- [Announcer] Live from your Public Media Studios, WVIA presents "Keystone Edition Arts," a public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.

This is, "Keystone Edition Arts."

And now, Erica Funke.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, thank you.

Welcome to a very special "Keystone Edition Arts" program, where we will celebrate 50 years of WVIA radio, your arts, news, and information station.

Paul Lazar takes a look at public radio's roots.

(air swooshing) - [Paul] When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act in 1967, he said, "While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want, most of all, to enrich man's spirit."

That is the purpose of this act.

The Public Broadcasting Act included the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

President Johnson explained, "This corporation will assist stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good music, in broadcasting exciting plays and in broadcasting reports on the whole fascinating range of human activity.

It will try to prove that what educates us can also be exciting."

Just a few years later, on April 23rd, 1973, WVIA-FM, as it was known then, went live.

In it's 50 years, WVIA radio has focused on broadcasting good music, from classical to contemporary to jazz, broadcasting exciting stories, fact and fiction from the arts organizations in the region and reporting on the whole fascinating range of human activity with local and national news.

WVIA's mission to educate, inspire, entertain and foster citizenship, diverse cultures and perspectives is reflected in programs, such as "Mixed Bag," "Art Scene," and "Keystone Edition Radio."

And it's more than what you hear on the radio.

It's the opportunities to meet and learn together at events, like the Simply Grand and homegrown music concerts at the station and festivals like the Fine Arts Fiesta in Wilkes-Barre, the Lewisburg Arts Festival and the celebration of the arts at the Delaware Water Gap.

Over 50 years, the technology has changed.

Some of the programs have changed.

What hasn't changed is the dedication to enriching the lives and spirits of the people in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.

For "Keystone Edition Arts," I'm Paul Lazar.

- We want to welcome you as we use this visual medium to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a much loved radio station, public radio, WVIA.

April 23rd, 1973 was the date WVIA signed on the air with unmatched idealism, a real sense of possibility and dreams of doing great things for and with our listeners.

And we'll have a chance in this hour to learn something more about the dance we've been doing with you, our listeners, over the years, shaping together what WVIA has been and has and will become.

And here are your partners in this truly noteworthy project that is public radio.

Please meet George Graham, co-founder of WVIA-FM, senior producer and director of A&R for Chiaroscuro Records.

George started even before the station went live, and that was in 1972, meaning he's been here for over 50 and a half years and he's just been named Broadcaster of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters.

(audience applause) Larry Vojtko, who is the radio station manager and longtime program host working with WVIA-TV as well.

So he's comfortable in that chair.

He joined radio in 1982 and he's marking his 41st year here.

We don't want him to at all, but he'll be retiring in June.

Oh, Larry, yay.

(audience applause) Lisa Mazzarella is a classical program host and she's a producer and you wouldn't start your day without her.

Lisa joined WVIA radio in 1993, so this year we'll mark her 30th anniversary.

She is another radio staffer who has been working with WVIA-TV on the, "Our Town," series, yay Lisa.

(audience applause) Paul Lazar is assistant program director, producer and radio and TV host.

He started in 2007 and he is marking 16 years in 2023 with the station and he continues to wear many hats as we'll hear.

Fiona Powell, Paul.

(audience applause) Fiona Powell, Susquehanna Valley Radio host, editor and producer, lives and works in the western part of WVIA's coverage area.

She signed on in 2004 and she's marking 19 years.

(audience applause) Chris Norton is a radio person.

Through and through we remember how we all were rooting for him to join us as FM station manager, that was 1999.

He led us with heart and soul through 2016 and since then, the whole enterprise has been benefiting from his wisdom and experience.

Thank you, Chris.

(audience applause) In addition to hosting, "Keystone Edition Arts," on TV, my first love is radio and I'm clocking in at 43 and a half years.

(audience applause) Meanwhile, Robert Salzberg and Steve Krawitz, who fill in for us these days have each been around for decades.

It's remarkable.

The numbers are remarkable and even staffers who've moved on still remember this special place.

And some are with us in the audience right now, coming back from as far away as Philadelphia.

We have a whole new division, the WVIA news department under the leadership of Julie Sidoni.

They are the new kids on the block, but just wait, we'll be learning more about them in just a bit.

In all of this, we want very much to acknowledge Peter Frieder, current board chair and board members, past and present and thank you all for your service and commitment.

And we thank Carla McCabe, WVIA's President and CEO for her unwavering dedication to the mission of public media in the 21st century.

We salute the management team and our colleagues for their tireless efforts on behalf of WVIA public media.

