitor... a daily news program for the blind. It aired at 10AM, and replayed at 11AM.

I was already scared that morning, and the fear doubled when the "RHV" wasn't on at 10AM. The rule was no RHV, no music. The program director got there at 11:10 and signed the station on. Father Tom, the station manager, was at a funeral. I got there shortly after and got things ready for my show.

The station always played an entire album during the noon hour. My first record that I played was, "Live Nude Guitars" by Brian Setzer. Then, my show ran from 1:00-4:00. A couple other DJ's had stopped in. Father Tom came back, hearing that RHV got on late. I thought my first day would be the last day. Luckily, I was spared.

I played mostly R&B and a bit of dance music. I did my shows on Friday, then on Thursday throughout the summer. Honestly, my biggest fans were the temporary residents at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. I'm sure you can figure out my euphemism.

I did one or two more shows after school started, then I got hired at two stations in Scranton.

I might have done 13 or 14 shows on 88.5... I supplied most of my own music, on cassette. There were some CDs and some records, but not too many. While the RHV played, I would venture back into the music libraries and look through all the albums.

The station as I remember it had only one functioning studio. When the student center got remodeled, an entirely new facility was built, complete with all music on hard drive. A new tower is in the works for the station as well.

College radio has always been a great breeding ground for budding talent. It's one of the few places left where you can get real radio experience. Most colleges around here have one or two stations, some even closed circuit. If you're interested in going to college for communications, get hooked up with its radio station. I'm thankful I did.

Father Tom still hosts the Radio Home Visitor every day. It's the nation's longest-running radio reading service for the blind. I owe them a night sometime soon.

Buckle up,
TS