30 Years Of Spinning The Hits

Yesterday marked my 30th anniversary here with WWMJ.

So far, I've made it through three different owners, more corporate supervisors than I care to remember, a handful of radio consultants and a horde of co-workers, some long forgotten.

My hair is now gray, but the classic hits still sound the same.

The people that were at the station on that day 30 years ago are long gone. Some moved on to bigger markets, some scattered to other stations across our state, some now teach the business, but most got out of radio entirely.

What have some of the highlights been over my illustrious career?

In 1988, waking up an out of work Mighty John Marshall and sticking him on the night shift to play oldies.

In 1992, broadcasting from the Bar Harbor Town Pier when the Queen Mary strolled into Frenchman Bay and then interviewing the passengers and celebrities that got off the dinghies.

In 1993, putting the syndicated Don Imus show on the air and then listening to him get into a war of words with the mayor of Bangor.  When we brought him to town it was so very cool to escort the mayor to the stage that morning.

What mostly sticks with me are the things that I did to help others.  Like collecting donated food in front of grocery stores on very cold days and then transporting it to various food pantries to distribute to those in need.

I know that I'm an oddity in this day and age when job longevity is a thing of the past and the average young worker now stays with the same job for only two years or so. That culture is clearly evident here at Townsquare Media in Bangor. As of yesterday, I've been doing an airshift on WWMJ for thirty years, and no one even mentioned it to me. Times have changed. What no watch?

With layoffs and everything else I am very fortunate to have remained.  Do I expect to do it much longer?  Maybe a little while longer.