This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.

Years ago it was somewhat more common for employers to run “blind” classified ads  in the help wanted section of the newspaper when it was time to find or replace workers.  These ads offered job descriptions, or maybe necessary qualifications for the new hire, but didn’t always disclose the company doing the hiring, or just exactly what the duties of the job were.  Often times, these mystery recruiting ads would have applicants reply to a temporary post office box so as not to give away the exact type of job, or where the applicant might potentially be working, should they be hired. Such was the case in 1977, when WMBA General Manager, Ruth Johnson, ran and ad looking for a new talk show host.  The solicitation only disclosed that WMBA was looking for somebody who was well read and a good communicator.  The fact is, Johnson was looking to fill the shoes left by the recent passing of Nick DeSantis about a year earlier, who had been hosting the popular morning talk show segment. “Air Your Opinion”.

The help wanted ad happened to grab the attention of a local school teacher named Barb Trehar.   In the recently published book  , Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA. , Trehar’s unique hiring experience at WMBA  and career are explored.  “(Upon seeing the ad) Trehar was intrigued.  After all, ten years earlier, she was part of the first group of students who helped put WGEV on the air at Geneva College in 1967.  But still, she had no idea what Johnson and her staff at WMBA might be looking for. It was only during the interview with Johnson that Trehar found out that it was a talk show host that they were trying to recruit.  Even though she was a little anxious, Trehar was intrigued, and a deal was made to anoint Trehar as the next host of the widely popular “Air Your Opinion” talk show. Keep in mind, Trehar was to try and follow the previous hosts of the program, Roy Angst and then Nick DeSantis.  They were two of the most beloved and popular radio personalities of the day and had turned the segment into a fixture of the WMBA schedule. That would be a little like trying to take the stage after Elvis Presley, or Jerry Lee lewis. Hard acts to follow for sure.” 

The mystery recruiting ad wasn’t the only aspect of Barb Trehar’s career worth recalling, the book further touches on another “famous incident” of Trehar’s time at WMBA. “It turns out Barb Trehar was well read and a very good communicator, because right out of the gate, she was very well received by WMBA listeners.  But, there was one problem. About a month into hanging out in the second floor studio above Action Tire on Duss Avenue in Ambridge, talking to a faithful group of on air friends everyday from 9 A.M. until 11:30 A.M., Trehar discovered that she was pregnant.  Not only was Trehar with child, but she was ordered by her doctor to stay at home and rest. General Manager Ruth Johnson liked what she was hearing on the air, and wanted to keep the show going, so she made the innovative decision to have broadcast equipment and phone lines installed in Trehar’s residence.  So, for the remaining term of Trehar’s pregnancy with her second child, Jennifer, The show went on. From the fall of 1977 until April of 1978, “Air Your Opinion” was broadcast live on location from Trehar’s residence.”

Barb Trehar did so well as a talk show host that in 1981,  she started working at KDKA radio in Pittsburgh in addition to her duties at WMBA, up through 1984. Then,  after a stint at Penn State Beaver campus, Trehar got back into the media business when she became the Director of Development at WQED in Pittsburgh in 1996. For the remainder of her career, Trehar has held fundraising and institutional advancement type positions with The Carnegie Museum, The Murphy Foundation, Benedictine College, and Lutheran Senior Services. She has also provided independent consulting for a variety of clients.

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins

 

This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.

If you do any research at the McCartney Library at Geneva College, and happen to ask archival Librarian, Kae Kirkwood, to help find information about the topic of Geneva College students participating in radio broadcasts, you will discover that there is a long history of hands on learning in the radio business.  According to records kept in the beautiful campus library in Beaver Falls, radio broadcasts produced by Geneva College began to air twice week in 1938 on New Castle Radio Station, WKST, which had just been granted a license and started broadcasting earlier that year.  In the 1950’s, WBVP alumni and Geneva College students at the time, Don Kennedy and Owen Simon helped organize a radio broadcasting club where students would tour other radio stations and learn about the industry.  According to Kirkwood, Kennedy even helped build a radio studio for the students to use on campus where weekly programs were produced and later on aired on WBVP.

In 1965, with radio broadcasting becoming more and more popular, Geneva College applied for, and was granted a license for an educational radio station, WGEV.  Initially the college station could be heard on 88.3 F.M. and 550 A.M.  Later on the station would only use the F.M. signal.  One of the earlier faculty directors at Geneva College for WGEV was arguably the most famous broadcaster to have started their career in Beaver County, Dr. Mike Emrick.  Emrick worked At Geneva College from 1969-1971.  Emrick loved hockey, and began to cover Pittsburgh Penguins games for The Beaver County Times while teaching at Geneva College. Later on, he got into broadcasting N.H.L. games with the Phildelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils radio networks. Today, “Doc” Emrick’s voice is heard around the world and is one of the most familiar in hockey as a television analyst on several television networks for N.H.L. Stanley Cup Playoffs and Olympic hockey games.

As the years went by, the relationship between the Geneva College radio station, WGEV, and WBVP flourished and was  very beneficial to both parties.  Geneva students often started their careers at WBVP after graduating.  The college station had a very well developed curriculum and practical training that produced a constant pipeline of good talent for the “big radio station downtown”.  In return, there were many occasions when the resources from WBVP were used to help improve the sound of WGEV . Old equipment was often donated to the college station.  WBVP staffers even helped out and taught classes on occasion.  Former WBVP and WWKS General Manager and Sports Anchor, Chris Shovlin, taught a few broadcasting classes for a couple years in early 1980’s.  Sam Siple was one of those Geneva College broadcasters who later on became the morning news anchor and Program Director at WBVP.  Siple recalled the system that WBVP helped set up for WGEV, so that the collegiate station could carry ABC network news. In the recently published book , Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA.  Siple reported that the owners of WBVP at the time, Hall Communications, through a contract with ABC that they had for WBVP, included the college station, WGEV, as a “Spoke Station” in the agreement, which allowed WGEV to air certain feeds from ABC that were sent from the “hub” station.  Engineers and technical support staff at WBVP/WWKS installed a phone line coupler in the Beaver Falls studio to send ABC network material to a similar piece of equipment installed at WGEV.  Also attending classes at Geneva College and participating in college radio station activities at the time with Sam Siple, were Current WBVP and WMBA talk show fill in host, Tom Stein, Former newscaster and Program Director, Randy Buckwalter, Show host from the  1980’s, Ken Mueller, and current station owner, Mark Peterson, among others.  Dozens of Geneva College graduates, who started their careers behind the microphone at WGEV up on college hill, wound up working afterwards at WBVP.  It was a perfect feeder program for the Beaver Falls radio station.

In 2002, WGEV left the traditional F.M. airwaves, but continued broadcasting through an internet on line stream, and thus, continued to give students the opportunity to learn the broadcasting business.  Many of those students continue to darken the doorway of WBVP in search of internships or permanent employment. The current host of “A.M. Beaver County”, Matt Drzik, is one of the more more recent talented broadcasters who came through the pipeline from Geneva College to WBVP.

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins