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Born in the City of Brotherly Love and raised on soft pretzels, Philly cheese steaks and Temple University, I grew up listening to AM rock-n-roll radio back in the days of great AM Top 40 radio stations like WIBG, WFIL, WABC, WLS, CKLW & WMID, all of which inspired me to get into radio.
In the summer of 1971, my dream of being on the radio became a reality when I was hired by WBUX in Doylestown, PA. The radio station was literally located in the middle of a cow pasture. There was a sign on the wall that said “WBUX plays much more MOO Sick” - a reference to the fact that the station was indeed located in a cow pasture.
It wasn’t long before my career in radio became like the sitcom TV lyrics of WKRP, from “town to town and up and down the dial.” I spent the next several years at WAMS Wilmington, Delaware, WMID Atlantic City, New Jersey, WLEE Richmond, Virginia, WNDE Indianapolis, Indiana, and WAKY Louisville, Kentucky. In 1980 I was promoted from Disc Jockey to Program Director of WKJJ-FM Louisville, better known as KJ-100!
Then my programming career took me from Louisville to half-way across the country to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and then back east to Rochester, New York; Detroit, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and back to Rochester, New York.
When I was 12 years old I dreamed of owning a radio station. Throughout my corporate career, I often thought of that boyhood dream and over the years I kicked the tires of stations for sale in several towns. However, none of the situations appealed to me until I came to Bloomsburg to check out AM 930, which was for sale by the local newspaper, Press Enterprise. The station was "dark," meaning it was off the air.
Bloomsburg was everything I ever wanted in a community. A town rich in radio history, a college town, a river town, a town with a strong sense of community, a town with good schools, and a town offering a great quality of life. So, my wife Nancy and I formed the Columbia Broadcasting Company and purchased the old AM 930 WCNR. The station's assets did not include a tower, so we literally rebuilt “The Bloomsburg Station” from the ground up as News Radio 930 WHLM.
With the success of WHLM AM came the opportunity to bring back WHLM FM. In the spring of 2006, we formed a new corporation, Columbia FM, Inc. We purchased the assets of WKAB 103.5 FM in Berwick and restored the WHLM FM call sign.
Today, the Columbia Broadcasting Company empire has grown to include, News Radio 930 WHLM, 94.7 and 104.3, Classic Rock and Roll 103.5 WHLM FM and 100.9 and WHLM.com.
I am proud of the stations that we have built and even more proud of the people we have hired to staff these stations.
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Norman has lived in Bloomsburg since 1988, moving to the area after being named the General Manager of Magee's Main Street Inn, which he managed until 1997. From 1999-2001, he built and managed the Windsor Heights Golf Community in Buckhorn. From 2001 until the end of 2005, Norman managed the Danville Elks. After a short and clearly disastrous job in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Norman became the General Manager of the Pine Barn Inn in Danville in April of 2007.
He's had a lifelong interest in sports. Growing up in the Boston area, he has followed the Red Sox all of his life, and was a Boston Patriots season ticket holder in the 1960's. In his years at the Cornell Hotel School, Norman served as the sports editor and reporter for a Sunday newspaper in Ithaca, New York.
Norman began his fledgling radio career as a frequent guest on the Doug Farley show on WHLM. He joined WHLM as the Monday Buzz guest in 2002, and became a regular on the Morning Buzz in the spring of 2004.
Norman and his wife Lisa have four daughters; Adrienne, Hannah, Zoe, and Mary, and reside in the old Buckhorn Hotel in the center of beautiful Buckhorn.
Norman's Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
1 medium to large onion
2 peppers, any color
2 cloves of garlic
1 pound of corn
Olive or vegetable oil
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 can (20-25oz) or jar of tomato or spaghetti sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chicken or vegetable bouillon or a couple of bouillon cubes
2 6 oz cans tomato or vegetable juice
2 15 oz cans beans, kidney or black – just about any canned bean will do
Directions:
1. In a heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil until hot and add corn. Cook over medium high heat until the corn is browned but not burnt. Turn off and set aside.
