Radio-active With Local Stations
Connie Crabtree-Stephens, in her WKYR office with station manager Carla Bush.
By Greg Wells
CCN–Editor
WKYR, 107.9, has another number this year, 50. Yes, it’s been 50 years that our local radio station has been on the air, as of this coming summer.
They aren’t waiting for December though to hand out the gifts, as contest promotions are running constantly, leading up to a $2500 giveaway at the end of the year.
When Connie Crabtree-Stephens was going through the motions of getting all the promotions together last year the conversations started with the owners of WANY 100.9.
As of the first of the year Connie said she is the new owner of the Albany station in addition to owning the Burkesville station.
Oddly enough there is a bit of symmetry in that as the group which started WANY hired Ray Mullenax, who was hired away by the folks who started WKYR.
Both stations have been local throughout the years, and family owned.
Mullenax went on to purchase the outstanding shares and consolidate his ownership of the local station.
“I love it so much I bought another one, just down the road,” Connie said. “WANY has been owned by the same family for 66 years.”
Paul Sediak and his wife Diane were working with Carla Bush during last week’s Chamber of Commerce membership drive.
Beautification has been a focus for the staff here in Burkesville over the past year as painting inside and out as well as a great many decorations have been brought in.
But the staff is the same, the format is the same and the hometown feel is just as it ever was.
Connie said that Don Johnson has been spinning records for 50 years at WKYR as of August next year. The rest of the staff includes Karen Proctor leading the “Sunshine Gospel Hour” Terry Murphy doing the Sunday night broadcast while Jackson Williams handles the boards for UK and Panther sports. The voice of the Panthers is Corey Patterson, with Dennis Sells providing “color commentary” Rick Barnes handles production while Mary Jingle Owens and Stacy Smith handle sales.
She added that the person keeping her, and the station organized is Carla Bush, station manager.
“I think I am the oldest living person who was there at the start,” said Portia Flowers. She said that 2-days after they went on the air she walked in for an interview, and was asked to answer one of the ringing phones in an office that “was total chaos.”
From ’75 when she was in high school until ’78 and then again from ’86 to ’89 Portia was at the desk and on the air before being hired away by WLRS, in Louisville, where she did it all including helicopter traffic reports.
“I loved working at WKYR,” Portia added.
Portia Glowers as she was on the radio at WKYR back in the 1970s.
As to the staff at WANY, “we kept the staff over there, most of them have been there for years,” Connie said.
She listed them off Randy Speck, Lyle Pierce, Jim Britt, Chrissy Parrish, Sid “the kid “and Hank Thomas, with Speck serving as station manager.
The staff remains the same while changes are coming for WANY Connie said. Presently the station broadcasts only from 5am to 10pm, which she plans to expand.
There is also a change in format hinted at in the coming months.
Connie did not state outright that rock oldies are in their future but…
She could not say if or when either of the stations would be switching to the new digital broadcast system, both are on the traditional analog system.
As a personal aside, that signal always played in the family home. The signal came in over our telephone, our television and anything else that had a speaker, since the original antenna was only a hundred yards from the house.
