HomeMy WebLinkAboutTeens Against Polio Radiothon Transcription, WTAW First 100 YearsProject HOLD
WTAW Interview
Tom Turbiville | WTAW Radio Host
Daniel Hayes | Transcriber
Transcript
00:00:01 Dick Bolin (DB)
College Station, Texas, April 24th, 1947-
00:00:04 Speaker 2
Now let's go to the bonfire signed where WTAW's Tom Turbi-?
00:00:07 Speaker 3
-WTAW election night coverage. All 8 voting centers in Brazos County have been counted-
[Unintelligible sports broadcaster and crowd of screaming fans]
00:00:14 Speaker 4
Today on WTAW, we're joining with businesses from across the Brazos Valley, to support our -
00:00:20 Speaker 5
16.20 WTAW.
00:00:22 Tom Turbiville (TT)
This is WTAW The First 100 years, I'm Tom Turbiville. In recent years, WTAW and its parent
company, Bryan Broadcasting, has been extremely involved in raising money for charity. You
may recall Radiothons for Children's Miracle Network and Ronald McDonald House, Angel
Trees at Christmas time, among others. But that's nothing new for WTAW. Over 64 years ago,
the station brought in talented teenagers from around the Brazos Valley to be featured in a
radiothon to benefit TAP, Teens Against Polio. The radiothon went from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The
date was January the 18th, 1958. The teens manned the telephones and took donations, or the
donors were invited to come to the station to throw their cash in a bucket. Disc jockeys , Don
Fredericks and Toby Hughes, were there to let the donors say their name on the radio. The
station even offered to go pick up the donation, and the teens were furnished cars to go pick them
up. And then at 8 o'clock that evening, there was a record hop, with the only admission charge
being a donation. The theme of the hop was, let's do the stroll so that others may walk. And there
was a dance contest, of course, and the prizes well they were 45 RPM records, of course. So, you
see, WTAW has always been about helping in the community. This is WTAW, the first 100
years.