The Big 41!

You Say It's Your Birthday...

WDGC's 41st birthday is quickly approaching--November 25th marks the date WDGC received word from the FCC that we could go on the air at 10 Watts. You can see the original telegram in our very first blog entry.

There are a few fun events planned to mark the date. First, Cable 99 is throwing a party on its live TV show (99 Now) on Tuesday, November 24th from 5-7 PM. Be sure to tune in to channel 16. Many fun events are planned.

Also, WDGC will be throwing a party in the cafeteria during all lunches on the 25th, offering free cotton candy to students who can prove that they rock.

Also, stay tuned for information about WDGC's new website, where you will be able to tour the station and learn about its history.

By the way, the show and the cotton candy are a surprise, so please do not tell WDGC if you see him around . . .

Executive Staff Finally Revealed

Although they've been working hard all year, we are only now able to finally release an official portrait of this year's WDGC Executive Staff. In the picture above, we have, from generally left to right:

Brad: Co-News Director

Tyler: Social Director

Siga: Co-Promotions Director

Matt: Traffic Director

Stephanie: Co-Promotions Director

Zach: Co-Personnel Director

Maddie: Co-Personnel Director

Trevor: Co-News Director

Austin: Programming Director

Archie: Music Director

Not Shown: Scott: Sports Director

The crew has a lot of great ideas in the works, and we are proud of what they have already accomplished so far. Keep up the great work!

Tune in . . . Rock Out!

At the executive staff meeting on Friday, October 2, the group voted to adopt a new slogan for the station. Actually, the group voted to adopt TWO new slogans for the station: "Tune in, Rock Out!" and "88-3, Rockin' DG." Emphasizing just how incredibly hard we rock, the new slogans should start popping up in Legal IDs, Liners, and print material soon! Thanks to Siga and Stephanie for their work.

Programming Updates

With the school year off to a smooth start, the programming is starting to roll in. Coming up very soon on Cable 99, we will have the only full tape of the marching band's invitation to perform in London in 2011. See the schedule to the right for airing times. We are proud to be your source for exclusive school-related programming!

Cable 99 will also soon be bringing you North High's Homecoming Variety Show, which took place on Wednesday, September 23.

WDGC, your Trojan Sports Network, will be brining you TWO live football games on September 25, starting at 5:00pm and 7:30pm. Scott Boulter and Shane Gustafson will be providing play-by-play and color commentary for the two homecoming games against York High School.

Also, the new "Executive Staff Radio Hour" will premier on WDGC 88.3 FM on Friday, September 25 at 3:30pm. WDGC's Executive Staff (pictures coming soon) will host a radio show featuring games and music in what is sure to be an entertaining hour of radio. Each week the theme of the show will change. This week's theme is "Guitar Solos." Tune in and Rock out.

Finally, Cable 99 will be bringing you its first episode of 99 Now this year. The Septacular will take place on Tuesday, September 29 from 5:00-7:00 pm, live on channel 16 in Downers Grove. Guests include students from: Northwind Literary Magazine; Singing in the Rain; One-Acts; Marching Band. There will also be a live band, weird science with Mr. Redig, and a special guest to talk about the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall that is coming to Downers Grove. Other elements will include a cooking segment and game.

WDGC to Broadcast North-South Football 9-18

WDGC will be broadcasting the North-South football game Friday, September 18 at 7:30 PM live from South High. Tune in to hear the play-by-play!

The sophomore game at 5:00 might also be added to the schedule.

Plans are also being made to broadcast the game at hypercast.net, but that is tentative.

New Year, New Plans...

The latest DJ Schedule for WDGC will be posted soon! We have a great year planned.

Cable 99 is working on a new episode of 99Now, which will air on Channel 16 on September 29. Among other things, the show will feature Weird Science with Mr. Redig.

Shane and Scott and a new crew of announcers will be bringing you live coverage of the North High vs. Lyons Township games on Friday, September 11. That's right, they are broadcasting BOTH games that night, at 5:00 and 7:30. Tune in! We plan to have the game on Cable 99 (channel 16--audio only), 88.3FM, and Hypercast.net.

Tune in for more details!

Talk 99 Debuts on Cable 99

Talk 99, a talk/game show produced by the TV 1 and TV2 classes during the 2008-2009 school year is currently running on Cable 99 at 6:00am, 1:00pm, and 8:00pm. Made up of 5 episodes, the programming block features interviews with Mr. Haack, Ms. Graham, Ms. Burritt, Ms. Wlodek-Holland, and Mr. Piekarz. Each episode also features a cooking segment, a student guest talking about school events and clubs, and an exciting game show: Take It or Leave It. Pictured above are DJ Christian, our Negotiator (T.), and the skull of Sir Isaac Newton (who teaches lessons about history during the show).

