WCBC Celebrates 50th Anniversary

WCBC Celebrates 50th Anniversary

The story of WCBC did not begin in Cumberland. It started over 170 miles away in Wilmington, Delaware, with two ambitious young men, David Aydelotte and Manning Kimmel. Dave’s father, Richard, was the program director at WDEL, but radio wasn’t the life his father wanted for him. Dave couldn’t resist the pull. He got hooked not just on the radio, but on the idea of owning a station along with Manning.

That dream took them on a search that included stops in Maine, New Hampshire, and famously, a station in the Catskills housed in an old chicken coop. Then came Cumberland. Compared to the others, Aydelotte said, “Cumberland felt like New York, New York.”
Aydelotte bought the station in 1976, with his partner, Manning Kimmel, and Cumberland Broadcasting Company was born. At the closing table, Aydelotte’s father took one look at the financials of the station and said, “Congratulations! You don’t have enough money to make Friday’s payroll.” The partners moved on anyway.

Coming into Cumberland as an outsider had its challenges. “I simply didn’t know enough to know,” Dave recalls. They were determined to build something real. “I wanted to do something tangible in the community,” he said.
That mindset shaped the station’s identity. WCBC focused on local news. The station became something the community could count on for information.

Mary Clites joined the operation in 1980. Dave had already interviewed 40 candidates for a personal secretary. Mary was number 41. But her quiet steadiness and deep local roots helped her develop into the heart of the station. “I’m family-oriented, and that’s what this is,” she says. “Radio has become a part of my family. I grew here as a person because of WCBC.” Mary became station manager in 2006 and remembers “it was never about hierarchy. It was always about getting the job done. Dave often says he doesn’t have people who work for him, only people who work with him.”

When the company purchased radio stations in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1985, several members of the staff covered the three locations. Dave would start his week in Cumberland, fly to Fayetteville by Monday night, and split time between both southern stations before returning home each Friday. In the South, along with partner, Manning Kimmel, the outsider status stood out even more. When Dave told an employee they’d be covering Easter Monday, the response was swift: “Don’t be some damn Yankee coming down here a-changing things on us.”
In 1989, the company acquired an FM station, 107.1 in Keyser. Acquiring an FM signal strengthened the value of the company and made it more attractive should the stations ever be sold.

1990, Aydelotte bought out Kimmel and took full control of WCBC’s operations in Cumberland with Kimmel taking over the South Carolina station. During this time, Dave was able to see that his small AM station in Cumberland was very different. It was unique in its connection to the local Community.

In 2020, WCBC’s AM station began simulcasting on 103.1 FM, broadening its reach geographically. Meanwhile, 107.1 FM became a Classic Hits station, that still carried key WCBC content: lunch menus, local news, weather, and sports.
WCBC AM & FM has remained focused on its mission: to serve the community. Service to the community has manifested itself in various partnerships including working with the Miss Maryland Scholarship Program to sponsor the Miss Allegany County Scholarship Pageant for 20 years. The station was the founder of Christmas for the Kids of the Maryland Salem Children’s Trust for 25 years and the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. WCBC’s High School Salute Program focuses on student academic success partnering with Frostburg State University, Allegany College of Maryland, the County Board of Education and the Chamber of Commerce to present annual scholarships.

Additionally, station coverage of major local events has included Cumberland City and Allegany County Bicentennial parades, the opening of the Downtown Cumberland Mall in 1978, Dapper Dan Parades and Dinners, Halloween Parades, the opening of the Country Club Mall, and the dedication of Interstate 68. Also covered was the Rocky Gap Music Festival, and the opening of UPMC Western Maryland, earning the station’s catch phrase of “We Sound Like Cumberland.”

From day one, local news has been an integral component of WCBC’s history. Newscasters Jim Robey, Tom Singleton, Bill Rice, Charlie Harris, Bryan Gowans, Paul Mullen, Bridget Nolan Manley, Dick Yoder, Chris Myers, and Kathy Cornwell have provided live newscasts keeping listeners up to date on stories that affect them. They have also provided special coverage of the Annapolis PACE Reception, Elections, the Maryland and West Virginia legislative assemblies, disasters and other news events including the closing of the Kelly Springfield Tire plant along with other industries in the community, the Flood of 1996, and more recently coverage of the ribbon cutting for the revitalized Baltimore Street in Downtown Cumberland.

Sports coverage is another cornerstone for WCBC AM & FM. Broadcasting Dapper Dan Little League, Short Gap Little League, High School Football, Basketball, Volleyball, and Soccer and Allegany College of Maryland Basketball locally along with Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington (Redskins) Commanders and Motor Racing Network. Sports announcers Tom O’Rourke, Jim Zamagias, Rock Cioni, Mike Connelley, Garrett Eagen, Tony Orndoff, Mike Allen and many others have provided colorful play by play coverage up to and including State Championship games since 1976. Along the way, the station has created lasting memories, like the night sportscaster Garrett Eagan quipped while broadcasting a Dapper Dan game, “If you’re listening to me on WCBC, blow your horn.” Over 30 cars did just that, completely drowning out the broadcast.