And we salute all of you and we recognize and celebrate our listeners and members.

It's very much your anniversary too, thank you for your vital support.

And that's for public radio in our community, in our communities, so all.

(audience applause) George, we may be about 20 feet from where on that fateful day, April 23rd, 1973, you took us into this enterprise that is WVIA radio.

Take us there, please.

- All right, well I happened, I joined WVIA in 1972.

It was a good bit of serendipity on my part, in that I had just put on a radio station, an FM radio station at my alma mater, Duke University, I was involved with that.

So just at the time WVIA was looking for someone with my particular qualifications and experience.

And also I brought the on-air experience that I had at four years at Duke Station.

So we worked, from the time I joined the station, the building was being constructed at the time in late '72 and early '73 is when we were able to move into the building to get the radio station on the air since WVIA was involved in, university, in Scranton, in the basement at Marywood College.

And in the basement of an elementary school, the offices were there.

So it was no place to put a radio station.

So we had to wait until we got into the building here.

But we did that and I was involved with the selection and actually the building, the physical building, of the radio station, pulling the wires and hooking them up and soldering things and that sort of thing, bringing my Duke engineering degree into play with that.

And that was a lot of fun.

But I also, as I mentioned, had a lot of programming experience.

So I was looking forward to be able to operate in both spheres.

On that day in 1973, we were actually delayed a little bit because of the delivery of equipment cabinets.

There was a quirky equipment cabinet maker.

You would tell him what equipment you wanted and he would build the cabinets for it, but he was always late.

(laughing) So we had to wait a couple of weeks for him to deliver the cabinets that we needed to put the equipment in.

And so that finally happened.

It came together in April of 1973.

And I remember that day, the previous day, I'd been doing some noise tests on the transmitter to make sure that there was no extraneous things.

And I pulled a cable off to make sure it was all quiet.

And then that day I pushed the button and there was silence.

I had forgotten to plug the cable back in.

(laughing) So that was a somewhat inauspicious start.

- Did you then, could you just run and push it back in?

- Yeah, I did that.

It wasn't, you know, it took only a couple of minutes.

But it was like, here we go, I push the button, nothing.

(laughing) - And it's an important point that we weren't always 24/7.

- No.

- We signed on at six in the morning and were off at midnight.

- I remember that because when I was hired here, that was part of my job.

I came in at 5:30 in the morning.

- [George] Right.

- And I had to get, you know, fire up the transmitter, which is a lot more than just like flipping a switch.

There's you know, certain protocol and routine that you have to go through and then you have to wait.

And that warms up 'cause there were tubes back then, right?

I don't recall when we actually went 24/7, but it was probably in the 80's.

- There was a time when we actually hired a person, we had an overnight classical service.

His name was Al Tilley and he, we did overnight classical live at the time.

Now you may recall the automation system, we used what they called carousels, which were large circular machines that had 24 tape cartridges in them.

And they would have the promos and the IDs and that sort of thing.

And a lot of our programming we used since some syndicated classical programming, they called them bicycles.

Because we would play the tapes here and then ship onto to the next station and so on.

And that several hours a day of our programming before we went more live, was involved with that programming and the automation would carry that.

Because when we initially came on the air, there were three staff members, myself, Roy Hoynowski and John Sebo.

And that was it.

- And this is just one of those insiders stories, is that those of us who were working with the automation in the daytime, it was, it behaved, but it had its quirks.

And so sometimes it would go off the air and we'd look at each other and we'd try to push the buttons and make it work.

And then we'd get it started and say to George, he would come in later on a later shift and say, "George, it's just, is going crazy, I don't, we don't know what to do."

But George would walk over calmly, do, do, do, do, do.

And it works for me.

That was the thing, right?

(laughing) - [Larry] It works for me.

(indistinct chattering) - [Erica] Yeah, famous George.

And we knew that it was afraid of George, (laughing) because George could take it apart and never put it together again.

- That's right.

- It wasn't afraid of us, right?

- Now in the computer world, of course we have surge protectors and uninterruptible power supplies.

George, what was the uninterruptible power supply for the automation?

- Yeah, we had a couple of car batteries.

(laughing) - So, we had car batteries underneath the floor that would then supply some electricity, should the electricity go out.

- It's really true.

- Don't wanna take a whole lot of time, but there was the famous time announcer that we had in the machine there.

- [Larry] Yes.

- That was, there was a machine that would automate, it would give the time of day and it involved two tape cartridges that would flip back and forth on odd and even times and occasionally it would stick.