2. Dice the onion and peppers to a medium dice. Take a good size pot, at least 6 quarts, and add some olive oil. Sauté the onions and peppers until soft but not browned.
3. Mince the garlic and add to the pot. Add more than 2 cloves if you are a “garlic” person. Be careful not to burn the garlic. It makes it quite bitter.
4. After the peppers and onions are soft, add all of the ingredients, including the corn, except the juice and the beans. Cook for a while, maybe 20 minutes, until it is really hot or simmering. Stir occasionally so that the sauce doesn’t scorch. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.
5. Open and rinse the beans, add to the chili. Cook another 20 minutes, simmering but not boiling.
6. The final step is to adjust the thickness. If you like thick chili, leave out the juice. The thinner you like it, the more juice you add.
7. Serve with a loaf of crusty bread or tortilla chips.
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It's hard to believe I've come full cycle in my career.
Growing up in a house on the Rappahannock Farm in Mt. Pleasant Township.... exploring the world and returning to Bloomsburg. Back to where I started from!!
The career began while I was a senior at Central Columbia High School on Old Berwick Road.... when I was hired to “play the hits” at 1280 / WBRX in Berwick.
Yeah.... we were using 45's & 33's. CD's weren't even in development back in the day.
From there... to the Wyoming Valley and 980 / WILK playing the hits on the weekend.
Here's where it gets interesting. All during this time my father, Cary Williams, was doing the same thing at the original 930 / WCNR, today's 930 / WHLM. The Darlington family lured me back from Wilkes-Barre. My Dad would wake up the Susquehanna Valley from 6 until 10 AM.... then yours truly was on the air from 10 AM thru 1 PM. It's very unusual for a father / son team to be at a radio station... especially in a small community.
In the mid – 70's I got pretty serious about the news business and was hired at 1290 / WNBF in Binghamton. Oh yeah.... the News Director was originally from Bloomsburg and worked at the original WCNR. See a pattern developing here.
There were high points… and low points… a “box walk” along the way… but after bouncing around in radio news… I found a reporter / anchor job in television in the Binghamton market.
It was at Channel 40 / WICZ – TV, which at the time, was the NBC affiliate. I eventually became News Director… hired people when a replacement was warranted… and fired people when the economy went south in the late ‘70’s. Then I packed the bags… I headed to Kearney, Nebraska to really hone my skills as a one – man – band for Channel 13 / KHGI – TV… one of the four stations of the NTV Network.
It was an interesting 18–months as I saw people exit the door every Friday and never return. Did some reporting, anchoring and for a time, the news department’s assignment editor. I turned out to be one of those who left on a Friday and never returned.
Hey… I’ve never been to Southwest Georgia. Let’s go there!!!
So the movers came to the house I'm on my way to Channel 10 / WALB – TV in Albany. Decent market, plenty of news and as the lead anchor… a very big fish in the 150th television market. But, when one gets bored.... one gets antsy… especially after 9–years in the pressure cooker of TV news, day in and day out. So the decision was made to either go to Washington, DC or Central Florida.
The Space Coast won out in 1991 working in Orlando radio news until I got the initial call from the Root Company and 1150 / WNDB - AM. Stayed with them for 18 – months… until “the call” came from International Speedway Corporation’s Motor Racing Network. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was coming on line… and I was tasked to be MRN Radio's Assistant General Manager.... and produce national broadcasts while traveling the USA on someone else’s dime.
T’was a hoot for nearly seven years… then Earnhardt’s death… and 9-11 changed everything.
I needed to get back in the trenches as a reporter and tell the story. Did some TV producing for Central Florida News 13 for a year… then got the call to return to 1150 / WNDB – AM under the ownership of Black Crow Media. I was there for seven years until the economy forced Black Crow to eliminate the news department.
By that time... was appearing regularly on the HLN's Nancy Grace Show and started a couple of businesses along the way.
MrNews Productions is an audio / video company... that branched off into the internet in the spring of '09 with the website www.HalifaxAreaNewsWatch.com. After being told “I better get a real job...” Joe Reilly and his wife, Nancy, hired me in the summer of 2010 to be the News Director at 930 / WHLM.
