590 MIGHTY MEMORY #464

PHOTO INDEX: RING DING DING COASTER.

RING A DING WEEKEND

One of the best memories of WARM Radio is the weekend "Ring A Ding Ding" Stegmaier weekend. Airing on Saturday and Sunday nights, WARM actually played oldies. Well they were only just a few years old but WARM used the opportunity to play hits from 1956 on to the current day the show was on. The ubiquitous jingle:

"Ring A Ding Ding, do the Stegmaier thing in the Summertime" usually kicked off on Memorial Day weekend.

Also during the holiday weekends WARM gave safety tips to drivers making sure they stayed safe on the roadways. The station actually had a fatality count from the previous year to deter drivers from doing something silly.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #465

PHOTO INDEX: PETE GABRIEL, (CIRCA 1971).

CORRECTION

Last year we were told by a former member of the WARM Sensational 7 (actually he came after the 7) that Pete Gabriel had passed away. We are happy to report that the information was erroneous. Joe Middleton just spoke with “The Mighty Gabriel” hours ago and the big guy is alive and well in the Midwest. We are sorry for the error and apologize if we caused any concerns or trouble with the information that was not true. Our source was adamant and it was confirmed by another person. But I later found out that the second source got the information from the first source. So once more, sorry and long live Pete Gabriel.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #466

PHOTO INDEX: BOB WOODY AND KING'S COLLEGE CROWN NEWSPAPER EDITOR JILL KAY USKRAIT, CIRCA 1976)

THE WOODY GUY (Part 1)

Bob Woody came to WARM in the late summer, fall of 1972. I was not in town when he arrived but heard that his arrival was very much ballyhooed by the WARM suits. Woody held down the 3 to 7PM slot and had a manic and entertaining delivery. Woody made his mark as one of the most accessible and intensive personalities. At times he clashed with management over his style as well as his ancillary causes. Woody was big into humanitarian causes and while so was the Mighty 590, their commitment was sometimes closer to home. Woody talked of world hunger and discrimination. Back then those were issues that were hot button and worthy of discussion. But after the tragedy of the Agnes Flood and the need for residents to get back their lives, sometimes Woody’s efforts were placed on the back burner. Undeterred Woody used his show as a type of conversational bully pulpit and spoke about those issues anyway right in between playing records like “Bang a Gong” and “Nice To Be With You”. Woody became a close friend and confidant of the late singer Harry Chapin. Chapin was a message singer who was wildly popular. Even though many young college students were turning to FM Radio, Woody with his enthusiasm for social causes and wacky personality gave WARM’s drive time a special niche. Woody cultivated the college crowd by working with them on various concerts. He was a huge promoter of the Chapin concerts at King’s College in the mid 70s. One college newspaper reporter, Jill Kay Uskrait of Williamsport actually won a prestigious Collegiate Newspaper award because of an interview that she wrote with a local personality, one Mr. Bob Woody.