Triton station on the air for 30 years "(!) - River Grove Messenger [04-12-06] -

Sorry I couldn't make it or pump this a bit...
I was stuck in my "MOBILE OFFICE" with the Blue Lights on top...! ;-)
(Thanx 4 da linkage Kenny!;-)
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--Cryin' Officer TimmmO'Geeeee
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http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/rg/
04-12-06-886102.html
Triton station on the air for 30 years
BY CHUCK FIELDMAN

STAFF WRITER

Scott Dirks has done pretty well for himself in the world of radio
ever since his brother "chickened out" more than 25 years ago after
winning a contest to play DJ for an hour at Triton College radio
station WRRG.

Dirks, a 1976 graduate of Proviso East High School in Maywood, got
called into action after his brother won WRRG's "Everyone is a DJ"
contest, but quickly decided he had no interest on being on the air.

"I never really had an interest in radio, but my brother freaked out
when he won the contest, and he told me to go in his place," Dirks
said Sunday when he returned to the WRRG studios for the first time
in 20 years to help celebrate the station's 30th anniversary.

"I was into music a lot, but I hadn't ever thought about going into
radio. I really enjoyed it when I first tried it. It seemed like a
fun thing to do."

Dirks continued working as an on-air personality at WRRG for a couple
of years and then took the job as the station's program director for
a five-year stint when the position opened around 1981. He also was
working part-time at WLUP in Chicago. When he was offered an
overnight shift at WLUP in 1986, he left the Triton station and moved
on.

Recent gigs

More recently, Dirks has been working at WZZN. Until very recently,
he was the station's production manager. He recently became assistant
program director.

"I wouldn't be in radio today if it hadn't started here," Dirks said
while enjoying pizza and conversation with some former and current
staffers at WRRG. "Working here was a very good training ground. And
I used this to kind of catapult into a radio job."

It was the fond memories that Dirks has of his days at WRRG that
prompted him to immediately be interested when he received an e-mail
about the station's 30th anniversary celebration, which took place
Saturday and Sunday in the WRRG studio and surrounding areas.

"Being here was my most fun time working in radio," he said. "Being
here gave me the opportunity to play radio without the responsibility
that goes along with working at a commercial station. I learned a lot
working here."

WRRG-88.9 FM is a non-commercial educational radio station owned and
operated by Triton College. Staff volunteers include Triton students
and community members. The station's programming includes a range of
artistically and culturally significant musical choices, topical
talk, community affairs, public service awareness and sports.

The station's alumni include Dirks; Wendy Snyder, on Steve Dahl's
afternoon show on WCKG; Walter "Freak" Kozielski, WRXQ; Christine
Moran, WDRV; and Steve Cushing, nationally syndicated "Blues Before
Sunrise" show on WBEZ in Chicago.

First event

The weekend reunion was the first such "official" event, according to
Kurt Werner, Triton's director of TV and radio broadcasting.

"There have been some unofficial reunions, but we thought the 30th
anniversary was pretty significant and would be a good time to have
an official reunion," said Werner, who himself was on the air at WRRG
from 1979-87.

"It's really been nice to see people coming back from different
times. Everyone has been having a great time seeing people they
haven't seen in years and talking about the times when they worked
here."

WRRG's reception is somewhat limited within the Triton district.
However, Werner said plans are in the works for broadcasts to soon be
streaming live on the Internet on the station's web site, www.wrrg.org.