Always admired Joe for what he's done since 2001 with a heritage frequency and call sign.
So this is where we come full circle in life.
Getting back to, literally, where it all began.
And, yes, you can come home..........
Questions / comments
MrNews70@yahoo.com
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When you think of local sports here in Columbia County up pops the name Jim Doyle. He is a local sports icon spending his entire career serving the sporting community of the Susquehanna Valley.
A 1968 graduate of Berwick High School and a 1972 graduate of Bloomsburg State College, now Bloomsburg University.
Jim started his career as a sportscaster on the Berwick AM station WBRX in 1967. Then in 1969 Jim made his move to the WHLM stations here in Bloomsburg where he has been a sports anchor ever since.
Jim Doyle a.k.a The Voice of Bloomsburg University football and men’s basketball is also the voice of area high school football and basketball.
Over the years there have been awards and honors. In 1993 Jim received PSAC’s George Heslip Media Award. In 1997 he was inducted into the Bloomsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1999 Jim was inducted into the Bernie Ramonoski Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Also in ’99, he was honored by being inducted into the Berwick Area Sports Hall of Fame.
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Bio
He is known as the “color guy” teamed up with Jim Doyle on the Bloomsburg University and Berwick High School football broadcasts. His area of expertise is adding analysis, perspective and maybe a quip or two.
Andy graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with two Bachelors’ and a Master’s degree. He somehow manage do to all this in just the four scholarship years provided by the prestigious Ivy League institution. This guy’s no dummy!
At the age of 22, he became head football coach of Southern Columbia in an era when the school board considered dropping the beleaguered football program. In his first season, 1980, the team endured yet another winless season with a record of 0 - 10. Over the next four years, Ulicny took the football program from the throes of a 26 game losing streak to a 12-1 Eastern Conference Championship and was named by the Reading Eagle as the Anthracite Coach of the Year.
Andy has been inducted into both the Bernie Romanaski and the Northern Anthracite Hall of Fames for his contributions to regional sports as a player, coach and broadcaster.
Andy still resides in his hometown of Shenandoah with his wife Debra. They have one lovely daughter, Nicole, currently in the Philadelphia area. Ulicny still teaches English as well as some World History at Southern Columbia where he serves as Language Arts Department Chair.
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I was raised on Long Island, New York in the 60s and was exposed to the greatest radio ever…WMCA, WABC and WINS. I loved the personalities and the music. I would buy every 45 record that made the charts. This love of the greatest era of music is still with me today. I also appreciated and grew to love the music of earlier eras…the 50s and the big band era.
I went to a business college in Jacksonville, Florida, but I still wanted to pursue a career in radio. I ended up at a small station in North Carolina where I stayed for two years, but I wanted to get closer to home, so I sent tapes out to stations in the Northeast and I took a job at a Carlisle, Pa station. As things happen sometimes in this business, the station eliminated my shift in a cost cutting measure, and I once again sent out tapes and ended up at WHLM 106.5 and 550AM in 1974 and until the end of last year, that is where I remained during all of their incarnations. When a Selinsgrove company bought the station in 1999 and dropped those legendary calls, things weren't quite the same.
I am happy to be "back at home" at WHLM playing the music I have always loved.
Besides radio and great oldies music I enjoy travel of any kind, especially train travel. Since 1990 I have traveled every Amtrak route, some several times. There is nothing like traveling the country by train in a sleeper. I have also been on many Canadian routes. I also am an avid walker, usually doing five miles or more a day.
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Just call me “Info-Girl.” My interest in the radio environment started at Mansfield University when I was just a college student trying to find my way. I found a home in Mansfield at 89.5 FM WNTE “The Giant.” I came to Bloomsburg, and WHLM, in May of 2007 after graduating with a Mass Communications Broadcasting degree..and I’ve made a home for myself here too. I love Bloomsburg, and I love working for WHLM. Everyday there is something new and “interesting” that makes it all worth it.
I was born and raised in Elmira, NY. Family and friends come before anything else. The simple things that life throws out are what I find most enjoyable. I love being outdoors hiking and relaxing.
