A Few Friendly Words

I have to admit, I've jumped on the bandwagon.
I used to play Scrabble on my smartphone.  However, I've deferred to my wife, who has chosen to play words with Friends.
I'm still trying to decipher the difference between the two.
I can get multiple games going with several people.
I'm still trying to get the hang of it all.  It's addictive.
Plus the strategy of creating words in the right places to get the most points possible.  This is where I need work.
I've also learned that some people I do play with are in real life, notoriously poor spellers.  Yet, somehow, their misspellings (at least that's how I see them) turn out to be real words.
And yet the best I can do sometimes turns out to be one to maybe three letters at best.  Plus there's all those rules about putting words against each other.
But every once in a while, I surprise even myself with a humdinger that made a then-girlfriend ten years ago stalk off in a huff after a word I used garnered about 50 points.
The word...P-I-X-Y.
Oh, and this was the old-school board version of Scrabble.  Didn't have them newfangled smartyphones in them days, Sonny.
We agreed at the beginning of the game that a Webster's Elementary Edition Dictionary would be the official source for determining whether or not a word could be used.
I spelled the word and saw her jaw drop and her eyebrows rise.
"What?  NO!" was her response.
I quickly looked up the word and presented the open page to her.
She scowled and quickly left the room.  She didn't come back.
Yep, I can sure pick 'em, can't I?
Not the words, the women in my life prior to meeting the woman who would become my wife.
And yes, I've played my wife too.
She's managed to beat me all but one time, but I don't mind at all.
And she lost well on that one occasion.
Probably because my victory was a skin-of-my-teeth margin.
All the more reason to do better.


"Ken's Korner" will go on hiatus until Sunday, January 6th.

"The Buzz" in Pottstown

DISCLAIMER:  The views and opinions in the following are strictly that of the author.

There's been a lot of 'buzz' over the past couple years in a small community nestled in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, about half the distance between Reading and Philadelphia.
It actually has a little claim of fame to it...Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates was born and raised there.
Notwithstanding, Pottstown is a community of about 22,000.  Slightly larger than the city of Butler, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh suburb out of which I'm based.
Like Butler, it has seen better days.  A struggling Main Street that is starting to show signs of recovery and even gentrification.  A tax base that has dwindled with the demise of smokestack industry.
But still strong, nonetheless.
But this isn't Daryl Hall's life story.  Nor the tale of two cities.  It's the tale of two radio stations.
Despite the size of Butler, we still have a retail base strong enough to support two AM stations and an FM station, due to the diligence of our dedicated and experienced sales staff.
And so does Pottstown.
Both towns are unique in the sense that they are sandwiched between two larger radio markets that also happen to have television stations.  Butler is smack dab between Youngstown, Ohio and Pittsburgh.
In Butler, our radio stations are still strong.  We have to do a lot of high-visibility off-air functions to remind people we're their local radio station, but those functions still contribute to our bottom line.
Three years ago this month, WPAZ AM 1370 in Pottstown, the flagship station of Great Scott Broadcasting,  went dark.  That is, off the air indefinitely.
Company president Mitchell Scott, whose parents founded the station in 1951, said the station was starting to lose money and immediately put it up for sale.
The reaction from the local community was overwhelming.  A group of people came together and raised money through a series of local concerts to try and purchase the station.
They managed to scrape enough together to provide a down payment.  Another company, Four Rivers Broadcasting, agreed to carry the paper for the balance.  These efforts managed to purchase WPAZ from GSB for $50,000.
Not a bad price for an AM station.
It went back on the air a year later.
As time passed, it became evident what was happening here.
The "WPAZ Preservation Society" became intent on operating it as a non-profit, non-commercial entity, and opening it to the community.
Or simply put, public access.
Ever watch a public access channel on cable?  Better still, ever watch a show on public access and wonder how some people get their faces on TV?
Now think of this in a radio forum.
Yeah.
Uh-oh, I said to myself.  This might not last long.
Most of the airstaff was made of volunteers, who were more or less allowed to play what they themselves wanted to hear, rather than respond to the majority of the community.
And those in charge were surprised that they couldn't get anyone to advertise on their station, even going so far as to accuse Main Street of turning its back on the station.
I'll also point out that this little station used to be heard in just about every Main Street business.  Because they played what advertisers were willing to support.
A call letter change earlier this year to WBZH "1370 the Buzz" did practically nothing to reverse the station's fortunes, despite a shift to more Adult Contemporary music during the daytime, though with still a volunteer airstaff.
The damage had been done.  Off the air for a year by its previous owner, a lack of practical radio business experience at the helm under the new owners, and no programming direction all but guaranteed this little station's demise.
A great many factors went into play that reduced this little powerhouse to as much significance as a birthday candle.
WBZH went dark again last month, after being $35,000 in payment arrears to its noteholder.
Fortunately, the WPAZ call letters are parked in a safe place, and can be reassigned.
Even members of the Scott family have expressed interest in getting this little station back.
To whomever winds up with WPAZ, be ready to roll up your sleeves and do some recovery work yourself, because it will take a hands-on manager to get it done.
And for Heaven's sake, listen to your community.  Not the vocal minority, but those very active in the community.  You know who I mean.