Another initiative that began on WCBC was the Radio Auction. A lively, on-air sale that helps small businesses advertise affordably and connect listeners to deals. “It helps our listeners save money, and it helps small businesses afford radio advertising time to which they might not otherwise have access,” Mary says. The Auction has been voiced by Tom O’Rourke, Charlie Harris, Jim Van, Jim Corley and Andee Thompson over the years.

John Balch, founder of the PharmaCare network and one of WCBC’s first advertisers, still remembers the impact. “Advertising with WCBC is truly what spurred my growth and recognition in the community. I was known for many years as that guy on the radio,” he says. “WCBC represents the pulse of the community. They were always ahead of the curve.”
He credits Dave and Manning with being some of the first to truly connect with people in the region. “They were getting real answers to the stories that mattered most,” John says. “And in knowing Dave, I believe that being the voice of this community meant as much to him as it did making sure his business was successful. He was the voice of the community, and no one could keep up with him. That is why people woke up to him as the ‘Morning Mayor.’”

Mayor Ray Morriss agrees. “Dave has been a consistent and trusted voice in this community for decades,” he says. “As Mayor, I value our conversations on air, not just because they keep people informed, but because they’re rooted in real respect for the people of Cumberland.”

Still, pushing boundaries had consequences. In the early days, there was an unwritten agreement: WCBC should stick to Allegany football games. But the company was able to expand coverage to include Bishop Walsh and Fort Hill football. “That was like a stick of dynamite,” broadcaster Jim Zamagias recalled. Even the school board took notice; one member claimed it was costing them gate revenue.

But the most serious clash came years later with Allegany County School Superintendent Bill AuMiller. At a time when school security was a major concern, Dave sent reporter, Bridget Nolan, undercover to test school security. She walked into a school unnoticed and sat through a class. Dave brought it to the board’s attention. What followed was a campaign to hurt WCBC’s advertising revenue by way of a boycott. The Board also attempted to strip WCBC of the opportunity to continue to award High School student’s scholarships, along with restricting the ability of the station to record students for lunch menu broadcasts. The situation rose to the level of the station being told it could no longer broadcast high school sports and press releases were not being sent to the news department from the Board, essentially trying to silence the station about anything related to County schools.

WCBC filed suit. In 2007, a federal judge ruled in the station’s favor, issuing an injunction against the Board. The First Amendment, the judge ruled, had been violated. Dave later said, “We weren’t trying to embarrass anyone. We were trying to make sure kids were safe.” He credits the Maryland, Delaware, DC Broadcasters Association for covering all of WCBC’s legal fees. “That meant everything,” Dave said. “We were under fire, but we weren’t abandoned.”
Despite the firestorms, the station never chased controversy. It just told the truth. “You can’t know what’s going on in Cumberland without listening to WCBC,” says Jim Zamagias.

Alongside national syndication from Rush Limbaugh, Paul Harvey, Sean Hannity, Larry King, Bill O’Reilly, Jim Bohannon and Dr. Laura, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Wendy Bell, it’s always been the local voices that gave WCBC its soul. People like Jim “Doc” Webster, Jim Robey, Bob Hidey, Charlie Harris, Tom O’Rourke, Bryan Gowans, Dick Yoder, and Paul Mullan weren’t just broadcasters. They were neighbors. The voices that guided you through snow days, election nights, and Friday and Saturday sports.
In the past year, WCBC lost one of those voices. Paul “Buddy” Mullan passed away, leaving behind a legacy of service and connection. His obituary read, “14 years of radio were spent with WCBC. Through radio, Paul found friendships and a connection to his Allegany and Garrett County communities and dedicated his life to giving back to the places he called home through countless nonprofit organizations, charities, and other fundraisers.”

Because at WCBC, they don’t just celebrate like a family. They mourn like one, too.
Aydelotte made sure the station reflected real life, even his own. “There isn’t much I won’t talk about,” he says. “When I had a heart attack, I talked about it. When I had a bowel obstruction, I talked about it. When my son died, I talked about it.“People can relate because we’re real,” he says. And that loyalty runs both ways. When longtime broadcaster Jim Robey needed a specialist at Johns Hopkins, Dave picked up the phone and called then-Governor Bob Ehrlich. He got the appointment.
Because that’s who Dave is. Direct on air. Quietly relentless off it.
“When he’s in the box, he’s ready to take on anything,” according to Mary says. “In real life, he’s private, thoughtful, always reading.”

“Dave is very supportive,” Jim Zamagias adds. “When he has faith in you, his support is absolute.”
Zamagias says it best: “News, weather, sports, and discussion. The community talks about what we say here.”
For 50 years, WCBC has served as Cumberland’s voice…sometimes loud, sometimes challenging, always honest.
Because this isn’t just a station.

It’s a family.

It’s a mission.

And it’s still signing on.

 

In the picture: Front row, left to right – Fiona, Mary Clites, David Aydelotte, Brenda Aydelotte; Second Row, left to right – Marty White, Chris Myers, Linda Loprinzi Day, Elizabeth Mudge, Kathy Cornwell, Hannah Fout, Mike Connelley, Rock Cioni, Jim Drake, Jim Zamagias; Third Row, left to right – Peter Forlifer, Fred Benson, Tony Orndoff, Stephen Shambaugh, Adam Sterne, Bill Keegan