WIXY's Gone Bananas

Then a light bulb goes off in my head: I was going around the list of blogs on my side bar and got this idea while reading Pilgrim's Scrawl . Pilgrim came back this week after taking some time to retool. I don't know how often I will be doing this, but I want to direct my readers to some of the posts I have seen in other blogs. First, Pilgrim's Scrawl has a story about this friend of Pilgrim's who decided to get a meaningful gift while they were away from the kids for awhile. Also check out the comments, which are quite funny. It also inspired several humorous emails between myself and Liquid . My newest friend, Frasypoo is up next. Her blog, This and That had a post on Thursday, called Wierd News from Georgia . Once again, the comments are priceless. Liquid Illuzion had a story touching story yesterday about a man who had helped a baby bull elephant. You may have to fight back the tears. And I want to continue shilling for my friend Tim Lones and his Classic Cle...

This past Friday, the Rittman Fighting Indians played the Waynedale Golden Bears at Rittman Stadium. The halftime show featured very talented bands from each school. The Wayne Marching Band of Gold took the field first. The Waynedale band had a high energy musical program. They kicked it off with Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" continuing with the Isley Brothers' "Shout". Next up was from the movie "Drumline", "Shout it out." Waynedale wrapped up their show with a moving version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with a display of the American flag. Next your Rittman Indians Marching band took the field with a different opener, "Gimme Some Lovin." After "Old Time Rock and Roll"-the drumline is featured in photo, and "Rock and Roll All Nite." It was time for another 2007 debut. From the Disney Channel's "High School Musical" come the song "We're all in This Together," featu...

Click here for a memory from my childhood. Much thanks go to WZZP for sending this to me. GO TRIBE!

Lately I've been doing less message boards and more blogs. I've met a new friend outside of Northeast Ohio. Her blogging name is Frasypoo and she has a blog called This and That . Frasypoo currently resides in Georgia. What we have in common is our political views and our faith. She also has a pretty good sense of humor. Since Frasypoo now checks out this space on a regular basis, I suggest you follow this Georgia Peach back and give her blog a read . As always, if you like what you see, leave her a message in the comments section. Oh, and thank you for reading WIXY's Gone Bananas !

Earlier this month I posted about the way I treat most cashiers. I say things like thank you for working at ---- . Almost all of the time they love it. I thought about this tonight as I was buying some milk and cheddar cheese at the Rittman IGA. I was paying for my two items and said after I got my change and receipt, "thank you for working at IGA". As usual I shocked both the cashier and the bagger. Last time I checked, the evil big box store did not have baggers . Anyway the cashier then stepped up and said, and thank you for shopping at IGA. The bagger said I like that! All three of us got what we wanted, they got customer appreciation and I got a smile and a chuckle from both. Back to the IGA : The Fouttys have done a tremendous job serving the town since the store opened in June. The store is clean and orderly, and if they don't have it, they will order it. I went there Sunday to get some macaroni salad, about two pounds, and one of the employees looked at me and sai...

First, I'm back after a nice quiet evening with Mrs74 WIXYgrad . Now on with the show. As usual, click on images to see larger picture. This past Saturday, September 23, I rode with the band to the 36 th annual Vermillion Sailor Marching Band Show. Our Rittman Indians Marching Band was one of 7 bands participating that evening. The emcee for the night, Dick Goddard did not sing the national anthem, as previously reported by me, as told to me by Rittman Band Director Ed Sims. However all bands took the field and played together the Star Spangled Banner. We were treated to performances by several North Central Ohio bands, including Ada, Edison, Tiffin University, Vermillion Alumni Band, host Vermillion Sailor Marching Band, and of course, your Rittman Indians Marching Band(and for the life of me, I don't remember the 7 th band). The Vermillion and Edison bands have marched with Rittman many times in the past. Both bands marched tonight with first year band directors. ...

