[BC] WINF, aka, WCKM

[John Lyles]

WCKM 1250 was licensed in early 1960s, a joint venture of three gentlement, i remember K was Kelley and M was late Sen. John Martin. Maybe C was for Cline, but my memory fails me there. For many years Dwight "Duke" Snyder owned and ran the station. In addition to living across the street from me, he was my history teacher in high schoool! I had visited the station many times (rode my bicycle across town to it) and just 'hung out' there after school, on weekends, etc. Especially wanted to be there on Sat or Sunday morning when Harold Walsh (I think his name was) did his rounds, checked the ATU current, read the transmitter meters, tweaked the modulator bias on the 500J. He part-timed there and also worked in the control room of the nearby < 1 MW Parr experimental nuclear power reactor. That guy even gave me a tour of the nuke, although I was too young to see the swimming pool where the cherenkov radiation was glowing deep blue around the fuel rods. So Harold and Duke inspired!
  me to
get into an engineering career. We had an Explorer scout post in Winnsboro (Explorers wore blazers and didn't do goofy things like camping out to go snipe hunting) that spent one season studying broadcasting. Duke let us go into WCKM after sign off, and play DJ, read news, cut PSAs on carts, etc. They had a Gates Studioette for main console. It was the most cool thing a teenager could ask for, I thought. 

I picked up a 3rd Class phone ticket, and got on the air there for a few summers, better than selling nails at my old mans hardware store. I did morning from 9 to noon, playing Jimmy Swaggart tapes, reading Obituraries on the air (with sad organ music, sponsored by Pope Funeral Home, etc....). Later on, I remember getting called to be a backup when regular DJs were out, usually on holidays. So I pulled all afternoon shifts to sign off then. It was my favorite shift - I usually got to fix things when lightning would undoubtedly strike nearby. Some real neat pops and flashes in there. One 4th of July, about 30 years ago,  I tracked the brand new Pink Floyd LP I had just bought, Dark Side of the Moon. Needless to say, I got a few calls from the PD who was out at the lake listening. What years those were! 

At some point in the later 1970s, the station was sold to a fellow who ran a station in Salem, VA, who changed the call to WINF. By then I had gotten my 1st class phone licence while attending VA Tech as an EE student, doing engineering at WUVT, WJJJ, WVVV-FM, WKEX, but returned home and always checked in on the only station in Fairfield County, SC. The new owner ran an automation out in the lobby, and tried to make a go but the limited range from their short stick, 500 watts daytime, and all the competition from Columbia FMs, WINF eventually went dark. 

I remember taking a look at the place in the mid 1980s, windows were borded up, weeds growing, the tower still standing, the BC500J was gone as was all the studio equipment. 

Hope that helps revive some memories. Paul, if you have any jingles for WCKM, I would love to get some from you - dubbed onto cassette. Thanks for mentioning WINF here. 

John Lyles
New Mexico



> Message: 8
> Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 17:38:10 -0700
> From: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." <walkerbroadcasting at gmail.com>
> Subject: [BC] Looking for station history..WINF 1250 Winnsboro, SC
> To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20070211173739.050d3cf8 at oldradio.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
> 
> I'm now working for a Small AM station outside Greenwood, South Carolina.
> 
> While clenaing this place up last month, I found tons of old 
> carts...... half of them weren't even (originally) ours. A buunnch of 
> them came from now defunct WINF 1250 Winnsboro, SC!(WINF is now on 
> 101.9 somewhere nearColumbus, OH)
> 
> Anyone know anything about WINF... it's time frame, ownership, 
> format, etc? Anyone know where I might go and look for more information??
> 
> Paul B. Walker, Jr.
> Operations Manager/Program Director/Secretary/Cleaning 
> Person/Engineer/Chief Cook N' Bottle Washer
> WABV-AM 1590 Abbeville, South Carolina, USA

> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 13
> Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:53:49 -0500
> From: "Milton R. Holladay Jr." <miltron at mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: [BC] Looking for station history..WINF 1250 Winnsboro, SC
> To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
> Message-ID: <001501c74e6a$2b4cecb0$22e2ff04 at miltron>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> I don't recall the WINF calls, but visited  once in its later years.
> They had a BC-500J xmtr and were located in a small wooden house.
> It had been owned by Duke Snyder for many years.
> The last owners still owe me for a pair of SME 3012 tonearms .
> M