WARM’s 65th anniversary will be celebrated July 13 at Friedman JCC

David Yonki, author of the “590 Forever” blog, this week said WARM Radio was a constant in a baby boomer’s life.

“It got you through your first crush in grade school, entertained you in high school and as an adult was the first place you turned to for news, sports or severe weather,” Yonki said. “WARM, the Mighty 590, was always there.”

To celebrate the 65th birthday of the storied station, the Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center, along with WVIA Public media, will hold a free event on Thursday, July 13, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Once known as the Mighty 590, WARM became the dominant outlet when it changed format in 1958. Prior to that the station — founded in 1940 — had been a swing, big-band style station.

Yonki, who also authored a book titled: “A Radio Story,” said the re-tooled WARM was now catering to ”the kids” of the World War II generation.

To attend the free event, reservations can be made by accessing — WVIA.org/events — or by calling the JCC at 570-824-4646.

“Although I never worked there in its heyday, I was fortunate in my professional life to interact with the promotions and news departments at WARM,” Yonki said. “It was a rush to work in community projects with my boyhood radio idols like Joey (Shaver), Harry (West) and Tommy (Woods).”

Yonki said he started his “590 Forever” blog, knowing that WARM was starting to become a fading memory.

“My intention was to have WARM live on through the internet as an era that will never be duplicated in media history,” Yonki said.

WARM history

WARM at it peak had a share of over 50% of the audience. It brought Wilkes-Barre Scranton together as “WARMland” and everyone remember that famous catchphrase, “It’s only WARM for me.”

Every radio owned by just about everybody under 25 back then was tuned to WARM.

But what about those parents? Well, Yonki said WARM had a plan for them. The radio station under its first news director, Jack Donniger, was 24/7, with two daily newscasts an hour.

During the 1960s, WARM covered the Cuban missile crisis the same way they covered the Shepton Mine accident.

When Governor Bill Scranton ran for President in 1964, WARM radio had a man right there at the convention. When news of Scranton’s effort to defeat GOP front runner Barry Goldwater reached WARM, Jack Donniger intoned, “The governor started too late,” and then proceeded to tell the story.

Terry McNulty broadcast the news that President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, and a few years later Robert Oliver reported on the deaths of Herbert Hoover, Pope John the XXIIII and Winston Churchill.

Through the years “first news first,” had reporters like the late Kevin Jordan, Ray Maguire, Kitch Loftus and Terry McNulty (when he wasn’t doing a show) on the scene of the George Banks murders, his trial and every significant event that happened in the coverage area.

WARM had a news tip line, a missing persons bureau (“Operation Contact”) and was the first station to adopt Accuweather. When there was a school closing, your heard it on WARM.

The powerful 5,000-watt station reached beyond Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Hazleton — its signal pierced the air all the way to Manhattan, Philadelphia and Binghamton.

Every baby boomer and beyond remembers WARM — the Mighty 590 — the jingles, the “Sensational Seven,” record hops, WARM days at Rocky Glen and Sans Souci parks.

“They owned the market for teenagers,” said Joe Nardone, owner of Gallery of Sound music stores and leader of the Joe Nardone and the All Stars band said in a Times Leader story in 2009. “There was no other station to go to — they were playing rock and roll when nobody else was until long after.”

To give you an idea of WARM’s effect on listeners, here’s what Yonki had to say in that 2009 Times Leader feature on WARM.

“The heyday of WARM was like the soundtrack of our lives back in the ’60s,” Yonki said. “You lived and died with everything those guys said. If they said the best burger was at Stop N Go, that was where you ate. If the best acne cream was Phisohex, then you bought it by the gallon. The WARM personalities were a huge influence on the way we thought, the way we dressed, and what we listened to.”

Yonki said the music of the rock and roll era, the news that was necessary to be in the know for WARMlanders, the contests and constant drum beat of promotion gave WARM a dominance that will never be duplicated.

‘WARMland Remembered’

Chris Norton, Sr. Vice President of Community Engagement at WVIA, said the station “is proud to bring out” the 2003 Richard Briggs one-hour documentary, “WARMland Remembered,” that will be shown at the JCC during the July 13 event.

“This summer is the 65th anniversary of the birth of the new WARM,” Norton said. “That was when WARM really took off.”

Norton added, “I just love the memories. For many of us of a certain age, this is what we listened to every day. This event will bring back a lot of memories for everyone.”

Richard Yelen, a board member of the JCC and one of the event’s planners, said a panel discussion will be held at the event, featuring former WARM personalities Bobby Day, Rob Neyhard, Mike Stevens, Bill Stewart and Tommy Woods.

“The panelists will talk about what made WARM so special,” Yelen said. “There will be plenty of amusing stories of those days and the goings-on at WARM.”