WDGC at Relay for Life

For the 8th or 9th time in as many years, WDGC has provided sound support and acted as DJs at the Relay for Life held by the American Cancer Society at Carstens Field. The event, from May 12 to May 13 raised over $130,000 to help fight cancer. Pictured above are some members of the 2009-2010 Executive Staff (and Mr. Gullotto) who worked the event. The picture was taken near the tail-end of the event, so if they look groggy...

Graduation 2009: Tri-Cast

Once again, WDGC and Cable 99 (Channel 16 in Downers Grove) are planning on providing live coverage of North High's graduation ceremony, which begins at 7:00 PM on Friday, May 29. Hopefully, we can once again provide live coverage on the internet as well, at www. hypercast.net.

A crew of students will direct and run cameras for the show.

South High's ceremony is being taped and will run on Cable 99 this summer. Copies of both ceremonies will be sent to surrounding communities for possible airing on their cable channels.

UPATE:

We are happy to announce the event went off without a hitch. And we even got a new type of shot for the video. For the first time, Mr. Waite was stationed behind Mrs. Ward as she shook the hands of each graduate after they received their diplomas. It allows for each graduate to be highlighted in a beautiful medium/full shot for the first time. This shot will be edited into the video that is for sale and that will air on Cable 99.

If you are interested in buying a copy, contact jwaite@csd99.org.

6th Annual Media Showcase

On May 22 Cable 99 holds its 6th Annual Media Showcase. The event, at 6:00 PM, in the Auditorium features thirteen short videos created by the TV 1 and TV 2 classes and the Cable 99 club. Films include a parody of Jurassic Park called Jurassic Teacher, a horror movie called Abbasolute Terror with a soundtrack consisting solely of ABBA music, and a video about a young man who loves Hot Fries so much he marries a bag of them. The videos are the product of many hours of work by many people, and we are proud to showcase them.

Voice of The Trojans: A Saga Ends

For the past four years there has been an entity whose loyalty to Trojan sports rivals that of the band, the cheerleaders, and even the most devout Superfans. Rain or shine, WDGC sports radio under the direction of Philip Vainikos has made it to every home and playoff football game, a plethora of home and away basketball games, and even a few baseball games.

The announcing team of Philip Vainikos and Dan Morrill has developed a professional sound perfected over three years of yelling “Trojans win!” together. In an attempt to improve the quality of their broadcasts Phil and Dan conduct extensive pre-game research, informative pre-game, in-game and post-game interviews, and produced segments. One such produced segment, “Full Court Press,” allowed listeners to familiarize themselves with the senior basketball players through entertaining personal interviews. Folks were able to learn that Kam Norton’s favorite’s video game is Super Smash Brothers, and Tommy Benton would like to have lightning shoot from his fingertips if he had a super power.

Not surprisingly, this commitment to radio excellence requires a huge time commitment. Not only do the games themselves take up a lot of time, but Phil and Dan allow up to two hours for pre game research, and two more hours to set up the broadcast equipment. They were a self-sufficient radio behemoth; Phil and Dan learned all the technical aspects of broadcasting on top of announcing skills. Now, after three years of perfecting the technical logistics to optimum efficiency, Phil is in the process of re-writing the manual for all the sports radio equipment. All TV/Radio technical crews now follow a system that Phil and Dan grounded as a standard.

As these two legendary announcers move on in their lives, they leave the WDGC sports radio program with trained successors. Phil and Dan have trained two new rookies, Scott Boulter and Shane Gustafson, to continue broadcasting at the same professional level with an expectation that Scott and Shane will strive to improve the program. However bright the future looks for WDGC sports radio, it was without a doubt a tearful event during the remote “White Out” broadcast from York HS when Phil and Dan (pictured above) signed off for the last time saying “from WDGC, this is Philip Vainikos and Dan Morrill saying thank you and goodnight.”

Another Alum Checks In

We have received another post from a WDGC Alum. This time, it is Larry Massingill, from the class of 1968. Below is his post. He was also kind enough to send along a picture from his archives.

More posts are on the way! We've still got 6 shirts to give away to alums who share a memory with us. Email Jwaite@csd99.org to join in.

Larry writes:

"I ran across your blog today and was pleased to see your picture of Fred (as we used to call him behind his back) looking puzzled at all the wires and cables under the Gates Yard console. Fortunately, he had knowledgeable students to keep him from electrocuting himself, or getting his ever present tie caught in a turntable or tape reel."

The process for transforming the carrier current AM station WDGN to a licensed FM station was not without difficulties. First we built the studio which I drew up and Fred built, with a (mostly) sound proof announcer booth behind the glass. I installed and wired the equipment which included the console, two manual turntables and an Ampex 400 console tape deck, which is either hidden behind the turntable on the left, or no longer present when this picture was taken.
I apologize for the rat’s nest of wires Fred seems to be caught in, but tie-wraps weren’t invented yet in 1968, and I was just a wanabee engineer at the time.

