By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
It’s been half a century since what is now WQEL first went on the air on April 1, 1964. Although that original air day was a simple simulcast with AM sister station WBCO, WQEL now leads the way with a strong focus on local FM broadcasting for Crawford County and North Central Ohio.
“First of all, Crawford County is very fortunate to have its own dedicated radio station with the way radio is going,” said General Manager Debbi Gifford. “For the county, it is huge. Where else can you go and get local high school sports, listen to local athletes – find out what the county commissioners are doing, even on a good day? Quite frankly, I can’t imagine Crawford County without it.”
To celebrate its 50 years on the air, WQEL, part of the Bucyrus Radio Group, is hosting a 50th anniversary party Saturday night at Dillinger’s Event Center in Bucyrus on Washington Square.
“It’s a chance for people to say thanks for being part of our community and hopefully a chance to catch up with former employees,” said Will Beard, host of Will and the Morning Show and brand manager for WQEL.
Saturday’s celebration is open to the public and only requires a donation to the Humane Society Serving Crawford County as admission. That donation can be cash or product, such as dog or cat food, cat box litter or any product used by the Humane Society in its care of animals.
Humane Society staff will be at the event throughout the evening. Food will be served beginning at 6 p.m. and the local band Cellar Dwellers will take the stage at 8:30 to provide music throughout the rest of the evening.
WQEL, 92.7 FM had pretty humble beginnings. Owners Tom and LaVonne Moore had started the AM parent, WBCO 1540, less than two years earlier. Those first days of local FM radio were simply simulcasts of what was being broadcast on the AM station.
Gradually programming evolved, as did the station call letters from WBCO-FM to WBCQ and now WQEL. While programming and music format has changed over the years, one thing has not and that is the station’s dedication to everything local.
“Local,” said Beard when asked what he wanted the station’s reputation with its listeners. “Somebody they know, somebody that has been in their community and has been there.”
Beard came to WQEL in 1999.
Jim Radke has been with the local radio stations since 1978. Perhaps best known as the play-by-play voice for local sports broadcasts of high school football, basketball, baseball and softball games, Radke has worn many hats in his 36 years in Crawford County. He started as a morning DJ, serves as sports director, program director, production director, co-director for traffic and assistant to the engineer.
“Probably the sports, the play-by-play,” Radke said about what he enjoyed most.
He recalled the days when shelves of 45s lined the halls outside the studios. That’s just one of the many changes he witnessed at WQEL and radio over the years.
“Just the equipment, basically 8-track tapes to everything on computers,” Radke said of the myriad of developments in technology. “We’ve gone from playing record to digital.”
Radke said he hopes listeners remember one thing about WQEL and the Bucyrus Radio group over the years.
“That we were there for the community,” Radke said. “Whether it was music, entertainment or disaster news, we’ve been there.”
Along the way the station has expanded its programming to include local sports programming that isn’t relegated to games broadcasts. Davey Jones and Friday Nite Phoneboard has been a staple on the air following high school football and basketball games for 39 years. In addition to talk shows featuring local high school athletes and coaches, WQEL is also the local home for the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Ohio State football and Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball.
But it is not a sports only station. In addition to fresh daily news content, the current music format is classic hits and played daily on Will and the Morning Show, Jane on the Lunch Counter Show and the evening drive with DJ Jim Hahn.
“I think anytime you change a format, you pick up people who like that format, but you lose people that liked the old format,” Gifford said. “Radio as a whole industry needs to be ahead of the curve as far as technology. That’s especially true locally. And radio needs to learn how not to be its own worst enemy.”
Gifford has worked at the station for all of its owners, from Tom and LaVonee Moore to Mike and Donna Laipply to current owner Saga Communications. Regardless of who she answers to, Gifford says one focus and one goal must be paramount for WQEL.
“What it means to me at this time right now in the position I have is to carry on what Tom and LaVonne’s vision was to provide good local radio to our community.”