And so I remember people got these frantic phone calls and the automation, the time would go like an hour or two ahead of time and people would be listening at home at in bed trying to wake up and it was 11:30.

It was a walked in, what is going on here?

(laughing) - Oh, the good old days.

- Yes and I remember recording every single minute of every day of 12 hours for that time announcement.

- Wow, oh wow.

Well, Liz Hibbard was someone who was there in the early days with her voice and she wanted to join us and wasn't able to join us from those early, early days.

At this session we talk about the people who were there in the early days.

And I'm not, you should be singing this and not me, but.

♪ Dum dum dum dum dum dum ♪ Dum, de-Dum, de-dum, de-dum ♪ Dum dum dum dum dum dum ♪ Dum dum dum dum dum bum bum Thank you Larry.

Many of us still recognize immediately the theme and variations from Schubert's Trout Quintet and that was the music that Libby Smith chose, not as the first, but as the theme music for her much loved weekday program from the studio.

Libby was, WVIA's first and longtime classical music director and she spent three hours with us as listeners from 10:00AM to 1:00PM, examining the lives and music of composers and performers who were born on the date in question.

And if we take our birthdate day, not the year, but the birthday, April 23rd, so take April 23rd, 1975, that was a Wednesday that year.

And so Libby might have brought us a three hour show devoted to Prokofiev on the anniversary of the composer's birth.

And for many years she would draw on the station's LP library.

There's Libby with our LP library.

And she was loved as a program host and respected and admired throughout the whole community for her commitment to classical music and classical music education and for building connections between and among cultural organizations of all kinds.

So we fondly remember Libby and her tenure here at WVIA, the classical music team wouldn't have inherited what we did if it weren't for Libby.

So we wanted to say that.

If there's anybody in the studio audience you'd like to get up to the mic, we're going talk to Tom McHugh and we're gonna ask you, Tom, to get to the mic if you would.

Many of us, well Larry and I, were hired by Tom McHugh, but I'm gonna hum again, Larry pick up here, okay?

I'm going to do the Toreador song, the intro, okay.

♪ Duh dum duh duh dum dum duh duh duh duh ♪ ♪ Duh duh duh duh, dum dum dum dum ♪ That's the Toreador song from the opera.

Carmen Bizet and Tom McHugh founded and hosted the long-running WVIA program, "Classical Request Panorama," with that theme song.

The show was so popular that it was passed on to at least two hosts after Tom.

Tom of course was the intrepid radio station manager who Harry and Larry and me had oversaw.

- Is that who we have to blame?

- Oh yeah, there he is.

(laughing) Continued growth and development of WVIA through a number of technological changes.

The introduction of CDs, right Tom?

For the first, right?

- Absolutely, I can still remember the time when we worked with a local business who had a CD player and he had about three or four classical CDs.

That's all they had at the time.

And we were able to get it back into our studio and have George hook it up.

And we actually played some CDs and really a lot of people, including myself, really didn't like it too much 'cause it sounded pristine.

I was used to the clicks and pops on the vinyl.

(laughing) But I must say that probably the smartest thing that I've ever done in working here for so many years was hiring Larry and Erica.

They have been treasures for our community.

They have been great for our arch community and we thank them so much for all the work that they've done to keep this station going for 50 years.

- Well thank you Tom.

(audience applause) Thank you.

- Thank you Tom.

- I do also want to, and I was here obviously, I was here in radio until '91, and then I went to the dark side, television and worked at WVIA-TV for a while.

But I must remember back in the early, early days, George Graham was trying to get the station on the air and the station made an announcement in the local paper saying that they were looking for volunteers and there had to be 25 or 30 people really holding George up from doing his work because we were all over the place.

There were people who always wanted to be in radio, myself included and we were trying to get our career started and George was trying to get a station on the air and everybody was in his way.

I must say that throughout the career here, and I was here from a volunteer back in '73, I got hired, I graduated from the University of Scranton on May 24th, 1974 and was hired the next day by our then general manager, George Strivel.

And the things that I learned from working here and working with George Graham and the two other people you mentioned, John Sebo and Roy Hoynowski, was just invaluable for my career in broadcasting.

And I thank you so much, George, for all that you did for me as I was getting into the business.

- And Tom, you're an educator now and you're leading the department at Luzerne County Community College.

And think about all the young people you've influenced since.

- I got involved in this wonderful experiment called public radio.

And through the years, just learned so much and got involved with so many arts organizations and got out there and doing recordings of the various orchestras and choruses and just had a wonderful time to kind of make the arts alive in this region.

And it really worked very well.

