Carnation City Radio

This week the NEO Airchecks WayBack Machine takes the blog to the previously unexplored era we'll refer to as pre-rock and roll radio. To quote a favorite band of the editor's, "no Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones" here; just block programming and features with titles like "Breakfast With Your Neighbor".
Featured is a recording of the on-air dedication of WFAH/1310 (now WDPN) in Alliance. This program aired September 9, 1953. Members of the Hoiles and Peterson families, which launched WFAH's FM sister in 1947, are heard here along with other movers and shakers of the worlds of commerce and politics. A snippet of a similar program for WFAH/101.7 (now WDJQ/92.5) is also included near the beginning of this aircheck. Special thanks to the Rodman Public Library and D.A. Peterson, Incorporated for providing access to this recording.
The Peterson family still owns both stations, which may or may not employ a member of this blog's staff. WFAH/1310 became WDPN in 1990. The station currently airs a locally-programmed soft AC format, featuring local news, high school sports and University of Mount Union football and basketball.

Can't Sleep? Get Up And Dance!

The last time NEO Airchecks featured Canton's WHBC/1480, we time traveled to May 2003 via a recording of midday host Tom Jarrett. This week the blog presents an aircheck of longtime overnight personality John Allen from September of the same year. Allen keeps the energy level up between the tunes, dropping in tidbits about the songs and artists that were a part of the full-service/oldies format of that era. It's worth noting that this was not a voice-tracked air shift, a fact that's made clear by Allen's frequent checks of time and temperature. While Allen's on-air shift was made irrelevant by WHBC's switch to a news/talk format in March 2007, he remained with the station as its production director until early 2009.