WFHB FireHouse Broadcasting

January 4th, 1993. The sound of an ancient gong resonated over our local radio airwaves, a milestone nearly twenty years in the making. Community radio WFHB launched from a tiny shack next to its transmitter on Rockport Road, where a ragtag band of volunteers began broadcasting a unique blend of music and local information. That first year our volunteers drove a collective 30,000 miles back and forth from central Bloomington out to the transmitter shack. Thirteen months after the January 4 sign-on, a crowd gathered at Bloomington’s historic downtown firehouse to celebrate its conversion to the radio station’s new headquarters, and a hush fell over the crowd as Herman B Wells slowly drew breath to speak. The late beloved chancellor was instrumental in securing both a broadcasting license and a home for WFHB. You’ll hear station manager Brian Kearney introduce Wells, but first, see if you recognize the voice of longtime jazz DJ Bruce Baker, who died in 2008. This is the entire housewarming ceremony broadcast live on-location in February 1994.