You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM 975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with WFHR Lifetime listeners, Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke on Tuesday, July 28th.
Thank you for joining me, Diane and Pam, to share your stories with our listeners.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nice to have you.
Thank
you.
Nice to have
you here.
So I'm excited to sit down with both of you today.
So you're both lifelong residents of Wisconsin Rapids and also lifelong listeners of our WFHR radio station.
And I can't wait to hear about your earliest memories of hearing WFHR broadcasts.
Your parents, I'm guessing, were loyal listeners at that time and WFHR was the only radio station you could pick up in Wisconsin Rapids.
So Diane, let's start with you.
What is your earliest memory
of listening to the station?
I remember myself being in the kitchen and we had a we lived in a little three room house not three bedroom three rooms oh my yes it's still there but they've you know rebuilt things increased remodeled and all that added on anyway my first memory of it is in the mornings
it would be this song, the B-I-B-L-E, and I would go dancing around in the kitchen and sing that.
And then my next real memory that I remembered since I've talked to you last was I was in on the Reader's Rally.
I was like in third grade.
And at school, we read books and then the ones that probably read the most or whatever was in, you know, getting good grades on things.
And so I was, I wasn't one of the first ones on board, but I was.
substitute they called it.
So I got to go up in the station.
WFHR was up above the Wisconsin Theater, if I remember correctly.
And I was in on that contest.
It was a contest and I did get to speak.
And so that is really my earliest days that I remember.
And then growing up further.
On a Sunday evening, about six o'clock, Bernadine Spelz and Vera Matthews, who married Dick Hoferman later on, they had really good voices and they would sing solos and duets.
It was approximately six o'clock every Sunday night, so that would be on the radio.
Well, of course, we didn't have TV in those days.
It was mainly radio, and I'm still like that.
I have the radio on all day.
Yes, I had to ask you to shut it off before we
started.
I know.
I had it on in two rooms.
Yes.
Here in
the kitchen and also in the
bathroom.
And then further on, it was Tom Mix.
I remember that my little brother liked to listen to Tom Mix.
That just came to mind a couple of days ago, too, when all the programs were in that, of course, later on, my Arnie stroke, and that was on, it was, it was coffee clutch and
later
years that ran into over the back fence and trading posts, all that kind of thing, you know.
So, when do you think, if you could, like the earliest memory, what year would you guess that was?
Well, I was probably four or five years old.
That sounds scary, but I was.
I was very, I remember stuff from.
So, what year would that be?
That would be like starting school.
So, that would be...
1946, probably.
1946.
Yeah.
That's incredible.
Yes.
And Pam, how about you?
What are your earliest memories?
Well, something like Diane's that in our family home that the radio will be tuned in to WSHR.
And I remember
My mom would listen to the polka show.
And I think it was on in the 11 o'clock hour.
I remember being a youngster at home, maybe in the summertime.
And she'd have the polka show on.
And then another program when I was quite young on the station, we could write letters to Santa and they would read the letters on air.
And I remember.
It would usually be like in the afternoon, 4.30, 4.45 or so in the afternoon in December.
I make sure that I was there in the kitchen listening to letters to Santa to see if my letter got read.
Sure enough, every once in a while I'd hear my letter read.
But, and then I remember the coffee clutch show, you know, with Arnie Stroll, and that was such a long time, you know, running, running show.
And I remember as a youngster being with a Girl Scout troop, and I don't know what grade it was, like second or third or fourth grade or what, but we did take a tour of the radio station.
They took us to WFHR when we were located in the
building on 1st Avenue in conjunction with the daily Tribune, the daily Tribune WFHR radio buildings.
But I remember, you know, going in there and it was, you know, that was the radio station was in the round section of that building.
And, you know, just seeing, I remember the studio in there too.
They had an inner studio and there was a panel in there too, I believe.
