WFHB FireHouse Broadcasting

WFHB has scheduled its summer “Firehouse Follies” live variety show for Sunday, July 18. The show gets underway at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of the John Waldron Arts Center.

The theme for the summer show will be “Looking for a Home,” and the program will celebrate WFHB’s new relationship with Ivy Tech Community College, which recently purchased the John Waldron Arts Center from the city of Bloomington and offered WFHB free rent for the life of the station. The variety show will be broadcast live from the auditorium, and Ivy Tech Chancellor John Whikehart will make a special appearance with the Unusual Suspects, WFHB's radio acting company.

“We’re very appreciative of what Ivy Tech has done for the station, and honored that Chancellor Whikehart can join us,” WFHB General Manager Will Murphy said.

In addition to the Chancellor's vocal stylings, this summer’s show will feature the singing and acting talents of Mike Craver, the original keyboard player for the Red Clay Ramblers, who now writes musical comedy. His most recent musical release is a CD called “The Bible Salesman.”

“Mike Craver is an incredible songwriter, singer, and writer, and I’m delighted to have him on the show,” said producer and long-time WFHB volunteer, Mike Kelsey. “He has been in Bloomington before, and totally wow’ed his audience.”

The show also includes Tim Grimm and Jan Lucas, the Firehouse Gospel Singers with Ginger Curry, and Dennis Riggins’ Firehouse Swing Thing with Jason Fickel on guitar. The Swing Thing will be joined by jazz saxaphonist Jack Wilkins, a former Bloomington resident and now the head of Jazz Studies at the University of South Florida.

The Ginger Curry-Jason Fickel duet will bring their talents to the stage, along with master storyteller Arbutus Cunningham, and the Unusual Suspects Radio Acting Company. Rumors are rife that the reclusive British rocker Rok Star will make a guest appearance as well.

Admission to the show is $10 at the door.

Special underwriters include Ivy Tech Community College, Bloomingfoods, and BEAD.