MWOTRC News - 2009-2012

IN OUR MARCH 9, 2012 CLUB MEETING: President Maury Cagle began by telling all present that Fred Berney was away and Jack French’s 15 min. “warmup” to startthe meeting was going to be done by Lawrence Kandrach, giving a mid-1930’s discussion with excerpts from MGM’s “Broadway Melody of 1936”, including Frances Langford singing “You are My Lucky Star”, Eleanor Powell tap dancing and other stars and songs of the 1930’s… how radio was used to advertise movies. It was very effective!

Our main program for the evening was presented by Jeff Whipple, on “Fred Allen” discussing his early life, in vaudeville with the name of Fred St. James (“Freddy”) and went to Australia, returning to the U.S. and changing his name to Fred Allen (taking the last name of his agent, Edgar Allen). Jeff’spresentation was filled with anecdotes and insights to Fred Allen’s personality and life experiences. With the “What’s My Line” segments, the presentation endedon a real upbeat of laughs.

VIDEOS OF JUNE MEETING: Thanks to videographer Sandra Pitts-Malone, several portions of our June luncheon meeting have been posted on YouTube. See them here...

AWARD WINNER: Our own Jack French was oneof four award winners at the Cincinnati Old-Time Radio and Nostalgia Conventionheld in May 2010. Read more...

AUGUST MEETING: The Metropolitan WashingtonOld Time Radio Club welcomed actor and author Arthur Anderson and his wife Aliceto its Friday evening August 13, 2010 meeting. Mr. Anderson’s 72-year career hastaken him from Orson Welles’ critically acclaimed 1937 Mercury Theatre Broadwayproduction of “Julius Caesar” to important roles on Radio, Television, and theStage. Read more...

RADIO ONCE MORE is a new addition to ourLinks page.MWOTRC member Neal Ellis and co-host Ken Stockinger appear live at9 pm Eastern time on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings, offeringdocumentaries, informative discussions and deeper insight into old-time radio.Recent topics have included Charlie Chaplin, shortwave broadcasts of the 1940s,and a history of outhouses!Here's what will be coming in future shows:Wednesday January 20, MWOTRC's Jack French will talk about syndicated radioprograms.Monday January 25, Rod Serling's radio work and his TV series, TheTwilight Zone, will be discussed.Friday January 27, guest Terry Salomonsonwill be talking about The Green Hornet.Tune in on the web at 9 PM onMon/Wed/Fri/Sun at www.RadioOnceMore.com.

OUR DECEMBER MEETING was one of two annualluncheon meetings.(See our meeting schedule fordetails.)In December, we met at Neighbor's Restaurant, had a gift exchange,and continued to celebrate the Club's 25th anniversary.(Click for more photos!)

MWOTRC and friends meet at Neighbor'srestaurant.

Derek Tague, with Jack (Santa)French.

AT OUR JUNE MEETING wecelebrated our 25th anniversary with a cake provided by Club president EdgarFarr Russell.Happy birthday to us!

RIC NELSON is holdingone of the transcription discs he recently donated to the MWOTRC collection. We're always on the lookout for your contributions, so please contact us if youhave old-time radio recordings that need a good home.

Click to readmore...

ED WALKER ELECTED TO NATIONALRADIO HALL OF FAME in the category of Local or Regional - Pioneer.EdWalker is a long-time MWOTRC member and supporter.His Play It Again, Ed program on WMAL garnered one of the largest audiences in Washington radiohistory.Ed currently hosts the Big Broadcast on WAMU-FM featuring classicprograms from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.Previously, Ed teamed with Willard Scottas The Joy Boys on WRC and WWDC.Read more at these sites: wamu.org and radiohof.org.

AT OUR JULY MEETING: Virginia Vass, an actress from radio'sgolden age spoke about her acting days of old time radio. She started on radiowith her family in 1932. Click here formore...

JUNE MEETING AND LUNCHEON: The Metropolitan Washington Old TimeRadio Club celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a luncheon on SaturdayJune 13, 2009.We have luncheons twice a year, in June and December.Othermonthly meetings are held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Arlington - click here for more information and the schedule. Everyone who attended this special meeting receiveda free DVD with a video scrapbook from the Club's archives and membercontributions.If you could not attend, please contact Fred Berney to see ifcopies are still available.

MID-ATLANTIC NOSTALGIA CONVENTION: TheMid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention will be held August 27-29 at the Clarion Hotelin Aberdeen MD, with old-time radio and TV stars, vendors, auctions, and more. For details visit www.midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com.

UPDATE ON OUR LIBRARIES: MWOTRC has twolibraries from which all our members can rent items for a modest sum. The printlibrary currently boasts an inventory of over 220 books, magazines, andperiodicals. To obtain a current catalog listing all our print materials,contact Mark or Marsha Bush (address in the print edition of Radio Recall).

The club’s cassette and CD library has grownimmensely in the past five years. We currently hold near five thousand cassettesand two hundred CDs. Our holdings contain a nice cross section of well knownprogramming such as Jack Benny and The Great Gildersleeve to more obscurerecordings like Ann of the Airlanes and The Blue Beetle. All are available formonthly rental at the meetings or via mail order.As of last month we have justpublished a new comprehensive catalog for our members.Please contact thecoordinating librarian, Rebecca Jones viaemail or postal mail at the club’s address:P.O. Box 2533, Fairfax, VA 22031 for a copy. Please specify whether you wouldlike digital copy on CD-ROM or a paper copy.

DURING OUR APRIL MEETING Mark andMarsha Bush demonstrated sound effects and their role in contributing to theimpact of radio programs. It was also Mark's 65th birthday, so we celebratedwith the membership.

OUR NOVEMBER MEETING featured Maury Caglewho orchestrated a script-reading from the radio series Quiet Please. Itwas be a full production with readers stepping up to the microphones, music, andin-studio sound effects, all captured through the miracle of sound recording. The script was called “100,000 Diameters,” and it aired on June 7, 1948, justabout midway in the series’ two-year run.(Photos of the cast and some of thesound effects equipment are below, courtesy of Bill Reader.)