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Floor Speech

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Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I am so glad the junior Senator from Indiana occupies the chair as Presiding Officer at this time because it was 100 years ago next week that ``The Voice of a Thousand Main Streets'' first began broadcasting from the second floor of the Main Auto Supply Building in downtown Fort Wayne, IN--an area that the Presiding Officer knows well.

On March 31, 1925, at 500 watts, 1320 on the dial, the voice of the Midwest, WOWO Radio, hit the airwaves. In Indiana, from such humble beginnings, great things often rise, and those distinctive call letters, ``WOWO,'' endure today.

In fact, over the past century, through good times and bad, Hoosiers in the northeast part of our State have turned on and tuned in to WOWO radio. Although the number on the dial has changed, the studio was moved, the station's wattage has expanded, and the world of media has evolved, Hoosiers still listen to WOWO today.

WOWO is not just a radio station in this community; it is the community's radio station, one it has loved and taken care of for 100 years now. Its programs didn't just entertain Fort Wayne but became part of its culture. Its personalities didn't simply report the news but made history.

During the Great Depression, WOWO turned Fort Wayne into a midwest hub of country music and helped Hoosiers escape from hard times, if only for an hour.

After Pearl Harbor, WOWO provided desperately needed updates as they arrived over the wire with word of the progress of the war effort to the families of the 12,000 soldiers from Fort Wayne fighting overseas.

No matter the era or the decade, WOWO always looked out for its audience. It brought them the local news, helped them stay informed and engaged. Every morning, the legendary Bob Sievers called the Fort Wayne Police Department before going on the air.

When the station moved to the Gaskins Building on Washington Boulevard, where there were no nearby windows, a reporter ran down the hall, climbed out on the fire escape, and looked to the sky to determine the weather. The Gaskins Building is now gone, but, as WOWO listeners know, the station still reports the weather from its ``world famous fire escape.''

During the events that defined the last century for people in and away from northeast Indiana--from the blizzard of 1978 to that terrible September morning in 2001, from the thrill of the Moon landing to the loss of the space shuttle Challenger--listeners can still remember not just where they were when they heard the news but how they heard it: from WOWO through the radio in the car, on the kitchen table, in their classroom.

During tough times, WOWO provided welcome distractions. The audience could tune in to the ``Hoosier Hop,'' where local talents Nancy Lee and the Hilltoppers played and Kenny Roberts yodeled. They could visit the Little Red Barn on a farm down in Indiana for the latest in ag news. ``Modern Home Forum,'' hosted by the fictional Jane Weston, offered cooking lessons. Broadcasts of Komets and Pistons games brought the people of Fort Wayne together around their beloved hockey and basketball teams. The innovative and much imitated ``Man on the Street'' and ``One Moment'' programs turned the shows' listeners into stars.

If a member of the Fort Wayne community lost their dog, WOWO could help them find it. If they fell on hard times, it offered them a hand up.

In the 1940s, the station created the Penny Pitch, encouraging listeners to contribute pocket change for a disabled young man so he could realize his ambition of pursuing a career in journalism. The annual drive still raises money to provide resources to charities across northeast Indiana. Last year, the Penny Pitch raised over $135,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne.

Throughout WOWO's history, many of its personalities became household names across northeast Indiana. Broadcasters like Bob Chase, who served our Nation in World War II and then served WOWO listeners as sports director and the voice of the Komets hockey team for over six decades, were beloved figures. More recently, Charly Butcher, Patrick Miller, and Kayla Blakeslee became well known and trusted by the WOWO audience. Brian Ford, WOWO news director, recalled that as a child, when the sky grew dark and storms neared, his grandmother would simply say: Turn on WOWO.

When news breaks, good or bad, at home or far away, at the beginning of another day in Fort Wayne, and the world turned beyond it, families still find WOWO on their dial or on their phones.

So today, I join my fellow Hoosiers in marking this milestone, offering WOWO and its staff past and present congratulations on creating a truly remarkable bond with their audience and for serving fellow Hoosiers with news and entertainment.

Oh, about that call sign--it is a bit counterintuitive, perhaps, but back in 1925, the ``W'' in ``WOWO'' designated the station's location east of the Mississippi River. The other three letters didn't stand for anything; they were just catchy.

At the time of the station's founding, a newspaper reported that WOWO ``expects to become a familiar voice of the middle west despite the low wave length. The trick call letters, it is believed, will add to the novelty of the plant.'' The station's leaders were right on both accounts.

A listener contest later determined that ``WOWO'' would stand for ``Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities.'' But ``WOWO'' will never be just call letters. If you grew up in its listening range, you know what it stands for, what it means, and what it has meant to northeast Indiana since that first broadcast a century ago.

I have no doubt, however much change that time and technology may bring, a hundred years from now, WOWO will remain on the air and remain an important part of the fabric of northeast Indiana.

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