Driving down Walnut Street and rolling around in the back of a station wagon was just an everyday part of growing up in Murphysboro. If that old Ford station wagon with family in tow would have been miraculously transported to 2009 out of the late 60’s or early 70’s my parents would have been cited for no seat belts, no child seats and violating all sorts of noise ordinances, not because of a thumping bass line that blasts and rattles cars today but because we would be singing BINGO, laughing, fighting and shouting as loud as we could wherever we went.
Now in cars we are firmly wrapped in our cocoon of belts, child seats, and airbags and kids have their ears plugged with buds listening to ipods or Gameboys. Their fingers are busy texting and their minds are miles away. Personal communication is the past and electronic communication is the present and the future. But I digress.
On that sunny early Fall day as we rolled down Murphysboro’s main street, poking and irritating each other my mom, who was usually patient with our high jinx turned her head and shouted, “Quiet! Look out of the right side of the car.” The urgency in her voice snapped us to attention and four heads popped up like a clown in a jack-in-the-box glaring out of the long window in the very back of the station wagon.
“Now when I count three, wave and listen.” She said with a sly lift in her voice. She reached down spun the black knob on the old car radio and counted “One, two, three.” We waved with all our might and emanating from the speakers of the AM radio, a voice rang out saying something about the upcoming Apple Festival but more importantly mentioned a station wagon full of kids waving as we went past the downtown window where the live broadcast was coming from.
I was officially famous. Nancy from WINI actually saw us wave and then talked about our family on the radio. All of a sudden our regular old drive through Murphysboro became an adventure and a memory for a lifetime. That incident has stuck with me through the years and I have had the chance to tell Nancy and Dale Adkins that story, always with a smile on my face.
Hometown radio. For people in Murphysboro, for literally decades hometown radio meant Nancy and Dale. Forty-one years of bringing us news, information, entertainment, Red Devil sports and a feeling of home. Nancy’s authoritative tone and Dale’s melodic baritone voice became the sound of life in Murphysboro. Unfortunately for us we have lost that voice as the Adkins have sold WINI. The new owners know the radio business and are from our region and we can hope they will continue to be an important part of our community like the Adkins.
As children we listened closely as Nancy read the school closings, hoping for a snow day. Or we would tune in to Dale as he gave us warnings and watches when our blue skies turn to a slate gray with claps of thunder and lightening. We would huddle in the basement as the radio crackled with each lightening strike, waiting for the WINI all clear.
Now as an adult I have had the opportunity to work with the Adkins when purchasing ads for clients and getting them the right spots to run. They were always above board, willing to go the extra mile and cared about my business. And let me tell you that is extraordinarily rare in the dog eat dog media world.
It was refreshing to know when I talked to WINI about a client or ad campaign the person on the other end of the line cared, whether it was for the Apple Festival, Building Services Supply Company or any of the other clients I represent. Nancy and Dale cared about the clients and care about our community and that caring attitude showed in their broadcasts and in the way they conducted business.
It seems too trite to say they will be missed, they will be. They understood that although they were in the business of electronic communication it took personal communication to really interact and everyone who listened to WINI felt personally connected to the Adkins and to Murphysboro. They have been more than just another business in town they have been our voice and our friends.
Russell Ward
Commercial Images & Design Corp.