This weekend has been very busy, and at least one of my readers knows how late I was up till on Saturday night. I spent yesterday doing family type stuff, and celebrating a Central Division Championship for my beloved Cleveland Indians. And to top it off, my computer was very busy yesterday, and for most of the day my fingers couldn't get anywhere near the keyboard. And I couldn't even upload the memory card from the WIXYcam. Not only all that, all this activity has caused me to neglect Mrs74WIXYgrad. For those of you who are wondering her maiden name was Miss77MHSgrad . She has given me a directive. Tonight is her night. So I will not be posting the next edition of From the Pressbox at least until tomorrow. I may have some short tidbits before then, but I have to tend to what's important in the meantime......

After three weeks on the road, our Rittman Fighting Indians are back at the comfy confines of Rittman Stadium. The night started out with with the area youth football program, the Eagles and their cheerleaders being recognized before game time. Of course I had the WIXYcam with me and I took some pictures from my perch in the press box. Click on any photo to enlarge . Ball game : Rittman, 0-4 going into the nights contest were banged up from previous action. Northwestern, playoff team in the past two seasons started a very experienced team. The game ended up 57-13 in Nortewestern's favor but it probably wasn't that close. One thing that has impressed me over the years about Northwestern is the fact that they show a lot class and sportsmanship. The fact that Rittman showed up for the game speaks volumes. They made mistakes but the mistakes were a major result of inexperience. The fact that they haven't quit at this point shows a lot of class on the Fighting Indians part. Ha...

Yes, here at WIXY's Gone Bananas, we have a fairness policy. And today's the birthday on one of our frequent targets, Mr. Know It All, Mike Trivisonno, he of WTAM/1100 fame. Remember as Marty says "It's all about the chicken."

I think about that when I get my paper every morning going to work. Every once in awhile, I get someone new behind the counter who wouldn't know how to scan a UPC symbol if their life depended on it.

I was surfing around today during my morning break and found a video of the Rittman Marching Band from last year on Youtube . I tried to get it on my sidebar, but I was notified that the owner only allows the clip to be viewed on Youtube. So, click here and enjoy . You also hear some of their announcer, one of the loudest. Next, I want to introduce you to one of my new friends, Curmudgeon . He is from Chicago and is a White Sox fan, but I forgive him for that. The Indian's magic number, by the way is now 3 . Hopefully we won't need it but the White Sox may need to help out , as they play Detroit next weekend to wrap up the season. Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by myself, Curmudgeon's blog is called Second Effort . I visited a few times and enjoy what I see. On Monday, Curmudgeon posted about a blown chance to see history. He had a chance to see Jim Thome hit his 500th home run, but missed out. He then goes on to say that even though he is booed in...

My creative well is dry today so I am going to just touch on some news items. First-Next performance of the Rittman Marching Band will be this Friday at the Rittman-Northwestern football game. To be fair, the young men who comprise the Rittman football team, while putting together their best effort, most of them belong on a junior varsity squad. This is a largely freshman team and it's feared that too many injuries may bring a premature end of the season. Give them an "A" for effort, but also pray that no one gets hurt too badly. End of editorial. The Rittman Indians Marching Band will also be participating in the 36th Sailor Marching Band Festival this Saturday in Vermillion. As this is the evening before the annual Woolybear Festival, the master of ceremonies for the show will be Dick Goddard of Fox-8 in Cleveland. Mrs74WIXYgrad update -My wife Kathy has had a setback in her recovery from knee surgery, and her specialist has grounded her. He has also said that she c...

Let me start by saying that I made a couple of mistakes in the preview post for this show. First, the name of the stadium is Ken Dukes(not Duke) Stadium. Next Barberton and Midview weren't there. But then I got the part about about Barberton and Midview from the Medina Schools website, from which I have stolen the following: "The Medina Band Boosters are hosting a Band Show on Saturday, September 15 at Ken Dukes Stadium, performance begins at 7 p.m. Along with the Medina Musical Marching Bees the following schools will be participating: Rittman, Columbia Raiders, Field, Brookside Cardinals, Midview, Barberton, Highland, and Riverside. This is the 11th annual show sponsored by the Boosters." Anyway on with my review. For the second Saturday in a row, the Rittman Indians Marching Band performed on artificial turf, but this ...