Currently I live in Buckhorn with my husband, Steve, and our puppy Maggie.
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After spending the first 18 years of my life in New Hampshire, I came to Pennsylvania and I don't think I'll ever leave.
I attended Mansfield University and spent three years working in multiple student organizations, including WNTE-FM, MU's student radio station. Despite my desire to work in radio, I ended up at a small newspaper in western Pa., where I spent a little over a year.
A mix of good fortune and good timing has landed me at WHLM, where every day is a little bit different and a lot of fun.
I am currently living in Bloomsburg in my very neat and organized apartment.
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I’ve harbored a love for both music and broadcasting from a very early age, picking out notes on the family’s antique reed organ with one hand while pumping the bellows with the other. By the age of 8 I was recording “radio shows” on a hand-held cassette deck, complete with news, commercials, and music captured from various sources (MTV was a favorite). My first exposure to broadcast-capable equipment ended in near disaster when, in a misguided attempt to boost the signal power on my project board-based AM transmitter, I connected the 1.5volt battery leads to a 220volt wall socket, promptly causing the transistors to detonate with a frightening, but mostly harmless *pop*. The project board out of commission, I put my broadcast aspirations on hold for several years, subsisting on a diet of seasonal novelty songs and “Fractured Farley Tales” from Doug Farley and the WHLM morning show during the mid-90’s.
Near the end of a successful High School theatrical and choral career at Columbia County Christian School, I had the good fortune to be tapped as one of a couple “strapping young lads” needed to help the family of a new student move some equipment at their business. The student turned out to be David Reilly, son of Joe and Nancy Reilly. The moving job turned out to be none other than the initial rebuild of the WCNR assets into the old WHLM studios, soon to be reborn as The New 930 WHLM. When the station went on the air in the fall of 2001 (playing nothing but Christmas music weeks before even Halloween) I could proudly tell my classmates: “I helped put that back together.” (Incidentally, the part of the year during which we switch to 24hour Christmas music still puts me in a state of inexplicable glee.)
Over the next year or so I developed a relationship with the Reillys and the station, first working as a local engineer for the Phillies games (before the advent of the satellite-automated system) and later as a producer for local high school and Bloomsburg University sports and various remote broadcasts. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing in the long development and rebuilding of what had been a dead station into the local powerhouse we see today, and witnessing the move from antiquated tape machines to fully digital …nearly everything.
I plan to keep helping everybody at WHLM build the station into an integral and vibrant part of the community for many years to come.
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As a former Selinsgrove resident I miss those drives up Route 11 to indulge in lunch at Harry’s Grille, and especially the deep fried Oreos at the Bloomsburg Fair. Bloomsburg’s my kind of town… even if it is technically the “only incorporated town in Pennsylvania.”
With that pandering out of the way, I hope you won’t object when I tell you I’m a huge Ohio State and Cleveland Browns fan. I was born and bred in Massillon, Ohio, which is the only place I know that has football fans and programs to rival the likes of Southern Columbia or Berwick.
Currently, I’m living just outside of downtown Harrisburg with my wife (also an Ohio transplant), and my burning desire to one day adopt a “Puggle.” As you might guess, it’s a cross between a Pug and a Beagle. From the Burg I’m able to keep my fingers on the pulse of state news and pass it on to you.
Not only do I enjoy the fact that there’s rarely a dull moment under the capitol dome, but it allows me to continue to work with my first love… radio.
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My first taste of radio was back in 1986 when I was a spotter for Jim Doyle during sporting events. I then learned to work the board and dabbled in the Friday Night Scoreboard Show. Then I thought being on-air would be cool and went to work for the AM station Berwick, again no money. Tried to get in the sales end of radio but heard the same thing over and over, you're too young and no experience. I went on to do other sales and management positions for various companies until I found Joe and Nancy. We were in the middle of a flood in 2004 and I called Nancy on Sunday morning and said "I'm your salesperson please stop looking". Of course she thought I was nuts for calling on a Sunday and in the middle of a flood but things have worked out great.