And 50 years later, I just want to thank everyone who made this happen, including all of our listeners and supporters, because without them it wouldn't have happened.

- That's right, that's right.

- Thank you Tom.

- My undergraduate degree is music education.

I was supposed to be a music teacher in high school, but he hired me here, I didn't know anything.

I said, I was so wet behind the ears, they actually had to have somebody following me with a mop.

(laughing) But Tom is a great trainer, a great teacher and pretty much taught me everything I need to know about radio and gave me that passion to learn more.

- Yes.

- So yeah, you've been a teacher, whether it was formally or informally and how many of us here have really learned our craft on the job.

And that's really what it's about, so I thank you, Tom.

- There are special gifts that people have when they are distinguished as radio presenters.

And I think that we all agree that Lisa Mozzarella is remarkable as a radio host.

She does what ideal radio people do.

We don't feel like she's talking at us, she brings us into the studio with her.

And it's as if we're her only, I know what you think, we're her only guest.

And Lisa, the relationships you make, not just with the organizations and not just with the towns of our towns, but with the individual listeners, makes us all very, very proud and distinguishes WVIA as a station.

But tell us, if you would and I don't want to take it to a specific level, because we only have this short program, to say I am so moved by the stories that you tell about your experiences during the COVID pandemic and what you experienced with your listeners and our listeners.

- Oh, you know, it was a bad time for all of us and while most all of us were kind of secluded, we were cloistered in our little apartments or homes, you know, we didn't know what was going on.

Essential personnel had to report to work and that meant the radio staff and the engineers.

And so we were here in the dark, mostly because there were office lights on and we were going into FM and we'd go in and we knew that there was something terrible happening.

We had no idea how it was going to be or how long it was going to be, but people were terrified.

And you don't really realize how important that one-to-one or one-on-one voice to voice means unless you listen to somebody who calls you up, they don't know you except as a voice looking for help, looking for consolation, looking for something hopeful to hear.

And that's what happened all throughout the COVID pandemic.

It was astounding to hear their stories, it was poignant to hear them emote so openly.

And I respect every single one of the individuals that took the time, that made the time to call and just to talk.

And during that time it was almost like every day we could expect certain individuals at certain times, I'm scared, you know, could you please play a specific piece of music to brighten things up a little bit?

And that's what, you know, at least we were all trying to do, just to kind of make the mood a little bit lighter.

You know, there was such appall over everything and we just needed to bring things up, bring things out a little bit and make people see even a little tiny glint of hope.

And what better way than through music?

I mean, music has survived religious upheaval, political upheaval, hundreds and hundreds of years.

Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, help.

And they did, they did and they continue.

So I am grateful for the calls.

I am happy if my voice was able to help out in any form or fashion.

But I must tell you, it was the composers that did the work.

They did the work.

You know, but it was a pleasure and it was an eye-opener too.

It makes you realize how important public media is, that one one-to-one transfer of voice, ideas.

We get some really good ideas from each and every one of you that call us.

They're amazing, so thank you, thank you for allowing me to be on the air to present the music.

But thank you for calling, thank you for writing, thank you for your kind notes, you mean a lot.

- Thank you Lisa.

And we again, thank you so much.

(audience applause) And one of the things that you don't get to, you hear us most of the time we're on, we have assigned air shifts, but Paul Lazar has been with us for 16 years and he wears many hats.

We couldn't do, you wouldn't recognize the station without the work that Paul does, although we don't hear him except on the wonderful Sunday show that he has.

And his, "Keystone Edition Art," Sunday's a day for you, isn't it, on the air, Paul?

And one of the things that is interesting to us, it was really your love of WVIA-TV that brought you here.

A little background, we don't wanna give too much time to TV, but how did TV get you here?

(laughing) - Well, I began my WVIA journey when I was about seven years old, back in the early 1980s, mid 1980s when we would see Star Trek.

Well who would've thought 30 years later, 25 years later, this is exactly what I would be doing.

So it was really a perfect fit.

And it's been wonderful.

- I laugh about your many hats, but you do, do many things.

But tell us if you would, about your love of and your excitement in producing both the shows on Sunday that you do both you know, "Notes on Film," and also, "Keystone Edition," 'cause those are your pride and joy.

- That's my Joy Wick.

- [Erica] Yeah.

- On, "Notes on Film," I came up with a pilot, it was a half hour long.

I gave it to Larry, he said, "Oh, this is really good."

Well, I like to think that he said that, that's what I tell myself.

(laughing) But it did indeed turn into an hour program.