And like what you were talking about that, that they would have entertainers or singers that would come into the studio with some of the history that I've read, you know, I've heard that that's, you know, that's what they did.
They had the singers in the studio, you know, live, you know, performing, even from the start when WFHR first started in their first locations, they had, they had an organ and a piano in their studios.
for those entertainers that were there to sing and put on their shows.
What was your
impression of memory of that time of how many people were working there?
Well, there was always quite a few people.
It always seemed like there was a lot of people employed.
From me visiting as a youngster, I'm sure there was a lot of people employed in that.
building section that we that we saw and even from when I first started there was you know just a lot of people there's oh I don't know 20 25 people maybe that were employed there that were part of the staff that made it all all run and work.
Do you think, Pam, that those early years of listening and that visit, did that play a role in your working there?
Because for listeners that don't know, and I don't know how you could not know this, but Pam has worked at WFHR her entire career.
Did that play a role in this?
I think it certainly must have.
It was the hometown radio station, and when I saw the job posted,
certainly didn't know anything about radio at the time, but I kind of enjoyed what I was doing and I just stayed within the company.
So did either of your parents ever call into the radio station for any of those call-in shows?
I don't think so.
It's not like...
No, you know, people will call in.
My mom was up like that.
Well, she's too busy with everything else around the house.
She just liked to listen.
How many children were in your home?
How many kids did your mom have?
Well, my mother and dad fostered my cousin who was four years older than I because his mother had to go to a hospital when he was...
only he was only like six weeks old.
And his dad went out to California with my dad in this other other person.
And for whatever reason, I forget what it was.
And anyway, my mom and dad agreed to raise Delbert four years older than I and he had he was
not really autistic, but when I think about it, no, he would shake his arms when he get excited and that, but we all got along.
And when he was 16, we had to take him to the hospital and he stayed there the rest of his life.
But my little brother, five years younger than I, you know, he,
Well, yeah, he listened to the radio all the time, too.
And later on, when David played basketball and all that was on the radio, and she'd listened, she was really involved with listening to her son playing and covering everything.
She was real interested in sports, and my dad could care less.
Opposite, you know, but anyway, so I shared, I mean, I had my cousin four years older and my little brother five years younger.
So that was our, what, in this three room house.
But my mother, you know, she had it all organized and you can just see it.
And I would love to go back there someday if I could.
Take a peek.
Yeah, see how they remodeled because there was no inside bathroom either.
Because I'm rather old, you
know.
But still kicking and making the most
amazing cookies.
And knowing that my memory is so well.
My mother had a terrific memory and my brother and I, I wish she'd forget some of this.
But it's all good.
Yeah.
Pam, did your parents call into the radio station?
Not that I can think of, but there was a show that I remember hearing in the summertime when I'd be home listening.
And it was called, I believe it was called something like Quiz the Missus.
And it was during Army Stropes show in the morning.
And the gist of it was he would call listeners at random.
And he would say, well, I'm calling up a resident that lives on 17th Avenue.
But the way the contest work was, you needed to have a box of, I think, like, blue star or red star potato chips.
And if you called your host and you answered and you could read off the recipe, you probably won something.
So, you know, I think during that time, we'd always make sure we had those.
potato chips in the cupboard there just in case that Arnie would be calling our house.
I don't recall.
That was certainly way before I met Arnie when I was employed with him.
No, it's like we always had those potato chips ready just in case.
can't remember you know what other call-in shows oh well trading posts that was or um copy clutch maybe if you had an opinion or something yeah to talk about um i don't remember my mom or my dad my dad was usually at work yeah but yeah i don't remember my mom ever calling you know sometimes we get kind of shy about calling up on the radio being live on the radio you know oh yeah
While this is a perfect spot for us to take a short brief pause to hear from our sponsors, I'm Melissa Kay talking with Diane and Pam, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
Welcome, you're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.
975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with WFHR Lifetime listeners, Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke.