I reside in Millville with my beautiful wife Ronette, two gorgeous kids Nick and Olivia, and our family pet named Stewey.
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If you're reading this, you need a hobby. But, if you must know…here it goes.
Raised in Bloomsburg. Joined the Marine Corp in 1968 and ended up doing a tour in Vietnam buzzing around the friendly skies in a helicopter.
Came back to Bloomsburg after being honorably discharged from the USMC. Drove a truck for a while, ran a carpet cleaning business a few years, sold sporting goods on the road a few years…then got into the insurance business in 1978.
In 1982 I started my own insurance agency, which grew into a wholesale surplus lines brokerage/surety bond underwriting company. I was president of this for fourteen years and sold my interest in 1996.
Then came my completely crazy years. I had previously played in bands in the 70's and always was writing songs, particularly on a comedy vein. So, I began playing music in a couple of duo's then as a solo comedy artist. I played tons of venues mostly in PA and NY. From 2001 till 2006 I recorded 7 albums of my own songs. My album "Spread It On Thick" recorded at Saturation Acres with a great back up band got lots of airplay and is available all over the internet…I-Tunes, Amazon, Rhapsody…many many more. I hit comedy charts in Australia…ok, I'll brag a little. I topped the comedy charts there for a time...
Ok, so the traveling, the nighttime gigs, the carrying heavy equipment up stairs had to end. So here I am at WHLM. Give me a call here, we can have lunch, discuss radio and maybe I'll talk you into running some radio commercials. Ya never know.
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A long, long time ago, I became aware of radio while listening to my favorite Top 40 hits on WABC, WIBG and WFIL while living in Philadelphia and later in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. As a music major at Bucks County Community College, I started hanging around the college radio station, WTYL, helping with logs and broadcasting the news. That's when my life changed – I met Joe Reilly – one of the D.J.'s on the station! I became his biggest fan and have spent the rest of my life following him from town- to- town and up and down the dial.
In 2001, we returned to Pennsylvania and celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary one week before we signed on our first radio child, News Radio 930 WHLM. We spent years working toward this dream of owning our own station and then in 2006, the opportunity to purchase (adopt) 103.5 FM presented itself. Believe me, if I didn't think that Joe Reilly knew what he was doing I'd be concerned, but his track record speaks for itself. It's been a lot of fun and we've truly been blessed with a beautiful community to live in as well as a wonderful group of co-workers who also believe in Joe Reilly's dream.
As Co-owner/Business Manager of both radio stations, my life is very busy and interesting. I am a member of the Bloomsburg Bi-Centennial Choir and the Bloomsburg Christian Church. My greatest claim-to-fame is that I am the proud mother of David Joseph (DJ) Reilly, 19, a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he is majoring in percussion performance and audio recording. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 2006 and has big dreams for a future in music.
The support of friends over the years continues to be one of our greatest treasures. We have enjoyed having many visitors check out our stations and “the only town in Pennsylvania – Bloomsburg.”
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I started at WHLM in March 2006 as a marketing/sales representative. I loved meeting so many different people and helping them to promote their businesses and events. I left for a very short time late 2007 and am happy to be back again. It feels like coming home, like family. Joe and Nancy are great to work for and with.
I am married to my awesome husband and friend, John. We live near Elysburg with our cat; Missy. When we’re not working, we enjoy flea marketing, antiquing, dancing to the oldies, movie going, spending time with my son Kevin and playing cards and games with our friends.
“Dance Like No One is Watching” - Irene
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High School Basketball
Heard On
News Radio 930, 94.7, 104.3
Berwick's 1280
Friday 2/24/12
Danville vs Montoursville
Girls'
5:40 PM
Danville vs Shamokin
Boys'
7:10 PM
(Both @ Shikellamy)
BU Basketball
Heard On
News Radio 930, 94.7, 104.3
Berwick's 1280
Wednesday 2/22/12
vs. East Stroudsburg
Pregame 5:10 PM
Women 5:30 PM
Men 7:30 PM
Saturday 2/25/12
vs. Millersville
Pregame 12:40
Women 1:00 PM
Men 3:00 PM
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