And we've covered about 150, 160 different films now in the five years that we've been doing the program.

Everything from sci-fi to drama to horror, everything from the spirit of St. Louis up through the Pink Panther to James Bond, to Batman to Braveheart.

You've heard it all on, "Notes on Film," and I've been passionate about film since I was a little one.

And it really seemed like the perfect fit for WVIA, so.

- And it turned out to be and we'll ask you about, "Keystone Edition," next, but we also want to bring into the circle someone who has had to travel quite some distance geographically to get to us.

And that's our dear friend Fiona Powell, who's been with us since 2004.

And you are our really, you are someone who represents, you are the station for so many listeners in the Susquehanna Valley.

And you actually commute between two radio stations.

Just give us a little sense of that geography.

- Well, since 2006, when WVYA opened up at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport and I was there standing behind you on that first opening day, handing you notes, I'd written down notes about various people, various guests, little did I think that I would be going on air and helping to take care of WVIA until Dear Chris Norton, one day, he would come in about once a month and he would allow me to choose the music.

And he was on air once a month on WVYA in Williamsport.

And then one day he went out to get a cup of coffee.

And I was very scared that he wasn't gonna get back for three o'clock.

He breezed in at about 10 to three and said, "Well, you are going to do it, Fiona."

So there you are, this is called the WVIA teaching process.

(laughing) - Throw you to the.

- Throw you to the audience and let you swim, let you charm them or horrify them, whichever they choose.

So and then a few years ago, we opened up the WVBU studio in Louisburg.

So yes, I bounce between the two studios and the folk in the arts in that area do know me, I do a lot of the interviews in that area.

And it's been a remarkable experience.

I really and I'm not a native of 'round there, you might be able to tell that, I in fact have only lived in the Susquehanna Valley for 20 years.

But I really do feel like part of the neighborhood, part of the arts community in the Susquehanna Valley.

It's tremendously important.

And for every big interview that I've done and I've done a few and I'm kind of quietly proud of them, people like Sir Karl Jenkins and Judy Collins.

I have to say that being able to interview the folk who keep the arts alive in the Susquehanna Valley is the greatest privilege, the greatest privilege.

People like Billtown Brass and Rick Coulter and the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra with the incredible Gerardo Edelstein and all of those people, the Williamsport Civic Chorus, all of those people.

And of course, I can't forget the Susquehanna Valley Corral and the really, really talented Bill Payne.

It's such a privilege working with those people.

- And we are so grateful and we're so grateful to see you, Fiona, because.

- [Fiona] I do exist.

- You do come in, you do make trips, but it's wonderful to have you with us.

You're always with us, but it's wonderful to have you with us.

There's no question that the bonds that form are between and among you can tell, the staff members at WVIA, they're hard to break.

Peter Wynn has only just recently hung up his earphones.

He was with us for 25 years as the station's opera expert.

We actually remember aired a live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera when Peter was a guest on, "The Opera Quiz."

So Peter would've joined us, but we thank him for his tenure.

And Andrew Morrell went out to the West coast after his time here to produce a national program titled, "Music From The Hearts of Space."

He spent a good amount of his time at NPR in Washington, DC.

You know, it was so many people's goal to go to the home base.

He has a remarkable eye as well as an unmatched ear.

And he's become an award-winning professional photographer who works internationally.

Andrew wanted to be with us very badly, but he sends his greetings to his forever friends at WVIA.

- The excitement and joy that I personally got from doing interesting, creative, fun things.

There are a lot of people to thank for providing this committed artistic outlook every single day, and hope to see you again sometime soon this summer.

And speaking of forever, it's dear Chris Norton, who is with us here.

And we're going to ask you, Chris, not just to be the MC that you are so comfortable being, but we're just wanting to ask you and talk to you about your passion for radio.

Because I said at the start, you're a radio person through and through and you were in commercial radio, yet you were, you made the transition and you brought all of that skill and knowledge and experience and just gifted the WVIA staffing with your heart and your love of the arts and words.

- [Larry] And the brownies.

(laughing) - Yeah, oh, brownies, that's right.

So Chris, tell us.

Yes, I was privileged to work in commercial radio for 24 years, several stations all in North Houston, Pennsylvania.

Enjoyed them all, enjoyed the staffs, all of them, learned from every situation, of course.

But there was a time when I was working on Saturday mornings until 10 in the morning as a disc jockey.

And I recall heading home right after the show ended at 10 and being at a stop light.

And in the car next to me, I could see one person, the driver of the car laughing hysterically in the car.

It was about quarter after 10 on a Saturday morning.

