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Willimantic Radio Station Celebrates 50 Years
By: Ashley McGown
The Daily Campus
Posted: 10/9/07
WILI-AM Radio 1400 in Willimantic celebrates its 50th anniversary this year [October 5, 2007]. To commemorate 50 years of success, the radio station held a Golden Anniversary Reception last Friday where past and present employees and associates of the station gathered to reminisce.
"It was fabulous. We had close to 200 people there," said Robin Rice, daughter of the late Herb Rice, who bought the station in 1959.
Growing up with her family deeply involved in the station, Rice said that the reception was similar to a big family reunion, especially for her.
"People came who started working there when I was only eight-years-old," she said. "They remembered things such as me roller-skating around in the station's basement."
Rice grew up amidst the radio station because her father, Herb, was its owner during her childhood. Her mother, Ethel Rice, and uncle, Robert Rice, were both also very involved in the station.
Herb Rice grew up in England, migrated to Canada when he was just 20 and then moved to Boston shortly thereafter. During his cascade south, Rice encountered many entertainers who have since gone on to become extremely famous.
"One afternoon, in the mid-1920s he walked into a theater tent … He found a young woman rehearsing her lines," says WILI's website. "Herb watched for awhile … stood up at one point and said, 'No, no, no … You've got to sell it!'"
The play's director then got up and asked Rice to come on stage and show the young lady how her lines should be read. Rice complied and was asked to stay on as an assistant. The woman he helped coach in this story happened to be a young Bette Davis.
Rice was also responsible for giving Don Knotts his first acting job, in a play that Rice had written and directed.
In 1959 Rice purchased WILI, and the station has been in the Rice family ever since.
Longtime WILI AM 1400 radio station owner Herb Rice (left) and Bing Crosby
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For decades, WILI-AM has had a steady stream of UConn alumni who have gone on to work full time at the station. WHUS, UConn's on-campus, student-run radio station, has played a huge part in this.
"We had a pretty good WHUS pipeline," said Wayne Norman, host of the longest continuously running morning show in Connecticut.
"A lot of people from [my] era migrated down here from WHUS and formed a good chunk of the nucleus of WILI ... When we were there, WHUS was very commercial, very Top 40, which was a great foundation for those of us who went on to WILI. We were well prepared."
Norman, who went to UConn, began working at WILI immediately after leaving in 1970. Norman said the morning show started out as a temporary thing for him, in November of 1971.
"It's still 'temporary' 36 years later," he said, jokingly.
Norman's show is a mixture of music and talk radio.
As far as interviewing goes, "I don't do a lot of phoners," he said. "I try to bring people in."
Norman's guests range in popularity and areas of expertise, but he does try to bring in as many local guests as possible. Past guests include actress Susan St. James, UConn women's basketball stars Diana Taurasi and Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, former Boston Red Sox player Steve Lyons and former UConn presidents.
"We pride ourselves on being a community station, a local station," Norman said. "That's one reason why I try to get local people to come in … discussing everything from gardening topics to politics."
Norman is the grand marshal for WILI's annual Fourth of July Boom Box Parade. During the parade, WILI broadcasts popular marching music and encourages everyone attending to bring a boom box. Unlike most parades, there are no huge speakers blaring music from the floats. This parade relies on its attendees, said Norman.
Each year, Norman dresses up as a different iconic figure. Last year, as a 50s greaser, he went around asking everyone to touch his hair.
"It felt like steel rods, it was so stiff," he said.
Numerous other UConn alumni have gone on to play a huge role in WILI's success. John Tuite, from Mansfield, is another example. Tuite worked at WHUS while he was a student at UConn and he now is a WILI employee, working in the news department and hosting "The Vinyl Frontier," an oldies show that airs on weekday mornings. Tuite is still deeply involved with UConn, working as an announcer for many UConn sporting events, such as men and women's soccer games.
Because of the close relationship between stations, WILI is still one of the top places for UConn students interested in broadcast journalism to get an internship. The station offers several internships for students both on-and-off air, where students can gain experience at a commercial radio station.
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