First off, I will say that this is post 300. Hooray. Now on to business. I want to thank all those who responded to my desperation post, where I was looking for a bumper for the former WIXYmobile. I followed David5258's advice and called ABE Auto Parts, in Wooster. Tony had the parts I needed, and at a lower price than what others farther away had. So...Thanks you David5258. And...If you're looking for a good used auto part at a fair price here's my recommendation: ABE Auto Parts 1080 S. Honeytown Rd. Wooster, OH 44691 (330) 264-7793 Run by some real good people.

Okay, so I'm a sentimental old fool. But the voice of Len "Boom" Goldberg and that legal ID still resonates within me. I was a faithful listener in my late teens and early twenties after I kicked the WIXY habit. I don't care to discuss what I was doing in those days, however, since I try to maintain a family fri endly blog, but I still, to this day remember what their long time lineup sounded like to this day. To your right is a picture of me from 1976. Draw your own conclusion. I remember Jeff and Flash and the Morning Mind Exercise, Matt the Cat with the Coffee Break Concert, Kid Leo and his playing Bruce Springsteen at the end of his show Friday afternoons leading up to Murray Saul and the weekend salute-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta GET DOWN! Denny Sanders, who was program director then had his turn. From 10pm to 2am it was one of my instructors at the WIXY School, and a fello w WIXY grad, Steve Lushbaugh . Overnights belonged to Betty Korvan . Th...

I stand corrected. I Had previously posted that the next "From the Pressbox " would be after tonight's game. Seeing that tonight's game is an away game, the band will not be performing tonight. But the good news is that tomorrow night your Rittman Indians Marching Band will be performong at the 11 th annual Medina Band show. Other bands performing will be Medina(of course), Columbia Raiders, Brookside Cardinals, Field, Midview , Barberton (bring an umbrella if you remember what has happened other times we have been scheduled to appear with them. If not, click here ) Highland(my alma mater), and Riverside. The entertainment starts at 7:00pm at Ken Duke Stadium in tropical Medina.

Cliff Note: In honor of my recent visit to the WIXY 1260 online studios, I'm reposting this. I originally posted it September 17, 2007. I know, I know. Tim Lones is the classic media expert, but I've had the 74WIX Ygrad moniker long enough to be able to post about one of the all time classic top 40 radio stations. Next, a shout out goes to Ray Glasser , webmaster of the unofficial WIXY/1260 tribute site , where I got the header for this post. Ray was kind enough to leave a message for me in my comment section last weekend. I think all of us baby boomers had our own personal stations when we were growing up. Me, I had several. First station I can remember listening to was KYW/1100 , then WKYC or KY11 , Power Radio. When I was about 12 years old, I discovered the station which would provide the soundtrack for most of my teenage years- WIXY/1260. It was 1967, and I had gotten a transistor radio for Christmas, which was a big deal for me. that meant I could tune whe...

I may get a few cheap hits just by the title, but why not? Tim Daugherty had asked me this past Saturday if there was a radio station using the WIXY call letters, so I told him a country music station from Illinois now uses the letters, and have since about 1992. WIXY /100.3 is a radio station owned by Saga Communications. They serve the east central region of Illinois. From what I have seen of their web page the station has quite a bit of local programming, but I haven't done any research to find out how much voice tracking is used there. The morning show on WIXY (also pronounced "wick see", as we are used to) is called Holstein and Company , hosted by Steve Holstein and M elissa Anfield . The only sound files I can get from the WIXY .com website is some bits done on the show, as they don't live stream. But I will post a link for you to hear one of the bits . Holstein sounds kind of like Len Howser of the Fish Morning Show( WFHM /95.5, the Fish) and their bits a...

