Rick Vanderwielen 1974
I was one of the jocks who never really cared much about the 'radio station' until one day when I thought "Hey, this might be fun". So I contacted Mr. Fraser (a great guy) who at first said, "You're too late, you should have been taking this class your sophomore year!", but he relented and I soon worked the morning shift where upon I uttered my first words... "good morning". After high school and a quick stint on the Purdue JV basketball team, I was hired at WXUS and work all weekend, rotating shifts with pat Moore. (6 hours on, 12 off, back for 6). We worked in a cornfield, transmitted with a 3K signal and had to break the ice in the toilet to get it to flush. after two years of hanging around there playing elevator music and feeding the cats, I was hired at WLFI as a booth announcer. (they really had them in '76) then promptly got fired for making fun of one of the graphical artists. In 1978, I ended up at WASK, which at that time boasted a 'million dollar' studio. My graduation from Purdue forced my hand... should I stay in radio or make 5 times as much as an engineer for GE? thus ended my career. however, the experience of WJEF and working with Bill Fraser was a rewarding experience. The skill of talking served me well as I retired from integrator.com, inc. at age 44, a company I started in 1985. Along the way I was named as 1 of the 100 most influential businessmen in Indiana in 1997. Never underestimate the gift of gab!
In 2002, I started HomeTown Television Corporation, a leased channel on the Insight Cable system in Noblesville, Indiana. Visit www.htv19.com to see more.