Stu News and Photos

Tonight, in a deeply wooded section of southern New Jersey, a joyful noise will be heard. 25 years, my college radio station began its broadcasting journey and tonight will be the official anniversary party. I won't be attending, due to distance and expense, but I will be there in spirit, celebrating the memories of a genuinely enraptured time in my life. Those of you who really know me know that music is, family/friends aside, my dearest companion. And while I was taught well by my mom and dad and sister and brother, the folks at my campus radio station gave me an advanced degree in musicology.

I arrived at Stockton State College back in the fall of 1985, and, almost immediately, walked into the campus radio station as if I'd been pushed there by a phantom. (For those of you who believe in a higher power, I look back on things and feel secure that there was some heavenly handiwork going on)

At the time, I was aware that music was good stuff, no doubt, but my exposure to it was but a fraction of what it is today. My folks taught me about Sinatra, about Big Band, about Jewish music. My siblings taught me about rock&roll and folk and gave me tastes of other genres. The radio (via my own curiosity) taught me about classical and jazz. But the time I spent at the campus station not only gave me far deeper insight into all of these, but taught me just about every other genre on the planet, from the piphat music of Thailand to the bluegrass music of the Appalachia. It was four years of musical bliss, with passionate instructors (disk jockeys) who never tired of my endless curiosity.

Looking back, I see that things could have been different. I could have made different choices, I could have turned my focus elsewhere. And while I am comfortable admitting that I've a few tiny regrets about my wayward youth, the many, many hours spent at WLFR are precious gifts that I would never give back, not for all the money in the world.

I raise a glass to my brothers and sisters at WLFR, 91.7FM, Lake Fred Radio. I toast each and every one of you, for sharing a piece of yourselves with me, a benefaction of unimagined splendor. Bless you all.