One of the best things about being a middle aged blogger is I can write about personal experience and be able to attract readers who can identify. Those who read these words share one of their best qualities with me-we're human and make no apologies about it. I try to make some of my shortcomings known in a humorous way, but sometimes I realize things have to be told in a straightforeward way. I learned that the other day from a fellow blogger. If you would guess Liquid, you would be right. Lquid posted the other day about the fact she would show appreciation to a total stranger being nice, but being too busy noticing something her daughter did for her. After hearing that still small voice, she had to make things right with her daughter who had found some flowers and picked them just for her mother. Click here to read the story. We can all learn from that story. I can especially learn from that seeing I posted last week about going out of my way to be kind to cashiers, but I had ...

As my faithful readers know, I am trying to get the former WIXYmobile back together. All parts have been obtained, except for the rear bumper and brackets. We have called scrap yards all around the Cleveland and Akron areas, without luck. The former WIXYmobile is a blue 1999 Chevy Metro. If anyone has an idea or lead contact me. My email address is 74wixygrad@gmail.com. Thank you.

Saturday night was a humid night with showers in the forecast, but it was also show time for 10 area bands, including your Rittman Indians Marching Band, as the St. Vincent-St. Mary Marching Band presented the 2007 Fighting Irish Band Show . This was the first occasion for the Rittman band to perform on artificial turf, so Ed Sims took the band out on the field to get a feel for it before the show started. As it still is summer, there was a great deal of humidity in the air which made it very sticky, to say the least. As I told other announcers, what we are complaining about in September, we will be wanting in late October. After the host band played the Star Spangled Banner, the show began with St. Peter Chanel High School , from Bedford, performing a ghoulish mix of tunes, including Ghostbusters, Frankenstein, Evil Ways, and Thriller. Canton Ce ntral Catholic was next with their Night of Terror. Their selections were Thriller, Time Warp, and Phantom of the Opera. Cuyahoga Valley Ch...

I have spent some time working retail. As a cashier I perfected a routine which I would time how long it would take the terminal, or cash register, to bring up the total. In the eighties it would take a couple of seconds, so I would draw up my index fingers, say your total is, and shoot the register as the total would come up. When there were kids with the parents, they would be most entertained. Make the kids happy and the parents are most likely to come back. Something else I would do, which I view as a dying art nowadays, is I would coount the change back to the customer, say "Have a super day and thank you for shopping --------." I have worked for Montgomery Ward, Sears, Fretter, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart, not to mention a very short time at a car dealership. Okay, I won't mention it. I say that it's a dying art because some retail establishments don't practice some basic rules of common courtesy now. I plan on doing this in reverse. When I go to places like the e...

Mrs74WIXYgrad is now on the road to recovery. She has some pain, but her sleep pattern is messed up. As it is 3:30am as I write these words, I do notice she slept well so far this night, for some. For me it's morning. I has an idea late yesterday afternoon, but figured since the missus is in some discomfort and feeling neglected, I would wait to post it. I thought I would be sitting at this time with a cup of coffee next to me,which I have, expounding upon the idea that popped in my mind yesterday which I no longer have. Don't you hate it when this happens? Check the side of your milk cartons today. You may see the missing idea of mine. If I remember it, and it's still a worthwhile idea, I will post it. I will write it down if I can't get to a computer with it fresh in my mind. If I think it was stupid, then oh well. At least I didn't start a draft of it. Now, I am going to fix me some breakfast.

Surgery went fine today . Mrs74WIXYgrad come through fine, even though she started freaking in recovery and they had to get me. That's something they rarely do in recovery, but Kathy needed her security. We're back home now and she's on the mend. I had to go get a prescription filled this afternoon. I went to the evil big box store and got some other items. On the way home, heading south on 57, there was a Frito Lay step van behind me. We were both doing the speed limit, maybe a couple of miles above. I take a look in my side view mirror and saw this Pontiac Aztec passing the step van. The Aztec also wanted to pass the MrsWIXYmobile. I also see this car coming in the opposite area. As the Aztec is approaching, I notice that a handicapped permit is hanging from the rearview mirror. Two questions then came to mind. The first one was, Is it mental or physical? The next one was, Is this dude on a recruiting drive? I pulled over just in case, but as far as I know everybody made ...

