The Early Days – 1940s, 50s, and early 60s…..
Listeners in the 1940s were treated to a
mix of network programming and local broadcasts. One of the first personalities was Mal Hait, who joined WKIP
in 1944. His morning show was a
mix of music and talk of local events.
Probably more famous was his “sidekick”, and alter ego, Willy the
Weatherman. Willy 
would give the weather from the ficticious weather
tower. Willy will also remind
listeners to “stay on the sunny side.” Mal’s time at WKIP lasted until 1964, with one break
at a competitor.
Other announcers during those early years
were Ken Pectal, Chuck Healy (seen in the picture to the right), George Breen,
Ed Falasca, Burl Smith, who also was the program director for a period, and
Fern Morris, one of the first female radio announcers.
Local businessman Ed Ulrich played the
organ every morning in the late 1940s from his office on Brickyard Hill. As part of his program, he would invite
a student from Arlington High School, then located at the foot of Brickyard
Hill, to be guest announcer.
Probably the most well known voice at
WKIP was John Kuhn, who started at the station in 1948, during a period when
the station was owned by Speidel Newspapers. For 17 years, he did the 6pm evening news under the name
“Jerry Carter”. John was
also the program director for many years and started one of the 1st
area call in shows, “Contact”, in 1966, which aired weekdays from 2 to
3pm. He also hosted Dialing for
Dollars. In 1952, John and
other fellow employees purchased the station from Speidel and John became VP of
Programming. When he left WKIP at
the end of 1967, John went to work for Central Hudson and may be best
remembered for being the voice of Almanac, which was sponsored by the
Poughkeepsie-based utility.
Other popular programs included Under The
Counter, with Jerry Carter and Mal Hait, and the Fitchett Brothers Birthday
Party, that aired on Saturday mornings, and was hosted over the years by Mal
Hait, John Kuhn, and Tex Roy.
In the early 60, names such as Johnny
Parsons, Bill Lange, Roy Jackson filled the airwaves.
Another familiar voice in the early 60s
was morning man Ron Thompson, who woke up Poughkeepsie for several years. In 1966, Bob Bruno took over that
role. Bob found WKIP to be a place
where he perfected his art in radio(and make a few mistakes, too) before moving
on to WVIP in Mount Kisco, and later to WOR radio in New York City, where currently he is Vice President
and General Manager. Afternoons in
the 1960s meant the golden sounds of Gene Braden, who entertained listeners
until the evening news at 6PM.