Bath NY radio alumni remembers Gene Burns, celebrates Dave Taylor Smith, and holds hope for the next chapter
A COLUMN by Steve Sprague,
It was November 1962 when WFSR (”Friendly Steuben Radio”) was first switched on, giving the “Queen City of the Southern Tier” its first voice. It’s meager 500-watt AM radio signal – limited to “daytime” hours that shrunk in the winter — was obviously limited to a comparatively tiny geographical area. But it was ours.
I was in high school barely a year later when I was asked to work part-time by manager Ralph Hager, alongside legendary newsman and later talk-show host, Gene Burns. Uncertain after graduation, I stayed at the station until I enlisted in the military more than a year later.
In addition to turning on the transmitter at 6 a.m. and talking my way through breakfasts and the village’s job and school prep hours, I broadcast Little League games, store openings, county fairs and once weekly “Koffee Klatch” live broadcasts from the original Chat-A-Whyle.
I left town but that local focus stayed with the station. Ownership changed frequently but the focus was always Bath, Hammondsport, Savona, Avoca. The advertising that fed the station was limited in geography, even when the primary broadcast was moved to an FM band with greater reach.
I stayed away for almost 60 years before coming home to retire in Bath. Things had changed radically in that time. The daily newspapers became national in focus with a smattering of local stories and token regard for small town events. And radio had been captured by hundreds of “regional owners” who would broadcast automated music or single-focus programming.
To my surprise, my local station had resisted that wave. WVIN-FM still woke me to the voice of a local morning host talking about Bath and the neighborhood where I lived. It was refreshing and a surprise to learn that voice was also from my past.
Dave Taylor Smith, host and wake-up guy since 1988, was a colleague way back in the 70’s when he hosted the overnight show on WENY radio in Elmira and I was one of the news guys there. Dave shared time with John Scott, also a WENY alumni who sadly passed in 2022. I wasted no time getting together with them.
By then, WVIN had also added automated adult/contemporary music and remote hosts for most of the day’s broadcast but Dave and the owners at that time ensured the station was still very engaged with the communities it served. Football, basketball, soccer games were broadcast religiously. Local events and causes always had a voice.
In 1992, Dave helped organize the annual Tyrtle Beach (properly spelled) charity event to raise funds for needy Steuben County kids. Today, that fund has raised $925,000. It was still “local” radio and intensely so.
Sources suggest things may change dramatically with the recently-announced change of ownership. Based in Warsaw, just an hour’s drive from Bath, will need to fit multiple counties and communities into their programming. The “Queen City” will be just one more signal.
The new owners insist the station will still be committed to local causes but “local” now remains in question. Those few hours of intense identity for Bath and nearby are virtually impossible to fit into a multi-county programming schedule. Dave has decided not to join the new owners.
It’s unfair to pre-judge the changes ahead. But it’s safe to say Bath will feel it. The station office and studio here in Bath will most likely close and all operations will be in Warsaw. Nostalgia again. The office is next to the AM tower that broadcast my programs so long ago.
Hope springs eternal.
