Same thing as with D&W; both a huge part of the community which they serve, both established professionals of longstanding, both admired, trusted, respected, and well-liked by
their audiences, which are big, really big. The important difference is that these folks are to the Williamsport Area what D&W are to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Over on the right are two of Lycoming County's most beloved citizens; Ken Sawyer and Gary Chrisman.( Yeah, I know, Gary's not alone. That's the delightful Gail Baer, Gary's partner on The Chrisman Show. Not to diminish Gail's importance, surely she too is beloved, but Ken and Gary have each been on the air in Williamsport radio for over, OVER, 30 years. That's what sets them apart from all the rest. That in itself is an accomplishment.)
I met Ken and Gary way on back in the mid-70s, a time when I was being about as nomadic as I'd ever get in the radio business.
Ken had come to Willliamsport and WWPA in 1970.
Gary had grown up in Williamsport, gone off to Florida for college, and come back for a brief time.
"Brief" turned into 30 years seemingly overnight, we all know how that goes.
They're good guys. They're good friends.
Even though the short geographic distance between us has kept us from seeing one another face-to-face for roughly, oh, 7-8 years now, we're still friends.
Even though we all last worked together in 1978, we're still friends.
Gabbing with them last week was like picking up where we'd left off 29 years ago. Heck, not even. It was more like we'd seen each other the day before. It's that comfort level which, at least to me, is one of the defining components of friendship. Endurance can't be bought, faked, or forced. It's there or it's not. With Ken and Gary, I believe it's there.
So, there we were back in the '70s. All three of us loving life, loving radio. We were loving Williamsport, and very excited that the station we were working at was in the middle of reinventing itself.
The old, staid, and stodgy WWPA was morphing into Twin W Radio, more commonly known The Twin. If you need proof of me in
the 70s, get an eyeball full of the get-ups on Chrisman and me in, I believe, 1977. We were all keyed up and ready to judge, what else, a disco contest. We probably thought we were a couple of hot guys...hell, we probably were.(Sorry, Ken, I don't have any embarrassing pictures of you from that era, but you're welcome to share some of my discomfort.) You should be dancin' yeh, dancin' yeh.
What I like best are the rented shoes on both of us. Nice touch. Did either of us own a pair of respectable dress shoes then? Hard to say, mostly because what passed as respectable in 1977 (while standing in front of the newly renovated Rialto Theater on Pine Street) would pass as spectacle now. See how cool we were? No ties, no bow ties for us, baby. Just open up that 7 inch collar and let your chest hair sway in the warm June breeze.
I didn't dance much then, even less now. With dancing, it's like this; the only time I dance is when I run out of excuses not to. Gary? Funny thing, he was the monster DJ at Williamsport's hottest disco, yet I don't recall ever seeing him dance.
I have no idea who won the competition the evening that photo was taken, nor am I sure where the photo itself originated. All I do remember is having it e-mailed to me anonymously from Williamsport maybe 4-5 years ago. Apparently, it had appeared in a Williamsport newspaper. Apparently, someone had saved it. Thanks, whoever you are.
As with most stand-alone AM stations that once ruled radio, WWPA/The Twin fell from grace and success over the years, but Ken and Gary did not. Hardly.
If anything, they have thrived beyond expectation. They just moved across town to other stations. To even mention Williamsport radio is to mention Ken Sawyer and Gary Chrisman. If ever there is a Williamsport Broadcasting Hall of Fame, they'll be the first two inductees.
You can visit their sites...
www.wksb.com/
http://www.wrak.com/
Or, if you're out their way, listen. You'll like what you hear. You'll hear why these guys are as much a part of Williamsport life as Little League Baseball, and they've been a part of LLB for 30 years, too.
(On the matter of politics, a few things worthy of a mention before too long.)
