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What is it? |
The New Jersey Radio Museum is being sponsored by the Dover Area Historical Society, a 501C tax exempt organization |
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How is it being organized? |
Several members of WRAN, WDHA and WMTR are involved. We have formed a committee who makes decisions on a daily basis regarding the museum presentation: Rich Phoenix, George Laurie and myself from WRAN and Lew White from WRNJ are in charge of the project. |
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What are you seeking? |
We are looking for anyone who worked at any New Jersey radio stations, past
or present who would like to help us find material for the museum. Due to space limitations, NYC stations, whose towers are located in Northern NJ are not included. We are looking for airchecks, promotional material, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, records, carts, equipment (even if it doesn't work), ..anything that may be considered historical...anything that can be presented in a museum. We would like to feature an autobiography section as well, so we need people who would be willing to write their stories. |
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How are you attracting people? |
It is difficult; most of what we have been doing concerns posting on radio
message boards and writing snail mail and making phone calls. Unfortunately, we can not locate the vast majority of people who worked at these stations. |
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What can I do to help? |
Maybe you know someone who worked for these stations and can contact
them...pass along an email or address for us. Perhaps you are a radio enthusiast who has collected historical information about these radio stations or the people who worked there. All of that is valuable for the museum. We intend to collect the memorabilia and we will be looking for volunteers to collate, organize and display the material. Perhaps you can pass along this FAQ to someone you know who works in local radio! Radio is a small world, and we have found more people this way in the recent past! |
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What have you done so far? |
We plan to put on the air a low power, AM radio station, which will be
called WRAN. We will program music played by WRAN, WDHA and WMTR, primarily, over the past 25 years (this will be a vast majority of popular music). We have secured the transmitter and programming and are looking to secure additional studio equipment donated by area radio stations, who will be credited for the donation of the equipment. We have collected a huge assortment of photos, articles and memos from the WRAN building proper. Some of our committee members also have airchecks and memorialbilia of their own, and we seek to add to that. We desperately need the same from WDHA, WMTR and any others. |
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Can Ex-Employees help? |
Yes. We need ideas and information from anyone interested in radio in general and radio enthusiasts. |
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What else are you doing to support the museum? |
A couple of things. Since we are a non-profit organization we are looking for help from people involved in recording and pressing commercial CD's and cassettes. We also need help in what is called, "clearing". We intend to record a CD and cassette, available for sale, featuring airchecks and personalities of these stations introducing songs popular during the heyday of WRAN, WDHA, WMTR and any other NJ radio stations, when they were locally owned and operated...which, we figure, center on the mid 60's to mid 80's. We feel a CD or cassette will spotlight what the personalities involved with the stations have done, provide a listenable and nostalgic product and also generate income necessary for the set up of the museum. We intend to produce the CD from the many airchecks we expect to receive, and sell it as a memento to the public who come to the museum. Listening stations will be set up within the museum so that patrons can hear airchecks and music, contributed to the museum. We have discovered that many long time air personalities have not kept airchecks of themselves. We will gladly accept newly recorded airchecks, (in other words, airchecks recorded specifically for the museum). The important thing is to have as many air personalities on tape as possible. As mentioned, the museum will have a low power radio station on site and will seek advertising from the many retail businesses at the complex, giving them an exposure and us an income to cover expenses. We also seek donations of radio broadcast equipment: cart machines, turntables, amps, CD and cassette decks, broadcast boards and monitors, along with a 102'" CB antenna, coax wire and connections. We have the ability to do the actual work of setting this equipment up, but do not have the money to buy all of the equipment necessary to put the station on the air. At this time, we are using our personal money and of course, that is very limited. The income generated by sale of a CD, or any admission will be administered by the Treasurer of the Dover Area Historical Society and in no way is associated directly by the Museum Committee. Money raised in excess of expenses incurred in setting up the museum are the sole property of the Dover Area Historical Society. |
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Do I need to have been an air personality to be included? |
Absolutely not. Anyone who worked at any NJ radio station is welcome to contribute. We seek information from continuity, sales, promotions and engineering departments. The more complete we can present your radio station, the better it will be for the museum, and you. |
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Does the museum plan any activities? |
We are planning one major activity right now: a reunion dinner! This will involve anyone who ever worked at any of the stations on display in the museum. At this point, we have secured a hall and caterer, central to all stations in Rockaway NJ at a very good price! Work continues on this part of the project. We believe that this reunion will be an excellent opportunity to meet, or re-meet, people who either worked together, or worked in the same place. Nothing this large has ever been attempted before! |
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Are you spreading the word? |
Yes. As of April 2002, we have been published 4 times in local suburban papers. This is a good opportunity for free publicity for you, and for us! |
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How do I get involved? |
Email me:
njrm@webtv.net My home address is: Carl M Van Orden 35 Cherry Hill Road Lot 6 Honesdale, PA 18431. (570) 253-0848 I write all the updates to the committee, so I am the one to contact if you have anything to add or wish to become involved. If you have anything you would like to contribute, my address is the address to mail it to. Should you have a donation that could not be mailed, you can email me for information, we may be able to pick it up, or we can arrange to have it delivered directly to the museum location. |
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Thank you for your request for information and if you require any more
information, do not hesitate to write or call.
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