And I was curious as to what was so funny that they were laughing at.

So I rolled down the window and I could hear these two guys speaking in Boston accents (laughing) talking, I think about cars, but they were laughing more than they were talking.

And I said, what kind of a radio show is that?

That was one snapshot.

The the next one was at a church.

It was an adult church retreat weekend at a camp setting and there was a speaker after supper.

It was a Saturday night, there was a speaker after supper inside.

And I noticed a couple people slipping out of the congregation leaving the program to go outside.

So I just stuck my head outside to see what was going on.

And here they are sitting back in rocking chairs with their feet up with a portable radio and they were listening to some guy with this very soft voice talking about the antics of some town I'd never heard of where I think the women were strong, the men all good looking and the children were all above average.

And I thought, what kind of a radio show is that?

And the third snapshot, in these years that I was working at other radio stations, I also was fortunate enough to be able to teach a class for radio and television students at Marywood University.

It was a one night a week class and some were interested in the field and some were less interested, but I always wanted to take them on tours to see actual radio and television stations.

So we'd go to WNEP and we'd go to Rock 107, but I thought if I could show them a radio and television studio on the same tour, it would be a whole lot better.

So I called WVIA radio one morning and asked if I could arrange a tour for some college students at Marywood.

And the morning announcer said, "Sure, what day do you want to come?"

And then said, "What time do you want to come??

Around the class is at six, I can be there at 6:15 with the kids.

And she said she would personally conduct that tour.

And I thought, this is strange.

This is a morning announcer who probably gets up at four o'clock to get out the door by five and be at work at six in the morning, volunteering to do a tour for college students at 6:15 at night.

We brought the kids, it was a wonderful tour and she baked a chocolate cake for the occasion, for the students.

So I knew right away this is a special place, with special programs and very special people.

- Aw, thank you Chris.

(audience applause) And we might say you fit right in.

The special person you are.

Let's pick up on the car guys, "Car Talk."

Larry Vojtko, tell us about when you first or when.

- Well, yes, that was back in the time of Q Days when we brought it on.

And I was working Saturday mornings, as you recall.

When we first started, we had six day weeks.

So Saturday morning, you did Sunday morning, I believe.

And so we added that on and of course, you know, we wanted, we are public radio and so when the mics open and we ask for funds, we want people to call us with those funds.

And so we had a studio number that we would give out liberally so that everybody always knew that particular number.

Well, of course, you know, that could bite you.

And so we started running, "Car Talk," and the phones start ringing.

Now, Chris had an interesting take on it.

A lot of our other listeners would call up and say, "What is this, what do you have on the air?

This is below what public radio should be offering."

Well, of course, "Car Talk," became one of the greatest programs in the history of public radio.

And there, I don't think there's anything that's ever come close to that.

But you know, it goes to to show how we respond to what the listeners have to say about our programming.

Because that's what our job is.

Our job is to try to ascertain the interests and sensibilities and tastes of the folks of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania and to deliver programming that will resonate, that will entertain, that will inform, that will lift up, that will give you a laugh, in the music sometimes a cry, sometimes compel you with a well-told story that is about someone that you'll hear on NPR or on now, "Keystone Edition Radio."

And so over the years as I'm crafting the programming schedule, this always comes to mind, is how is that going to, how are the listeners, what benefit are they going to get from this particular program?

And as you know, as a mixed format radio station for many, many years, there's a little bit of a juggling match, but there have been programs that have come, that have gone, you have to make the programming choices.

There are just so many wonderful shows out there.

And you, I have the responsibility of choosing those shows, but always thinking in those terms, is what is going to benefit the listener of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania?

And as you know, I always counted on you as a close advisor and counsel and I'd say, "Erica, what do you think about this?"

- Oh yeah and I loved that.

And what's wonderful is that then that brings a different, because we've had different backgrounds and we have different interests.

So we would hope that something would filter out and filter up in that way.

Oh, someone's there.

Hi Tom, please introduce yourself.

- I'm Tom Hall, we are longtime members of WVIA.

And I think it's important for the audience to recognize that these are human beings with alternative lives that we've seen.

I've heard Larry Vojtko sing as part of the Arcadia Corral.

I've seen Chris Norton as King Lear and he's text me.

But more than anything else, I wanted to say thank you to Erica.

When we first moved here, we didn't know anything about the cultural life of Northeast Pennsylvania.

There's this program called, "Art Scene," and we had interviews with people like Bill Payne, who was from Susquehanna Valley Corral.

