STATE REPRESENTATIVE ROB MATZIE HAS ANNOUNCED NEARLY 500-THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GRANTS TO HELP FUND WATER IMPROVEMENTS IN ALIQUIPPA. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GORDAION HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report….
BEAVER, Pa – Congressman Keith Rothfus (PA-12) spoke at the Beaver County Youth Ambassador Program’s (YAP) training. More than 150 Beaver County high school students and faculty participated along with state and local officials.
“Launched two years ago, the Youth Ambassador Program in Beaver County has been making great progress in its mission to destigmatize mental health issues and promote healthy ways for students to cope with stress and loneliness,”said Congressman Rothfus. “I have traveled across the district and met with individuals and families who tragically lost loved ones to suicide. This program plays an important role in our community to equip participating student ambassadors with the ongoing education, resources, and awareness training they need to support their peers and create a culture of understanding and camaraderie.”
“Since the inception of the Youth Ambassador Program (YAP) in 2016, Beaver County Behavioral Health (BC/BH), the Beaver County System of Care partners and the youth of Beaver County have worked tirelessly to spread the awareness of mental illness, fight stigma surrounding it, and educate the community on available resources. The YAP participants want to thank Congressman Keith Rothfus for his support of this endeavor and taking the time to listen to the youth of Beaver County. The focus on mental health initiatives such as this as well as the funding to support them is vitally important to our community as we try to address such issues as suicide, trauma, violence in the schools, and drug overdoses which continue to plague this population.” – Maureen Hawk, Supervisor of Youth Services, BCRC, System of Care Partner
THE B-F JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY HELD A RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FOR ITS DIGITAL MEDIA LAB LAST NIGHT IN ALIQUIPPA. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO WAS THERE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…
THE BOROUGH OF CONWAY HAS BEEN AWARDED A GRANT FROM THE STATE TO HELP PAY FOR NEW PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…
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State police are warning people of scams that look like they’re helping the victims of Hurricane Florence. Troopers ask residents to be suspicious of phone calls asking for money or other personal information and don’t give donations by way of cash, gift cards, or money transfers. When in doubt, give to charities you know and trust.
An Aliquippa woman is pressing charges after she says a church trustee physically assaulted her during a Girl Scout troop meeting. It allegedly happened at the First United Methodist Church of Aliquippa. The man reportedly burst into their meeting at the church recently saying the girls weren’t welcome there. Charges were filed Wednesday.
A New Brighton man is accused of assaulting a paramedic Saturday. Johnathan Harris was found Saturday evening lying in the street in the eleven-hundred-block of Sixth Avenue. While emergency responders were taking him to the hospital, the 45-year-old grabbed the medic by the throat and wouldn’t let go until he was struck in the face. Harris and his girlfriend reportedly smoked crack and injected heroin together before a verbal argument that began the series of events. Harris is in Beaver County Jail in lieu of 100-thousand-dollars bond.
THE SEARCH IS ON IN ALIQIUPPA FOR A MAN IN CONNCTION WITH A ROBBERY. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…
WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, SEPT. 20TH, 2018
TODAY – MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 85.
TONIGHT – MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW NEAR 70.
FRIDAY – PARTLY CLOUDY. A SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM
IS POSSIBLE. HIGH – 86.
SATURDAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. SLIGHT CHANCE OF A
RAIN SHOWER. HIGH – 67.
SUNDAY – SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS MIXED. HIGH – 71.
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.
