For me, Christmas on the radio has been very different over the years. Early on, when I was just beginning my career, I worked at WCLT-AM/FM in Newark, Ohio - a small town of 50,000 people located about 30 miles east of Columbus. At the time, I was single and living in a place where I knew no one. Station management needed someone among the staff who would be willing to work Christmas Eve - someone who was single - someone with no family commitments or plans - someone with the least to lose. I was their guy. It was a very lonely, snowy Christmas Eve as I worked late, overseeing the station’s operations.
Some years later, I was working at WFYR-FM in Chicago (a station that no longer exists). It was my dream job and I was making a very good salary. That year, on my last show before Christmas, I brought plenty of gifts to the station and with one left over, was even able to say “thanks” to the parking garage attendant in the bowels of the Nationwide Building, where I parked my car daily. I drove off that Christmas Eve to my home in the suburbs, where my wife and two young boys were waiting. Things had changed substantially from that earlier Christmas in Newark.
For the past 13 years, I have worked with Jay Hamilton doing a morning show. During those years together, we have survived three different Radio markets (Richmond, Cleveland and Little Rock) and have also weathered the normal hirings and firings that being in Radio brings. Early on, Jay and I started a tradition which includes a small gift exchange on the morning of our last show before Christmas and a healthy serving of Mimosas: orange juice with champagne. Then when our program is over at 10 AM (and I’m not embarrassed to say it) we exchange a yearly hug and wish each other a Merry Christmas.
It’s always at that moment I realize what this holiday means to me. I’m thankful for a great partner to work with. I’m thankful I’m healthy enough to have made it through another year. I’m thankful we have a job! And, I’m thankful that job is still in Radio.
The best part about working on the Radio during the holidays is the sense you get that you’re in some small way, responsible for making part of it happen. It’s one thing to hear Christmas music on your car radio while you’re driving to the mall to do some shopping. It’s quite another feeling to know you are the one who is choosing the songs and playing them for the thousands of people listening. I see my job on the Radio as a gift and never take it for granted.
The holidays can be a hard time, for so many reasons. There are people out there crying out for companionship, angry, and lost. Nothing is worse than being alone during the holidays.
Yet, despite those detractors who would criticize the state of Radio today, it has always been there with a voice and a song to lessen the pain of the people who need it most.
When I look at the big picture, I can’t help but feel good that I have been a small part of it all.
