The headline says it all; it’s been five years since I signed off from working on the radio at Vintage Sound 93.1 FM. I’m a few weeks late with this, but I was thinking about it after the song “Shanty” by Jonathan Edwards came on via my Apple Music playlist. That was the song I played at the end of each show and one I hadn’t heard in quite some time.
If you’ve read this column for any time, you know how much I enjoyed working in radio. That includes the five and a half years at B100 in Davenport and the five years I spent on-air in Muscatine with Vintage Sound 93.1. The experience here was one that genuinely doesn’t exist anywhere else in the radio business. We built Vintage Sound from the ground up and made it something that folks in Muscatine County could be proud of.
That job allowed me to meet so many people! I cannot tell you how many friends I gained from my years on the radio. There were folks I talked to three to five times per week. What may have started as a song request or two grew into friendships.
It was always important to me to be transparent while on the radio. I shared things like when my wife and I discovered we were expecting our second child (that’s Ted, who is now eight, if you can believe that). I also mourned the losses of several friends on the radio; I think of the late Charlie “F-Man”, Rick Carter, Paul Boldt, and David “Samurai” Wilson, just to name a few. Outside of enjoying the time I spent on-air, I also loved working with our local businesses and using the power of radio to help them be successful and working with various community non-profits and organizations like MCSA, the Salvation Army, United Way, and Jessica’s Closet, just to name a few.
I’m proud to say that I have zero regrets about the five years I spent working on Vintage Sound 93.1 FM, and while radio will always be part of my DNA, I couldn’t be happier with where I’m at currently. I left Vintage Sound 93.1 FM, worked at Hy-Vee during the height of the pandemic, and made some long-lasting friendships, and am currently employed by the Muscatine Community School District as the director of communications and community engagement.
As I share with high school students, my career path wasn’t a normal one but then again, what is? Each new, professional opportunity has been better for my family and me, and that’s what shifted for me. As I got older and my family grew, I quickly realized that I had to put them first. Don’t get me wrong, I still look out for myself, but the four people in my life (and our dog and cat) mean the world to me. So, let’s all turn on “Shanty” by Jonathan Edwards or your favorite Vintage Sound 93.1 FM and crank it up! Thanks for being with me on this ride, and Merry Christmas!
