Filling Shelves Fills The Heart

A heartfelt “Thank You” to all Catamount Radio listeners & especially those of you who listen to The Drive for all of your help with another very successful Stuff-A-Bus. More than 21,000 pounds of non-perishable food items were collected this past Thursday, Friday & Saturday to be distributed to food shelves in Rutland County. In years past we have pretty much concentrated on the Rutland area for our food collection, but this year we added the food shelves in Brandon & Fair Haven to our efforts. So those of you in those areas of Rutland County deserve a thank you as well. The Drive spent some time in Brandon during this year’s Stuff-A-Bus setting up our broadcast at Hannaford there & helped the Brandon Food Shelf pack their shelves with 2,300 pounds of non-perishable food items. Rutland County is an amazingly generous place to live. One final thought; if you wanted to donate to Stuff-A-Bus but missed your chance remember that Catamount Radio is now in the process of collecting monetary donations for this year’s WSYB Christmas Fund. The Christmas Fund has been helping those in need throughout the county for more than 40 years. We would love to have you join us in this ongoing Christmas tradition of giving. Here’s to you enjoying a very happy holiday season and thank you again.

Wonderment...And Heartache

There was nothing better growing up than coming from a large, close & loving family. Not just with ten brothers and sisters but with nearly twice as many uncles and aunts on both my dad's side of the family and my mother's. Add in what seems like hundreds of first cousins and you get the idea of growing up in the Kelly-O'Brien family. Irish Catholic to the core! Perhaps a bit more Irish than Catholic for some today but the memories of both still linger for us all. The holidays, the birthdays; the visits. They were all amazingly special in a way that some may never understand, but amazing they were. Yet, life happens. We get older, we get grayer, we hopefully get wiser; and in the process we begin to say goodbye. For the wonderment of such a family is also its heartache. So many to love and so many to loose. Earlier this month we said farewell to the head of yet another great Irish family line, my Uncle Bill Halloran, my mother’s brother-in-law. Then just yesterday my mom’s own brother Charlie, the last of her generation. Heartache. But for those of us who remain we hold on to the wonderment. The wonderment of the family that they both helped build. The brothers, sisters, cousins….the families that they now build to hopefully create that same wonderment that my generation has known. Because that wonderment will be the only thing to help lessen that inevitable heartache.

I Love A Parade

So it seems that Mother Nature doesn’t feel like turning things over to Old Man Winter any time soon in Rutland County. She hasn’t even really invited autumn in just yet but that won’t stop the festivities planned in Rutland this weekend. Saturday night the streets of downtown Rutland will be full of the ghosts, goblins, witches & spectacular floats that will make up the 58^th annual Halloween Parade. The parade is one of the largest & longest running Halloween parades in the United States, getting its start when Eisenhower was still President. The first parade took to the streets of Rutland in October of 1960 and has been part of Rutland’s history ever since. My first parade was in 1993 and as a local radio guy I have been part of it ever since.

So even though Mother Nature isn’t quite ready to relinquish her hold on the warmer weather, the good news is it should be a perfect fall evening for the 58^th Halloween Parade. 94-5 The Drive will be there on Saturday night as we have been since we went on the air here in Rutland in 2008. Look for us….we’ll be looking for you!

Isla

Five years ago this past September I was enjoying one of the special days in my life when my daughter was married to one of the finest men I know. Now, five years on I spent the anniversary of that wonderful day with my granddaughter as mom & dad celebrated their fifth anniversary. When you have a chance to spend time with the innocence of a beautiful child you remember how truly special & truly important the simplest things in life are. The burdens of everyday life that always seem to bog you down melt away when you take the time to let yourself look inward; to the truly important things in your life. Like the wonderment  of being a grandfather. A beautiful feeling only surpassed by an even more beautiful little one...named Isla.

Thoughts On Those In the Gulf Region

I was thinking about the people in Houston and how so many have lost so much in such a short period of time. It caused me to think of how lucky most of us are that we have never suffered through anything of that magnitude. All of us have gone through a tough stretch here and there I have no doubt. Some more than others I am sure but so many in the gulf area have lost everything. Some today grieve over the loss of family members. Others have lost cars, homes…. And in some cases even jobs. So very many have no place to return to. We know how difficult it was to put lives back together here in the northeast after Irene. We can only hope that those in the gulf region will find a way to put their lives together after a storm that was so much worse.

It's Getting Very Near The End

Only a couple of more weeks to go before we find out who the winner is in our Sgt. Pepper Summer Giveaway. All summer long we have been qualifying our listeners for a chance to win the complete 50^th anniversary collection of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The collection is chock full of great Beatles music, memorabilia, CD’s & DVD’s. You can see the complete layout of our prize by checking out the Sgt Pepper video here on our website. So yes, we are coming to the final weeks of our Sgt. Pepper Summer but you still have a chance to qualify to win this great package by listening to Uncle Dave weekday mornings and my show in the afternoon. If you’re a Beatles fan…or know someone who is I can tell you firsthand how great an anniversary collection this is. You see, I purchased my own set back in early June. So be sure to listen for your last few chances to qualify over the next couple of weeks because if you are chosen as the winner…”A splendid time is guaranteed for all”

Rutland County & Beyond

Although 94-5 The Drive is Rutland County's choice for great classic hits, it's pretty obvious to us that we stretch well beyond our home county. Thanks to all of our Drivers in Addison County, Windsor County and those of you in Washington County, New York too! We can't say enough about how much we appreciate you all as listeners. Hope you'll keep DRIVING along, and in turn, we will keep playing all the great classics of your past; whether you are here with us in Rutland County or beyond.

