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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, WJBC AM-1230 is celebrating its 90th anniversary
3in 2015; and
 
4    WHEREAS, WJBC AM-1230 was the marketing brainchild of Lee
5Stremlau and was originated from Wayne Hummer's Furniture Store
6in LaSalle, with the hopes that radios, which were then as big
7as furniture, would sell if people had something to listen to;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, WJBC AM-1230's call letters, "WJBC", were
10assigned by then-United States Secretary of Commerce Herbert
11Hoover; Lee Stremlau then provided the slogan, "Where Jazz
12Becomes Classic"; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In the 1930s, WJBC AM-1230 moved to
14Bloomington-Normal with a new radio tower located on farm
15property owned by Illinois State University and the station
16located on campus; the station's new owners, Arthur and Dorothy
17McGregor, set the tone for the station to focus on "full
18service" news and talk radio to the area's residents; the
19Federal Communications Commission subsequently granted WJBC a
20full-time license; the station also hosted a radio chat with
21President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and broadcast the opening
22of State Farm Insurance's new headquarters; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In the 1940s, the station moved to downtown
2Bloomington; the station's current 400-foot tower was also
3erected on U.S. Route 66 and was said to be "a county landmark,
4visible for miles"; and
 
5    WHEREAS, WJBC engineers revolutionized radio by sharing
6the new "endless loop tape cartridge" with the National
7Association of Broadcasters in 1959, allowing DJs push-button
8access to music, sound effects, and commercials; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In the 1970s, under the ownership of Timothy R.
10Ives, the station built its current studios next to its tower
11and, to create holiday spirit, began to gather wrapped gifts
12under the lobby Christmas tree for distribution to homes where
13they were needed, which is now named the Brotherhood Tree; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In the decades to follow, the station has grown
15along with the community and actively adopts the newest
16broadcasting technology, garnering state wide and national
17awards and recognition for its high school and collegiate
18sports coverage, news coverage, and its on-air personalities -
19local celebrities such as Don Newberg, Art Kimball, Art
20Sechrest, Gene Lyle, Don Munson, Steve Vogel, Ken Behrens, and
21a young Scott Laughlin; the station has also won the
22prestigious National Association of Broadcaster Marconi Award

 

 

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1for Best Small Market Station in the nation; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4congratulate the owners and employees of WJBC AM-1230 on the
5occasion of the station's 90th anniversary and wish them
6continued success in the future; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to WJBC AM-1230 as a symbol of our respect and
9esteem.