And where we left off, we were talking about some of the common shows and memories of your earliest memories of WFHR and listening on the radio at home.
And like you said, Diane, their television wasn't around when radio first started, at least not in your home.
No.
And so the radio was the way to get information.
And now I want to ask you about
Do you remember any commercials from that time?
Are there any that stuck in your brain that you could, I don't know, give a memory, even if it's just of a business or a product that they were advertising?
That kind of escapes my mind, but they would be advertising the different businesses and they have, but they
have had to because that's how the radio runs, you know, with the sponsors.
What about you, Pam?
Do you have any that stick in your machine?
There
was an advertisement for a sausage company.
It kind of went to the gist of there ain't no bones and hot dog.
And it had this cool little jingle.
I think some, there's some other people that have talked about this, you know, in some other media.
But I, and I can't even remember the, you know, the company.
I do remember there was another commercial for a local financial place.
I don't remember it, but.
At the time I was in high school and I would be in a living room watching for the people that we shared driving back and forth to high school with.
And the days when they would be picking me up, I'd be standing in the living room watching their car come down the street.
And it would always be played at like the same time at 740 AM at this same financial.
institution their commercial would be on air and with working behind the scenes in regards to scheduling commercials I'm sure that they had bought that particular place so but that was your cue right right you know it's like okay when I hear this commercial it's like pretty soon I'm sure they'll be coming by to pick me up and sit over to high school at Lincoln High School.
Oh, that's awesome.
Right.
And one of our local advertisers, Mr. Paul Gross, he produced a lot of his own advertisements and he had his own little recording studio on his property.
I think I heard that was at his store even.
And he would have these catchy little advertisements and his advertisements used to run like a 710.
AM in the morning and that would always end with something like, and this is Paul gross and thanks for listening.
Yes, I do remember that.
Just by hearing it over and over and over, you know, that.
You know, person's advertising or their store.
Yeah, so that's how it sticks in
your brain, right?
Like you
said, at the
same time every
day.
You know, what's coming up next?
Yeah.
Well, are there any sponsors or local businesses that you can think of that you heard on the radio, but that aren't around anymore?
I mean, Paul Gross Jewelers is still a functioning business.
There
was.
There was Germans jewelry store and I believe they advertised on there too.
That was in the Meadwater block.
I remember going in there with my mom once in a while.
And yes, in what?
Well, ours, I think they maybe advertise the car, car places or.
I think they did Polanski, you know, where they
had.
Yeah, I recalled that from years ago.
Some of the grocery stores, like County Market, I remember when I was working, they had a, I think every week they had a different advertisement.
They were located in Wisconsin Rapids on 8th Street.
And there was a place called Knife's Hardware.
It was an old-time hardware store.
And this was ironic, but.
It just seems like someone had told me the story about there had been a fire somewhere.
And if the next commercial that was played and it wasn't set up to be, but it just happened to be like a nice hardware advertisement that was talking about a smoke alarm.
But I mean, what the odds of.
Oh boy.
And, you know, department stores that we had.
Johnson and Hills department store and J.C.
Penney, I remember, they did a lot of advertisements.
When after the mall was built, there was a whole mix of stores in the mall that were forever advertising.
What was happening there?
H.C.
Pranee, they came to us and all started up.
There's a lot of businesses, yes, that were advertising that no longer exist.
Some of them, the building is still there.
It'd be another business in there.
Yeah, there's
all kinds of little officers in there, I guess.
And it was.
unemployment office for a while.
I don't know what's in there now.
Didn't you tell me when you went there to pay your water?
Yes, yes, the water works and they have a temporary office there.
I've walked in there, you know, past several months when I've gone to pay my bill.
And
it feels
so different,
right?
I've not been in there, but I can only imagine, but it was a
great department store.
They should never would have left.
It was kind of like the Macy's of Wisconsin Rapids.
Okay.
If you can think of it that way.
Yeah.
The
Grand Ole.
Before the fall.