One of the great benefits of being from an area dominated by big manufacturing industries in the early twentieth century was the people that ended up coming to Beaver County in search of work. Business was booming for local steel mills and just like the hungry blast furnaces needed to be fed with more and more fuel and raw material to keep up with skyrocketing demand for the product, The factories themselves were starving for and needed more workers. Anybody who could do anything, regardless of training or background was needed and thus word spread throughout the world about the labor opportunities available in Western Pennsylvania. This led to an influx of immigrants of many different varieties settling in Beaver County. It was a perfect match. The immigrants found good work, and they brought their rich and diverse cultures with them for the benefit of the whole community. Soon churches, social clubs and even radio shows revolving around the language, culture and ethnicity of the various homelands far away sprang up in Beaver County. These outlets helped the local ethnic enclaves preserve and promote their history, tradition and significance, as well as expose their ideas and way of life to others. The result was a community in Beaver County that even today is very rich in cultural diversity. The following is an excerpt about the ethnic radio shows that aired in Beaver County is taken from from in the recently published book, Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA:
“One of the ways these various cultures were reinforced and celebrated was with weekly radio shows that aired on WBVP and WMBA and even on Kiss 106.7 F.M. All the way up through the 1990’s, one could tune in on the weekends for a heavy dose of Polkas, Italian, Greek, Croatian and Serbian music hours. In addition to the music shows, Orthodox Christmas Midnight mass from St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Aliquippa was broadcast live on the air for many years. A Christmas day broadcast on WMBA of Divine Liturgy from Holy Ghost Russian Orthodox church in Ambridge was a highly anticipated event. Even to this day, the weekly Sunday 9 A.M. mass from St. Monica Parish in Chippewa Township is broadcast live on WBVP and WMBA, a tradition that goes back to the very early days of WBVP, when the church was known as St. Mary’s and located in downtown Beaver Falls. Beaver County’s radio stations played a part in promoting and preserving the cultures and traditions that came to the area from parts elsewhere.
The Sunday Morning lineup on WMBA around 1990 was indeed a reflection not only what nationality groups were prominent in Beaver County, but also a testament to the passion and interest these immigrants had in maintaining, celebrating and promoting their heritage This was demonstrated by putting the effort in to in provide the content, funding and producing the weekly shows. Every week, the programs were recorded ahead of time at WMBA and played back on Sundays. This required a significant time commitment from everyone involved. At 8:00 A.M., WMBA aired The Italian Hour hosted by Aspinwall resident, Sal Patitucci. Patitucci would record the show on reel to reel tapes at WKPA in New Kennington and then send the weekly installments of his program out to various radio stations in the Pittsburgh area. At the time, his show also aired on WEDO in Mckeesport and WHJB in Greensburg. The Croatian hour Aired at 10 A.M. hosted by John Plesh. The Serbian Hour, hosted by George Bowes, would air at 11 A.M. and the finally, The Greek Hour would start at Noon. The Greek Hour was hosted by Presbyteria Note Taetras, wife of the pastor from the local Ambridge based Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Current State Representative Rob Matzie, was then the Sunday morning producer at WMBA and reported that he would do the commercials in English and Presbyteria Note Taetras would announce the commercials in the Greek language during that segment. Matzie anchored the weekly Sunday morning cavalcade of ethnic diversity and aired a local news report between the programs in the WMBA Studio during his career at the station, from 1987 though 1994. On Saturday afternoons during this period of time, WMBA aired a polka music show from 2 until 4 P.M. hosted by Bob Frynkewicz called “The Polka Revue”.
George Bowes, or, Bozic, as would appear on his birth certificate, was known for a successful career at WWSW in Pittsburgh, as well as outlying radio stations including WEDO in McKeesport and WLOA in Farrell. Later on, Bowes worked in politics, but to Beaver County people, he was known as the host of the Serbian Hour on WMBA.
WBVP and WWKS were no stranger to ethnic radio programming either. One of the mainstays of the line up was “The Croatian Hour”, which aired on WWKS, Kiss 106.7 F.M. The program was hosted by Eddie Sabolic and it aired from 10 A.M. to Noon from the late 1960’s up through the mid 1980’s. For a brief period of time in the eighties WBVP aired Sal Patitucci’s Italian Hour broadcast as well. In more recent days, on Sunday mornings, WBVP aired a popular Italian music program hosted by New Castle native Angie Augustine and polka shows that were produced at first by Harry Golmont and later on after the WBVP and WMBA merger, in 2000, by Bob Frynkewicz.”
“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