Celebrating Sgt. Pepper At 50

Though you may not be of that certain age where the 50^th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a big deal, my guess is there is someone in your life that remembers the release of that iconic album when it first came out in America on June 2 back in 1967. Ask them and they will tell you what an amazing thing it was to hear that album for the first time for a variety of different reasons. From the album cover itself to the magic that waited inside for your ears to experience, in its day, it was unlike anything in rock that had come before. And now, 50 years on it has been remastered, repackaged & re-released to rave reviews and sales that in its first week of release put it at the top of the album chart in England and nearly matched that here in the U.S. where it sold over 75,000 copies in its first week to re enter the Billboard 200 Album Chart at #3. The last time Sgt. Pepper peaked that high was on December 30, 1967 after a run at #1 that lasted 15 weeks. I mention all this to set the stage for the package that you could win here on The Drive during our Sgt. Pepper Summer. All summer we will be giving you a chance to win the 50th Anniversary Edition of the LP both on the air and at various locations throughout Rutland County. Before Labor Day we will award the ENTIRE package to one lucky listener. Take a look at the special video here on our website to see what the 50th Anniversary Edition includes and listen to The Drive in the days and weeks ahead for your chance to own a very special piece of rock music history.

All In The Family

The Drive is part of the Catamount Radio Group and because of that we remind you that the Catamount Radio Auction is coming up on June 3^rd from 7:30 in the morning until 2:00 Saturday afternoon. We can promise you here at The Drive that we will be Driving you through that Saturday with the perfect weekend soundtrack of great Classic Hits, but if at any time on June 3^rd you want to take a stab at grabbing some great items at huge savings then tune to one of our “sister stations” that will be airing The Catamount Radio Auction. You can hear the auction on Cat Country at 105.3 FM or on one of the two signals that broadcast WSYB in Rutland. On the AM dial you can hear WSYB on 1380, but Catamount Radio has now added WSYB to the FM dial too. Listen to the auction there at 100.1. Between now and  the 3^rd of June you can check out all the latest items that will be up for bid by clicking “CATAMOUNT RADIO AUCTION” on the front page of this website. New items seem to pop up there on a daily basis, so check it out. Save on big, expensive items to certificates for food & services. It’s all on the radio at 105.3 & 100.1 FM or 1380 AM. So on Saturday June 3^rd you have a chance to bid on some great items from local businesses on those stations….but if that’s not your idea of a good Saturday of radio, remember…. We’re always here with great Classic Hits for all of Rutland County…….94-5 THE DRIVE.

Frampton Comes Alive on The Drive

Earlier today I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes chatting with Peter Frampton. Yes, the artist that released an album of live music in 1976 that remains, after more than 40 years, one of the best selling LIVE albums of all time. Admittedly I didn’t know what to expect from an artist that has shared the stage, and the studio, with some of the other big names of our generation; George Harrison, Ringo Starr, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, B.B. King and even Jerry Lee Lewis. But what I found was a gentleman. The kind of guy you would hope to have a chance to meet in a quiet pub and have a sip or two with. When you found out who he was (if somehow you didn’t recognize him right away) you would hope he would pull out his acoustic guitar & play a song or two for you from his amazing body of work. Well, that is just about what he plans to do at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland on April 12^th. He is touring with his son Julian along with his best friend & fellow musician Gordon Kennedy. Together they bring that intimate meeting I described a moment ago to the Paramount for a more than two hour show. Plan on an evening of great music, stripped down to its acoustic form from two of the best guitarists of our time. I’m looking forward to it. So should you. Get your tickets at the Paramount Box Office or direct from paramountvt.org

Some Thoughts On The Blizzard.

During yesterday’s blizzard many things came to mind for me. Like the stories that my great aunt told me as a child about the famous blizzard of 1888. She was a very young girl at the time and only remembered that it was impossible to go anywhere for weeks. The storm dumped up to 60 inches of snow in its wake in parts of New England including her town in Connecticut. Over almost two full days  the wind blue drifts as high as 50 feet in some areas. I imagined what it must have been like. A blizzard more powerful than our blizzard of 2017 trapping people in their own homes during a time that only offered a hand shovel to most people of the 1880’s. Roads & walkways couldn’t be cleared for days on end and good old radio was still more than 30 years away from broadcasting the spoken word. An event that would be a literal lifesaver in the time of future storms. It’s been just short of 100 years since radio began broadcasting those first words and here we are again finding ourselves in the mist of another blizzard and the need for information that for some could be lifesaving. The difference is today snowplows, snowblowers and other devices to make our life easier are plentiful & there are so many other ways to get information that to those who need help radio becomes an afterthought. Perhaps getting the information that you need from radio isn’t as important as it once was but a local radio station like The Drive is still a place to know that in your community of Rutland County Vermont we care about what happens because it is our community too. I live here with you. So does Uncle Dave and the rest of the Drive family. By all means, check your text messages, tweets & facebook pages but remember; we will be here not only as a music radio station, but as a community one as well. For you.

 The Blizzard of 1888. New Britain, CT. My Great Aunt Nellie told stories to us of that day.

Might Need To Re-work The Image

Once in awhile I will walk across the street here in downtown Rutland to grab a coffee from one of the shops. I did that this morning and added a cookie to go along with it and as I walk in with the snack balanced on top of my coffee cup it seems people thought I was enjoying a bit of Guinness to get my day going! So either I need to re-work my image or begin starting my work day with a bit of the frothy brew!