So we've become supporters and listeners of the Susquehanna Valley Corral.

We heard people talk about the Arcadia Corral, a marvelous group that does beautiful work throughout the year.

The Lyric Consort, we have heard, thank you, Erica, of all kinds of programs, artists, people who are in putting on plays, musical shows and so forth.

And since we are able to get there, listen to them, participate, it's been a wonderful feature that's made a big difference in our lives.

And I've seen you at few of these programs.

I remember the marvelous group from St. Tikhons Monastery.

They have done beautiful work.

I wouldn't have known about it except for you.

So thank you Erica.

Thank you, human beings who bring us wonderful music.

(audience applause) - And in addition to be being great supporters and great listeners, we know you two have been participants at the Community Advisory Board and taken leadership roles in that way.

So you really do give back with your time.

And as they say, your time and treasure, we thank you so much for that.

And thank you for your wonderful applause in that way, Tom.

And one of the things that is so touching, I was talking about the bonds between and among us and the unforgettable times.

It is so wonderful to welcome back Julia Canals-Godfrey to join us.

Julia was young and wonderful as a human being, but she was so skilled.

What an ear and a hard worker.

And the thing I want to thank you for, Julia, is that at one point you were asked to run interference for me when as Tom said, there are are lots of people who are asked for interviews and want to be part of, "Art Scene."

And you for a while took charge of saying, "Now wait just a minute, Erica's busy."

And you, were so kind, you cared about me and you wanted to say, "Now, well yes, we'll get you in."

And you've been a producer.

You well, we just are so grateful to have you back.

And what we're curious about, I think, is that you are now in the world of medicine, right?

- [Julia] Yes.

- [Erica] Yes.

- [Julia] Yes I am.

- So how and what did WVIA and working here, 1997, right?

- Yeah, I began in 1997.

I was a part-time employee.

Larry gave me a job on the radio.

Tom McHugh gave me a job as a recording engineer.

Somebody else put me as one of the engineers in television to make sure that the television programs and breaks aired at the right time.

And I cobbled that all together for full-time work.

And then Larry was kind enough to bring me on full-time, my very first boss.

And I just feel like I had grown up here.

And while I work today in medicine with very, very smart people, just the overall brilliance and depth of knowledge and comprehensive, just life experience from these, from everybody who works here, who I had grown up with as far as understanding about politics and information and the arts and culture and history and how that all played together.

Nowhere else that I have ever been, has that kind of experience, just sitting around a table with four people.

It's just, it's very humbling.

And it was humbling as a 22 year old to be in that room with all four of you and work with you every day.

But it was just such an amazing experience and I love it.

And I do miss it.

Very frequently miss it a lot.

- Well it means the world to have you with us Julia and you are always part of the family.

- Thank you.

- Thank you for being here.

(audience applause) Larry, since you were just talking about programming, you've had a dream.

You know, you've probably been in Camelot, (laughing) he's a musical theater singer and performer.

- [Larry] Yes.

- But you've had a dream and you had a long time dream and you can, - Long time.

- Tell us about that.

- Yes, well, of course, growing up in the business with NPR and hearing that type of broadcast journalism and seeing how NPR has grown to become a primary news source, when it wasn't that way, when we started, I said, you know, we really need a news department here.

And, I have tried, I tried several ways.

Now running a news department is very expensive, all right?

So that was a number one challenge.

But we have tried number of ways to get that to work.

And so none of which really was sustainable.

None of these methods, these workarounds, these ways, these creative ways, maybe kind of wacky ways to try to present a news on the air was really gelling.

And now it started, actually prior with, "Keystone Edition Radio," it was Chris Norton, I said, "Maybe we could do a weekend news program."

And I was able to then go to the staff and say, "Think we could pull this off?

A half hour program."

And so it was, and then Carla came on board and said, what do you think we need around here?

And I said, a news department.

(laughing) And she said, put something together for me.

And of course I've had that in my head for, so I banged out about a three year plan and handed, "Here, Carla, what do you think of this?"

And there we have it.

She said, "Let's make this happen."

And I just am so thrilled that she was supportive of that.

So now we have more service, we've improved the service, not only the telling the stories of the arts community, but the community as a whole.

- That's right and we are very fortunate to have a talented television production staff and Al Benelli put together a lovely introductory package to celebrate our new news department and we'd like to share that with you now.

- Since the mid to late 1990s, we've been trying to get a news department going here.

I was just thrilled when Carla came on board to make this a reality.

- I had noticed some trends in journalism that I didn't particularly like to see.

- [Larry] As we see the folding of local newspapers.

