Eddy Allen III On History Of WDOR Radio In Sturgeon Bay

My DNA has me wired to be nostalgic.  As such over the past couple of years I have been thinking more and more about the time I spent behind the microphone at WDOR Radio in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.  It was quite a thrill to be on the air to provide the latest winter storm updates, news headlines, and other events that people rely on as they go about their day.  The intimacy of radio is perhaps felt in no greater degree by listeners than when it takes place with small locally owned radio stations.  For me that was always the way I saw myself while on the air; talking to just one person.  As such I think I was effective at my job.   While there are no really remarkable broadcasts that anyone will recall about my time there, I obviously have countless fond memories that result from the decision by Eddy Allen, Jr. to hire me for his broadcasting business.   

Long time readers will know I have commented from time to time on WDOR, and my larger concerns about the future of radio.  Through all my thoughts are some solid foundations.

While I was working at a small AM/FM station in Door County we may not have been cutting edge, but we were local.  Local neighborhood disc-jockeys with the current weather and local fishing conditions, high school sports reports, and even the local obituaries were read on certain long-form newscasts.  (When was the last long-form newscast in the Madison radio market?  Sadly many readers here may not have ever heard a real ‘noon report of local news’)  Is the model of WDOR, the station where I worked, what every radio station should be?  No, of course not.  But it served a sizable niche, and the important part was that it was local talent broadcasting local content.

No one pretended to be more than what we were. We were happy to work out of a small studio that was too hot in the summer, and too chilly in the winter, but we knew our audience.  Heck, we lived in the community, cared for our friends, and shared many commonalities.  As such we served the community through our daily broadcasting.  Local live radio for local listeners.  And I might say with humility, having been a part of their radio team,  that it was also profitable.

What Eddy Allen, Jr. started in Sturgeon Bay was the quintessential type of radio station for a small-market.   As I have thought back to the days at WDOR Radio I stumbled on the following video of Eddy Allen III, the son of the owner who took a chance on me.  In this video Allen looks back on how his dad and some others made WDOR a household name on the Door Peninsula.

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