Block party toasts WDEV’s 90-year on-air run

July 22, 2021  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Lower Stowe Street is closed off for WDEV's 90th anniversary block party on Saturday, June 17. Audience members filled a seating area and milled about to check out exhibits with stories from the station's history along with free music CDs and videos, cake, bagels and ice cream. Photo by Gordon Miller

Farmer Dave waves during 'Music to Go to the Dump By" with (seated l to r) Jack Donovan, Ken Squier and Brian Harwood; standing are station manager Steve Cormier (left) and Lee Kittell. Photo by Gordon Miller

If the morning broadcast sounded like a conversation between old friends, it's because it was. Ken Squier and Brian Harwood. Photo by Gordon Miller

Former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas attended to kick off the morning broadcast. He mingled with the audience members for awhile as well. Photo by Gordon Miller

A live broadcast gets a live audience set up on Stowe Street in front of the WDEV offices. Former station announcer Tom Beardsley (center) takes in part of the show while he awaits his turn on-air. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Members of the Minter-Goodman family visit with WDEV's Ken Squier. Clockwise top left: David Goodman, host of "The Vermont Conversation"; Sue Minter, who did numerous interviews after Tropical Storm Irene as disaster recovery officer; Amy Goodman, whose nationally syndicated show "Democracy Now!" airs on the station; Jasper Goodman, who began his journalism career at age 9 covering Boston Red Sox games on WDEV; and Squier. Photo by Camille Caldera

The WDEV storefront window tells its stories in portraits of past and present hosts. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Gov. Phil Scott makes his second stop in Waterbury in a week. After riding in the Not Quite Independence Day parade July 10 with WDEV's Ken Squier, Scott returned for the WDEV bash and an on-air visit with host Ken Beardsley and Squier. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Ken Squier visits with former longtime call-in show host Mark Johnson. Photo by Tom Stevens

By midday, the crowd has settled in as the lower block of Stowe Street is transformed into a live radio studio. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Newsbreak: News Director Lee Kittell (left) and sports host/newscaster Brady Farkas (seated) get ready for the midday news with Beardsley, and station manager Steve Cormier. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The broadcast tent set up in front of the radio station's offices with power supplied from a large SUV. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Vermont folk singer Jon Gailmor performs. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

A quartet of the Vermont Western Swing band Rick Norcross and the All-Star Ramblers performs for the on-air and live audience as Squier family members (right) look on. Left to right: Dono Schabner, Norcross, Taryn Noelle and Dave Rowell. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Nearly six hours in and the audience enjoys live music by Rick Norcross and some of this band members as well as soloist Jon Gailmor. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The musicians end the six-hour broadcast leading the audience in singing Happy Birthday. Left to right: Vermont folk singer Jon Gailmor, Rick Norcross, Dono Schabner, Taryn Noelle and Dave Rowell. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The morning unfolded like an episode from the long ago radio and TV show “This is Your Life,” with a twist that the guest of honor was not an individual, but instead a radio station. 

WDEV AM/FM, a fixture in downtown Waterbury for most of a century, marked its 90th anniversary with a six-hour block party last Saturday that didn’t skip a beat in the usual programming while managing a receiving line of familiar faces and voices connected with the station for decades. 

With a block of Stowe Street closed off, station staff set up a broadcast set outside the station’s offices under a pop-up tent that shielded the on-air participants and technical crew from occasional drizzles. Behind the tent was a Ford SUV powering the set-up and in front of it were folding chairs set up for the live audience to settle in and both watch and listen to the morning programs. A separate “green room” tent sat off to the side for guests to linger and visit with guest of honor for the morning, longtime owner Ken Squier. 

WDEV went on the air July 16, 1931. In 1935, Lloyd Squier became part owner and his son, Ken Squier took over operations in 1979. Today the Squiers are the longest-running broadcasting family in the country, noted station manager Steve Cormier.

Ken Squire, now 86 himself, landed in the headlines last winter when he was hospitalized with COVID-19 and spoke out urging listeners to follow public health guidance to prevent the spread of the virus. His appearance Saturday delighted the crowd of well-wishers streaming past for handshakes and hugs. 

Throughout its run, WDEV has been known for its community connections through its broadcasters and programming, its lineup running the gamut from car racing (thanks to Squier’s career with NASCAR) and Boston Red Sox games to local college and high school sports along with a parade of call-in shows covering public affairs, gardening, sports, and quite often the offbeat showcased by the station’s unique Saturday morning staple, “Music to Go to the Dump By.” 

The live event Saturday did not disappoint as current hosts were joined by numerous former announcers and friends of WDEV’s programs. The scene on Stowe Street was festive with bagels, anniversary cake, and ice cream. Displays recounted highlights of the station’s history and portraits of the broadcasters past and present hung in the station’s storefront window. Recordings of the shows broadcast during the anniversary celebration along with photos are available on the station’s website wdevradio.com.