NEXT WEEK:  Friendly words

Christmas Cheer...?

NOTE:  The views and opinions in the following column are strictly that of the author.


This time of year, we hear of radio stations programming all-Christmas music, most often concurrent with the start of the holiday shopping season, best known as Black Friday.
Our three-station group is no exception.  We've started the process of integrating holiday music into our own playlists.
However, it never ceases to amaze me how many songs still find their way onto playlists that just make me wonder if these songs were intentionally written to kill the Christmas spirit?
If you ever want to know how to torture me, lock me in a room, tie me to a chair and put a said of headphones on my head.  Play non-stop Muppets Christmas music in one ear, and non-stop Chipmunks Christmas music in the other.
I will likely be dead in minutes.
Cause of death:  liquified brain.
But these are tracks aren't the only ones that are enough to make me cringe.
"The Christmas Shoes" is one.  ANY Christmas song by Red Sovine is another.
And...some of you will likely hate me for this one.
"Happy Christmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.
I don't really hate it...I personally have mixed feelings over it.  It was one of my paternal grandfather's favorites, and it's a favorite of my wife as well.
While John and his completely talentless wife do wish the listener a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, they kind of lay a guilt trip on you for being happy.
"What have you done,"  "I hope you had fun", "the world is so wrong."
Hey, I know it's John and Yoko's thing.  They've been recording protest songs from before the official Beatles' dissolution until John's 1980 assassination.
They're reminding us of those not as fortunate as we.  There are many.  We get it.
Hey John...we're willing to give peace a chance.  But you're not leaving our consciences at peace.  Kind of a Catch 22, wouldn't you agree?
But I digress.  Only because I have to.
My mother reminded me why on Thanksgiving.
I had brought up my wife's 40th birthday that weekend, and my mom had said her own 40th didn't bother her any.  Not even 50.
60 did.  I was not prepared for the answer I received when I asked why.
"Because the people you love start dying," she said.
Friends.  Extended family members.  You name it.
Sadly, my mother has experienced this beginning at the age of 28, starting with the death of my maternal grandmother at 54 of cancer in 1977.  My maternal grandfather died of a stroke a few months shy of a decade later.  Then there were others.
At 43, many of those close to me have passed on.
The point of all this is, some day, we will be alone too.
Not a fun way to be at Christmastime.
As we grow older, our friends and family will die.  Even our friends that we may make in the assisted living facility will someday pass on.
And it makes me think that someday, I too will leave this world and leave my wife and daughter behind.
All the more reason to cherish them and make the most of the time I have with them.
Pause to think about those you know who are without family this time of year.
And reach out to them if you can.
Don't put off what you can do today.


NEXT WEEK:  Shop till ya Drop