- That has led to somewhat of a nationalization of news.

- What impacts people the most is what happens in their communities.

The way that you get to learn about that is through local news.

- Suddenly there was an opportunity to build a news department from the ground up and to go the other direction.

- The things that impact people here are things that impact people everywhere.

- The goal is to get to the root cause of things in our community.

How we can help as a public media organization.

- WVIA Public Media is not a for-profit station that allows us to break out of the 24 hour news cycle and really focus on what is important to us and to our viewers.

- The ability to think not about advertisers.

- And a lot more kind of thoughtful reporting.

- We're not just doing surface level reporting.

(uplifting music) - [Julie] We want to be that clear, measured voice.

- You know it's gonna be well researched, you know it's going to have the facts for you.

- Julie has high expectations, she's a veteran of news.

- People have stories to tell.

You just have to ask questions.

- WVIA News is an opportunity for the community to come to us, to tell us their stories.

And that's what we do.

- There are so many stories in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania that are happening every day that may not get coverage elsewhere.

And WVIA News will bring some light to those stories.

I love this team.

(uplifting music) (audience applause) - And we hope you have heard the WVIA News reports on, "All Things Considered," and on, "Morning Edition," already.

Julie, we're so pleased and proud to have you with us.

You may know Julie Sidoni as a veteran television journalist, but what we know about Julie is she's just the most remarkable person.

She's a creative individual writer, singer and she brings all of that to her responsibilities here.

And so Julie, just know how proud we are of what you've accomplished already.

- It's an honor to be here in this room in front of all, I feel like I'm crashing a party.

It is, to be in this building every day with the amount of experience all of you have in broadcasting, it's overwhelming.

I'm humbled and honored every day.

- Well, we look forward to all the great reporting and the stories that you have to tell.

And we always like, don't we now to come in and see the news department people at their computers and then streaking out.

I see Tom with his shoulder bag and he was streaking down the hall to cover a story.

So thank you and please know we care.

- Thank you, thanks for inviting the news team to be part of this tonight.

(audience applause) - We have the last round robin, 30 seconds, you know how they do that on commercial cable?

30 seconds, Larry.

- 30 seconds.

It's all because of the listeners.

And it's all because of the community that we're able to do this because without the funding we get from the community, we wouldn't have anything.

And so I thank you for all the support you've shown us for these 50 years.

- Lisa, 30 seconds.

- A golden anniversary.

And that is something really not only to celebrate to tout, but really to respect and have it resonate with all of you that had it not been for those of you that called in with your pledges of support, were peaked by a really interesting story that you heard on, "All Things Considered" or, "Morning Edition," enjoyed a piece of music that you really were moved by and decided to pick up that phone and become a part of the WVIA family.

There's no way we would be celebrating tonight.

So this celebration, as much as we're around here for us, it's just as much for you too, so thank you so much.

(audience applause) - And George, you don't regret pushing that button do you?

- No, no, it's been, it seems like an awfully short time since I did that.

I mean, the time has gone by so quickly.

But when I look back upon all of the things that we've accomplished here and you know, the opportunity to not only classical music, but the diverse of varieties in music, I'm privileged to bring you, in the jazz of the world music, the folk, the bluegrass and that sort of thing that have been part of WVIA and it's been all made possible by our members who come through for us during fundraising drives and whom I meet in the community as well.

The arts community has always been so greatly supportive of WVIA and I've been grateful for that.

And, you know, the opportunity to be able to do what we do here and do it in a situation where there isn't so much the commercial pressure of doing that, doing it for its own artistic worth and journalistic worth, I think is what we can get away with doing here in public broadcasting.

- Well, I wanna thank each of you.

It's been an honor and a pleasure to work with each of you over these years and thank you for watching.

For more information on this show, please visit wvia.org/keystone and click on Keystone Edition Arts.

And remember, you can watch this episode or any previous episode on demand, anytime online or on the WVIA app.

So for, "Keystone Edition," I'm Erica Funke, thank you for watching.

It is quite something to note that the jazz world lost the great vocalist, pianist composer and a rager, Bob Dorough on April 23rd, folks, April 23rd, 2018.

Celebrated as an NEA jazz master, love for composing and performing songs on the TV series, "Schoolhouse Rock."

He was a vital member of the jazz community of the Poconos and a regular at the COTA Festival that George has been a part of for years.

In 2001, Bob Dorough put his witty and wonderful talents to work to celebrate WVIA radio and his friendship with George Graham.

And we let Bob Dorough take us out of, "Keystone Edition Arts."

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