Did you ever see WFHR at local events like the county fair or sporting events?
Were there any events that you went to as a kid where you saw them broadcasting?
No.
I wasn't and my parents were the real, you know, going to different things like they have now.
So, no, I never did.
I never did see anybody from WFHR too.
except for that Reader's Riley saying Reader's Riley.
And I remember that studio being up above the Wisconsin Theater when I went there as a third grader.
Really nervous.
I do remember when I was in high school and I played him.
the LHS orchestra and at that time there would be probably one person from the radio station that would come to our concerts and sit in the side, up to the side and we'd go past him and he had all the equipment because he recorded the concerts and then WFHR would air the concerts on the radio and and then I try to make sure I can you know
listen to our, our recorded concert, you know, when it got broadcast.
But, and I think it was probably a person by the name of Bill Novos, who, because I believe when I first started working there, he was still doing, you know, went out to some, some of the concerts and did the recordings.
He was an attorney from this area, but he, he's been doing radio and he was a long time.
sports broadcaster also.
I believe of LHS sports.
He would often work like the Saturday shift in the mornings, back in the years when we were pretty much staffing and having somebody on air in the studios, seven days a week, he would often be there on Saturdays.
I remember when my husband, too, would be working on Saturdays, sometimes he would say, well, Uncle Bill brought donuts today.
I don't know.
Doug does Uncle Bill.
But yes, I remember the radio station doing those recordings.
And two of they were, I didn't pay attention to it, but they must have been up in the stands of a lot of local games, too, with Terry State.
to being a longtime broadcaster, hometown person, grew up in this area.
What
instrument did you play in the orchestra, Pam?
I played a violin.
Part the strings.
Well, it has been such a pleasure to speak with you both today.
I think we'll have to have a part two of this conversation.
So I'm Melissa Kay speaking with WFHR Lifetime listeners Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today, Diane and Pam.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Melissa.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 a.m.
97 by Betham WFHR.
You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM 975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with WFHR Lifetime listeners, Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke on Tuesday, July 28th.
Thank you for joining me, Diane and Pam, to share your stories with our listeners.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nice to have you.
Thank
you.
Nice to have
you here.
So I'm excited to sit down with both of you today.
So you're both lifelong residents of Wisconsin Rapids and also lifelong listeners of our WFHR radio station.
And I can't wait to hear about your earliest memories of hearing WFHR broadcasts.
Your parents, I'm guessing, were loyal listeners at that time and WFHR was the only radio station you could pick up in Wisconsin Rapids.
So Diane, let's start with you.
What is your earliest memory
of listening to the station?
I remember myself being in the kitchen and we had a we lived in a little three room house not three bedroom three rooms oh my yes it's still there but they've you know rebuilt things increased remodeled and all that added on anyway my first memory of it is in the mornings
it would be this song, the B-I-B-L-E, and I would go dancing around in the kitchen and sing that.
And then my next real memory that I remembered since I've talked to you last was I was in on the Reader's Rally.
I was like in third grade.
And at school, we read books and then the ones that probably read the most or whatever was in, you know, getting good grades on things.
And so I was, I wasn't one of the first ones on board, but I was.
substitute they called it.
So I got to go up in the station.
WFHR was up above the Wisconsin Theater, if I remember correctly.
And I was in on that contest.
It was a contest and I did get to speak.
And so that is really my earliest days that I remember.
And then growing up further.
On a Sunday evening, about six o'clock, Bernadine Spelz and Vera Matthews, who married Dick Hoferman later on, they had really good voices and they would sing solos and duets.
It was approximately six o'clock every Sunday night, so that would be on the radio.
Well, of course, we didn't have TV in those days.
It was mainly radio, and I'm still like that.
I have the radio on all day.
Yes, I had to ask you to shut it off before we
started.
I know.
I had it on in two rooms.
Yes.
Here in
the kitchen and also in the
bathroom.
