Radio retirees return to air for Christmas fund

With the radio station having largely shifted to syndicated programming, Collamore and other local radio personalities have come out of retirement to broadcast live and raise money for local families in need. Hosts will do live broadcasts from 6 to 9 a.m. Mondays through Fridays until Dec. 2, though they plan special a 4 to 7 p.m. broadcast from Ted's Pizza Dec. 9.

"It's one of the first things I grew up listening to when I was in high school," said Terry Jay, who became one of the fundraisers central figures. "I loved the warmth of it, the community spirit, the giving. You could tell how much it meant to the guys on the air."

The event had its origin in a yearly program where Ted Pendleton, who normally read the news, would read children's letter to Santa on-air while posing as Santa Claus himself. Letters were usually about toys, but one year the letter was from a child whose bedroom had a broken window covered with cardboard. All he wanted, the organizers said, was a coat or blanket to keep his brother warm.

"Once the letter got on the air, the phones lit up like you wouldn't believe," Collamore said.

The event grew from something informally carried out by radio station staff to a function of a specially created 501c3. Money that comes in goes right back out as gift cards given to families in need identified by local nonprofits, churches and schools.

"Every dollar that comes in goes out the other way," Collamore said. "Nobody gets paid a dime."

Over the life of the event, Jay estimated it has raised $2 million. He said the radio station will match donations up to $5,000.

Jay said that like him and Collamore, most of the people historically involved in the fundraiser had retired from the radio station in the last couple years. Jay said a favorite song of Collamore's, Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass" came on the radio while he was listening, inspiring him to call up his old friend and colleague and ask if they should broadcast for the fundraiser again.

"We were both on the fence about it," Jay said. "I  knew I was going to come back and help with Stuff-A-Bus (an annual food drive). I have the time and I can pick the the things that mean something to me."

Soon after, another old WSYB hand, Ed Kelly, made a Facebook post and Jay said people began jumping on board.

"I know what an important part of the community it was," Kelly said, adding that it felt great to be on the air again. "What I felt when I was on with Terry and Brian this morning and talking to listeners on the air, it reminded me  how great it was to be part of the Rutland community through the radio."

Jay said the community spirit that drives the Christmas Fund is the same one that makes events like the Gift of Life Marathon blood drive, another of his passions, possible.

"You never look at it as asking for something," he said. "You look at it as giving people a chance to do something they wanted to do all along anyway. You want to help someone? Of course you do!"