Introducing the WIXY News Stand! Check it out on my sidebar. If you want to find out about what's happening in my neck of the woods, it's now just a click away. Get the latest news from the Medina County Gazette. the Wooster Daily Record, or any of the local editions of The Post Newspapers. Going through my comments section, I read the nice comments made by Todd aka Collegedj86. He's back in Grove City College in Pennsylvania for his senior year. I thought I would make it easier on Todd and others from outside the area, who might be curious because something they saw on one of the national news outlets. Liquid had expressed some concern when we had gotten all that rain two weeks ago. Fortunately the majority of the rain that hit Rittman hadn't affected any of my family, and the damage in town was, in most cases, minimal. The parts of the state hit hardest were the north central and northwest parts. Feel free to click on the links at the WIXY News Stand when you are curi...

Labor Day has passed so please put away the white shoes and lower the gasoline prices. Price of gas jumped 20 cents a gallon last week. Went down .05 and then up another 10 cents. Give me a break. I drive 46 miles one way to work. The blog, Media Matters is updated again. Two new and insightful posts have written in the past week. Feel free to comment, let the students know how you feel about the issues this dedicated instructor has brought to light. The students aspire to become the media of tomorrow. Help them out by telling them how you feel. Remember my wife, Kathy tomorrow, as she goes in for arthoscopic knee surgery. If you are one of my several prayer warrior friends, this occurs at 9:00am(EDT). We're hoping that this will be the extent of what she needs for now. St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, where the procedure is being done, is an excellent facility. This weekend, the Rittman Indians Marching Band will be performing at the St. Vincent-St. Mary band festival. Try as I ma...

I got this in my email today, and passed it on. Got some good response, so I will share it with my other readers. 2007 STELLA Awards: Time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards." The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in NM). That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States. Here are this year's winners: 5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son. 5th Place (tie): 19- year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparen...

One thing that keeps me going at times is all the kind comments left by those who stop by. If it happens to be one who has their own blog, I may put the link over on my side bar, if their blog appeals to me. If it happens to be one of my NE Ohio friends, the blog gets a link and at least one mention. It's my goal to share with my friends some of the great blogging I've come across in the past year. I've had comments left by good people who don't blog, but support those who do. Good folks, such as David5258 , whom I just had email contact with in the past couple of weeks. Funny thing though, he lives maybe, 9 miles from me. We've posted on the national boards together. I told him over at radio-info that we may have spoken a couple of months ago over at the Mill Restaurant at Buehlers in Orrville . Small world. CollegeDJ 86 , a young man who lives no more than 10 miles away, also frequently visits and will occasionally leave comments. I envision him as a young man...

This will be similblogged, as both my blogs-WIXY's Gone Bananas and Seek Him First, will have this message today. Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested. -1Chronicles 4:10 NASB Since I've started posting on the media forums, which led to these blogs, I've heard from others who set out in life to do something and ended up in another direction. I have felt privileged and honored that these fine folks have shared their stories with me. I've heard from those who set out to get more formal education, something most adults don't want, in order further their lot in life and in doing they help others, whether it be their family or others. I've been told of those who went into another field in order to be with their families. That, in my book, is a sign of some...

The year 2000-2001 was my daughter, Sylva's, junior year of high school. I knew that Larry Boggs'(former announcer) daughter was about to graduate from high school the year before, and I told Sylva that if Ed Sims needed a new announcer, I would gladly do it for them. He told her that he would try me out for a few weeks... As I have begun my eighth season as the announcer for the Rittman Indians Marching Band , I realize that a few weeks can be a long time. I also realize that I am using what little broadcast training that I remember to do some good and hopefully positively impact the lives of some very important youth that reside in my town, Rittman, Ohio. Having spent my high school years as a football player(actually, riding the pine), I didn't have much respect for the halftime entertainment at the games. I was of the opinion, as are many, that band members aren't athletes, and don't need to be in shape. I have found out differently by being associated with t...