And then further on, it was Tom Mix.
I remember that my little brother liked to listen to Tom Mix.
That just came to mind a couple of days ago, too, when all the programs were in that, of course, later on, my Arnie stroke, and that was on, it was, it was coffee clutch and
later
years that ran into over the back fence and trading posts, all that kind of thing, you know.
So, when do you think, if you could, like the earliest memory, what year would you guess that was?
Well, I was probably four or five years old.
That sounds scary, but I was.
I was very, I remember stuff from.
So, what year would that be?
That would be like starting school.
So, that would be...
1946, probably.
1946.
Yeah.
That's incredible.
Yes.
And Pam, how about you?
What are your earliest memories?
Well, something like Diane's that in our family home that the radio will be tuned in to WSHR.
And I remember
My mom would listen to the polka show.
And I think it was on in the 11 o'clock hour.
I remember being a youngster at home, maybe in the summertime.
And she'd have the polka show on.
And then another program when I was quite young on the station, we could write letters to Santa and they would read the letters on air.
And I remember.
It would usually be like in the afternoon, 4.30, 4.45 or so in the afternoon in December.
I make sure that I was there in the kitchen listening to letters to Santa to see if my letter got read.
Sure enough, every once in a while I'd hear my letter read.
But, and then I remember the coffee clutch show, you know, with Arnie Stroll, and that was such a long time, you know, running, running show.
And I remember as a youngster being with a Girl Scout troop, and I don't know what grade it was, like second or third or fourth grade or what, but we did take a tour of the radio station.
They took us to WFHR when we were located in the
building on 1st Avenue in conjunction with the daily Tribune, the daily Tribune WFHR radio buildings.
But I remember, you know, going in there and it was, you know, that was the radio station was in the round section of that building.
And, you know, just seeing, I remember the studio in there too.
They had an inner studio and there was a panel in there too, I believe.
And like what you were talking about that, that they would have entertainers or singers that would come into the studio with some of the history that I've read, you know, I've heard that that's, you know, that's what they did.
They had the singers in the studio, you know, live, you know, performing, even from the start when WFHR first started in their first locations, they had, they had an organ and a piano in their studios.
for those entertainers that were there to sing and put on their shows.
What was your
impression of memory of that time of how many people were working there?
Well, there was always quite a few people.
It always seemed like there was a lot of people employed.
From me visiting as a youngster, I'm sure there was a lot of people employed in that.
building section that we that we saw and even from when I first started there was you know just a lot of people there's oh I don't know 20 25 people maybe that were employed there that were part of the staff that made it all all run and work.
Do you think, Pam, that those early years of listening and that visit, did that play a role in your working there?
Because for listeners that don't know, and I don't know how you could not know this, but Pam has worked at WFHR her entire career.
Did that play a role in this?
I think it certainly must have.
It was the hometown radio station, and when I saw the job posted,
certainly didn't know anything about radio at the time, but I kind of enjoyed what I was doing and I just stayed within the company.
So did either of your parents ever call into the radio station for any of those call-in shows?
I don't think so.
It's not like...
No, you know, people will call in.
My mom was up like that.
Well, she's too busy with everything else around the house.
She just liked to listen.
How many children were in your home?
How many kids did your mom have?
Well, my mother and dad fostered my cousin who was four years older than I because his mother had to go to a hospital when he was...
only he was only like six weeks old.
And his dad went out to California with my dad in this other other person.
And for whatever reason, I forget what it was.
And anyway, my mom and dad agreed to raise Delbert four years older than I and he had he was
not really autistic, but when I think about it, no, he would shake his arms when he get excited and that, but we all got along.
And when he was 16, we had to take him to the hospital and he stayed there the rest of his life.
But my little brother, five years younger than I, you know, he,
Well, yeah, he listened to the radio all the time, too.
And later on, when David played basketball and all that was on the radio, and she'd listened, she was really involved with listening to her son playing and covering everything.