I studied for and obtained my First Class Radiotelephone license, required to run an FM station, and helped others gain their first or second class licenses needed to operate a broadcast station. I then helped with the FCC application, which was turned down for both the initially requested frequency and call sign. With the help of a "real" engineering firm we found an acceptable frequency, and since WDGN "Downers Grove North" was already assigned to another station, we choose "Downers Grove Community" WDGC as our call sign. There was no consideration given to including the new uppity South High in the program, but I guess loss of the "N" in the call sign worked out for the best.

We installed the FM transmitter, but I graduated in the spring of 1968 before the license was granted, so I missed the first sign on. I had to be content using my license at the newly established station WPGU at the UofI Champaign/Urbana campus. I maintained the transmitter for two years while I was busy attaining the right to call myself a real Engineer.

Today my only connection to radio is through designing the internals of cell phones, but I have many fond memories of "radio days", both on and off the air.

Regards,
Larry Massingill ‘68"

Cable 99 Presents 99 Now

Tuesday, February 24, Cable 99 presented its February edition of 99 Now, a live television show featuring interviews with school and community members. Guests included South High Physical Education teacher and author Kirk Mango, South High's Caribbean Soul Latin Dance group, Mr. Klamm's Weird Science, an intergalactic musical guest, a cooking segment, and a visit from Master Randy Stigall of the American Academy of Martial Arts in Downers Grove. Thanks to all who made the show a success! Look for reruns on Channel 16.

Another Alum: John Ogren

John Ogren writes:

"I was part of 'DGC all four years (and Cable 99 for three) that I was at DGN. Dave Zarembka and I were heavily involved in the football and basketball radio and TV simulcasts. We would run that cable from the studio to either the football field, or the gym right after school, then spend a couple hours figuring out why it didn't all work right.

Once, we decided to do the DGN/DGS football game, when it was at South (up 'til that time, we had only broadcast football games from North HS). The forecast was for rain, so Mr. Moore decided to get garbage bags to cover the cameras so they could stay dry. We got over there as early as possible, since there were so many extra steps.

Anyway, sure enough, we get everything set up, and it starts to pour. The cameras seemed fine, but we huddled in the press box to stay dry. Finally, the wind picked up enough to knock over one of the cameras. Mr. Moore was mortified! The lens housing was broken, and had to be fixed.

Turns out, the game ended up postponed, and all our time was wasted. We still had a good time, sitting in the press box at South, getting everything set-up and ready to go (and then taking it down in the rain). I remember Dave Zarembka, Cynthia Janetka and Mr. Moore from North being there, as well as a couple people from South I didn't know.

I moved on to Northern Michigan Univ., and eventually Brown College in Minneapolis, where I majored in Radio and TV. I've had jobs around Minnesota, but have been in Bemidji (about four hours north of the Twin Cities) for almost ten years now, doing high school sports."

Thanks to John for writing in! John will be receiving a WDGC 40th Anniversary T-shirt. We have more stories coming, and we still have shirts to give away. If you would like to share your story, email John Waite @ jwaite@csd99.org.

A Voice from the Past

We've had our first alum write in to share their memories of being at the station. John Spotts, of Downers Grove, writes:

"In the fall of 1977 I was tapped to broadcast most of the DGN home football games even though I wasn't really good at play by play. In fact, I was terrible. As the season commenced the weather got worse and worse for every home game (it rained for almost every one of them).

My color man Roger Paulsen always remarked how fortunate we were to be in the nice enclosed fairly warm press box....and we never would let Mr. Moore into the press box!

And to all my comrades during those times in the portable classroom/studio.....Don D'Agostino, Brian Reid, Dave Price, Mel Loving, Timmo Cauley, et al. we had a blast! Who jams galore.

I went on to get a degree from SIU with an RT major and graduated from WDGC to WIDB at SIU, joining Timmo and Don there. I've been in the insurance biz since then.

Happy 40th WDGC!"


For writing in, John will receive a WDGC 40th Anniversary t-shirt. We've still got 9 shirts to give away, so email your memories to jwaite@csd99.org. See the previous blog post for more details.

Help Us Write This Blog!

We are looking to WDGC and Cable 99 alums to help us write this blog. Send us an email with a brief entry about when you were a part of WDGC or Cable 99. Please include a favorite memory of being here as well as what you are doing now, whether it is related to radio or tv or neither. You can also send a recent or old picture of yourself for us to post as well as contact information to post. Messages are limited to 300 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit all entries and post only those we deem appropriate. As an added incentive, the authors of the first ten posts will each receive a free WDGC 40th Anniversary t-shirt. Please mail your posts to wdgc@csd99.org.