TUNE IN: Lee Morehouse writes of a variety of experiences and
people he encountered in his time with radio station WESB.

Lee, who had been residing in western New York, had heard of a
job opening at the Bradford radio station.

“We moved to Bradford in early 1954, and I became a part of the
Joe Cleary team. Of course, Joe was the spark plug of the
operation.ðIt was a great experience, and I am a great fan of
his.ðHe was a scintillating personality, kind and friendly but hard
as nails when necessary. I always admired how he could bring
everybody in a group into a conversation.

“As for other names, Lloyd Gordon was the program director and
Fred Tascone was commercial manager.

“The broadcast studios were located where Bradford Forest now
operates. All broadcasts came from there except the 6 o’clock
Kendall news review which Joe did from his office upstairs of the
Era. Nobody ever did that news except a few times when Charlie
Callahan filled in.

“The sales offices were in the back part of theðEra, Iðbelieve
where the sports people are now. Other names I remember were Jack
Laflin, sports; Dean Merry, engineer and sometime
broadcaster;ðBecky Clark, who prepared the daily program log.

“In those early days the sales people wrote their own commercial
copies, but later Vivien Kreiger came on board for that job.
Another name I believe I have never seen mentioned was Gertrude
Curley from Olean. Sheðcalled herself Betty Bradford and had a 15
minute program each morning, talking about household things.

“Jack Laflin did a program of music and talk from the Gold Room
at the Emery. Jack had a very earthy vocabulary in private, but I
never, ever heard him use vulgarity or profanity on the air.
Probably Joe would have cut out his tongue.

“Each year there was an anniversary event at the Emery in April,
for the start-up date of the station.

“The large room at the hotel would be full of people, mostly
women, who wanted to get a look at those they heard on their
radios.

“The station was with the Mutual Broadcasting Network and quite
often the Queen for a Day program would be beamed into the party
with appropriate mention of the anniversary by the networkðpersons.
We left Bradford again in 1959 for another radio station in Sharon,
Pa.”