She was real interested in sports, and my dad could care less.
Opposite, you know, but anyway, so I shared, I mean, I had my cousin four years older and my little brother five years younger.
So that was our, what, in this three room house.
But my mother, you know, she had it all organized and you can just see it.
And I would love to go back there someday if I could.
Take a peek.
Yeah, see how they remodeled because there was no inside bathroom either.
Because I'm rather old, you
know.
But still kicking and making the most
amazing cookies.
And knowing that my memory is so well.
My mother had a terrific memory and my brother and I, I wish she'd forget some of this.
But it's all good.
Yeah.
Pam, did your parents call into the radio station?
Not that I can think of, but there was a show that I remember hearing in the summertime when I'd be home listening.
And it was called, I believe it was called something like Quiz the Missus.
And it was during Army Stropes show in the morning.
And the gist of it was he would call listeners at random.
And he would say, well, I'm calling up a resident that lives on 17th Avenue.
But the way the contest work was, you needed to have a box of, I think, like, blue star or red star potato chips.
And if you called your host and you answered and you could read off the recipe, you probably won something.
So, you know, I think during that time, we'd always make sure we had those.
potato chips in the cupboard there just in case that Arnie would be calling our house.
I don't recall.
That was certainly way before I met Arnie when I was employed with him.
No, it's like we always had those potato chips ready just in case.
can't remember you know what other call-in shows oh well trading posts that was or um copy clutch maybe if you had an opinion or something yeah to talk about um i don't remember my mom or my dad my dad was usually at work yeah but yeah i don't remember my mom ever calling you know sometimes we get kind of shy about calling up on the radio being live on the radio you know oh yeah
While this is a perfect spot for us to take a short brief pause to hear from our sponsors, I'm Melissa Kay talking with Diane and Pam, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
Welcome, you're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.
975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with WFHR Lifetime listeners, Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke.
And where we left off, we were talking about some of the common shows and memories of your earliest memories of WFHR and listening on the radio at home.
And like you said, Diane, their television wasn't around when radio first started, at least not in your home.
No.
And so the radio was the way to get information.
And now I want to ask you about
Do you remember any commercials from that time?
Are there any that stuck in your brain that you could, I don't know, give a memory, even if it's just of a business or a product that they were advertising?
That kind of escapes my mind, but they would be advertising the different businesses and they have, but they
have had to because that's how the radio runs, you know, with the sponsors.
What about you, Pam?
Do you have any that stick in your machine?
There
was an advertisement for a sausage company.
It kind of went to the gist of there ain't no bones and hot dog.
And it had this cool little jingle.
I think some, there's some other people that have talked about this, you know, in some other media.
But I, and I can't even remember the, you know, the company.
I do remember there was another commercial for a local financial place.
I don't remember it, but.
At the time I was in high school and I would be in a living room watching for the people that we shared driving back and forth to high school with.
And the days when they would be picking me up, I'd be standing in the living room watching their car come down the street.
And it would always be played at like the same time at 740 AM at this same financial.
institution their commercial would be on air and with working behind the scenes in regards to scheduling commercials I'm sure that they had bought that particular place so but that was your cue right right you know it's like okay when I hear this commercial it's like pretty soon I'm sure they'll be coming by to pick me up and sit over to high school at Lincoln High School.
Oh, that's awesome.
Right.
And one of our local advertisers, Mr. Paul Gross, he produced a lot of his own advertisements and he had his own little recording studio on his property.
I think I heard that was at his store even.
And he would have these catchy little advertisements and his advertisements used to run like a 710.
AM in the morning and that would always end with something like, and this is Paul gross and thanks for listening.
Yes, I do remember that.
Just by hearing it over and over and over, you know, that.
You know, person's advertising or their store.
Yeah, so that's how it sticks in
your brain, right?
Like you
said, at the
same time every
day.
You know, what's coming up next?
Yeah.
Well, are there any sponsors or local businesses that you can think of that you heard on the radio, but that aren't around anymore?
I mean, Paul Gross Jewelers is still a functioning business.
There
was.
There was Germans jewelry store and I believe they advertised on there too.
That was in the Meadwater block.
I remember going in there with my mom once in a while.
And yes, in what?
Well, ours, I think they maybe advertise the car, car places or.
I think they did Polanski, you know, where they
had.
Yeah, I recalled that from years ago.
Some of the grocery stores, like County Market, I remember when I was working, they had a, I think every week they had a different advertisement.
They were located in Wisconsin Rapids on 8th Street.
And there was a place called Knife's Hardware.
It was an old-time hardware store.
And this was ironic, but.
It just seems like someone had told me the story about there had been a fire somewhere.
And if the next commercial that was played and it wasn't set up to be, but it just happened to be like a nice hardware advertisement that was talking about a smoke alarm.
But I mean, what the odds of.
Oh boy.
And, you know, department stores that we had.
Johnson and Hills department store and J.C.
Penney, I remember, they did a lot of advertisements.
When after the mall was built, there was a whole mix of stores in the mall that were forever advertising.
What was happening there?
H.C.
Pranee, they came to us and all started up.
There's a lot of businesses, yes, that were advertising that no longer exist.
Some of them, the building is still there.
It'd be another business in there.
Yeah, there's
all kinds of little officers in there, I guess.
And it was.
unemployment office for a while.
I don't know what's in there now.
Didn't you tell me when you went there to pay your water?
Yes, yes, the water works and they have a temporary office there.
I've walked in there, you know, past several months when I've gone to pay my bill.
And
it feels
so different,
right?
I've not been in there, but I can only imagine, but it was a
great department store.
They should never would have left.
It was kind of like the Macy's of Wisconsin Rapids.
Okay.
If you can think of it that way.
Yeah.
The
Grand Ole.
Before the fall.
Did you ever see WFHR at local events like the county fair or sporting events?
Were there any events that you went to as a kid where you saw them broadcasting?
No.
I wasn't and my parents were the real, you know, going to different things like they have now.
So, no, I never did.
I never did see anybody from WFHR too.
except for that Reader's Riley saying Reader's Riley.
And I remember that studio being up above the Wisconsin Theater when I went there as a third grader.
Really nervous.
I do remember when I was in high school and I played him.
the LHS orchestra and at that time there would be probably one person from the radio station that would come to our concerts and sit in the side, up to the side and we'd go past him and he had all the equipment because he recorded the concerts and then WFHR would air the concerts on the radio and and then I try to make sure I can you know
listen to our, our recorded concert, you know, when it got broadcast.
But, and I think it was probably a person by the name of Bill Novos, who, because I believe when I first started working there, he was still doing, you know, went out to some, some of the concerts and did the recordings.
He was an attorney from this area, but he, he's been doing radio and he was a long time.
sports broadcaster also.
I believe of LHS sports.
He would often work like the Saturday shift in the mornings, back in the years when we were pretty much staffing and having somebody on air in the studios, seven days a week, he would often be there on Saturdays.
I remember when my husband, too, would be working on Saturdays, sometimes he would say, well, Uncle Bill brought donuts today.
I don't know.
Doug does Uncle Bill.
But yes, I remember the radio station doing those recordings.
And two of they were, I didn't pay attention to it, but they must have been up in the stands of a lot of local games, too, with Terry State.
to being a longtime broadcaster, hometown person, grew up in this area.
What
instrument did you play in the orchestra, Pam?
I played a violin.
Part the strings.
Well, it has been such a pleasure to speak with you both today.
I think we'll have to have a part two of this conversation.
So I'm Melissa Kay speaking with WFHR Lifetime listeners Diane Blanchard and Pamela Hilke.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today, Diane and Pam.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Melissa.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 a.m.
97 by Betham WFHR.