Charity Inspires Student Deejays

Seventy-seven hours of continuous broadcasting is no big deal for a professional radio station, but it will be a big change for WBFH-FM.

The student radio station of the Bloomfield Hills Schools located at Andover High School will begin a 77-hour marathon broadcast at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Broadcasting will end at 11 p.m. Saturday.

But there will be no rest for the weary when it is over because the seven station disc jockeys, all Andover and Lahser students, will participate in Superwalk 77 Sunday at Pontiac Silverdome.

The 20-mile walk, sponsored by the March of Dimes organization, will raise funds for the research and treatment of birth defects.

During the marathon broadcast, telephoned pledges will be taken for the disc jockeys, with callers specifying amounts of money for each mile walked by the student broadcaster of the caller’s choice.

THE SEVEN disc jockeys, John Bernardin, Erich Burch, Mike Cregar, “Doctor Jock,” Lynn Hathaway, Dave McClary and Tad Sharp will work a continuous 11-hour shift each, at the microphone, taking record requests and recording record dedications for donations and pledges to the March of Dimes.

The WBFH studio is at Andover High School. The station can be heard at 88.1 on the FM dial. The telephone is 647-8510.

Station manager Pete Bowers has lined up some special events to intersperse with the record requests, including area music groups and an appearance by David Harper, 1976 Lahser graduate who has a record out for RCA. The record is not available locally.

The entire WBFH staff of about 35 students will participate during the marathon, Bowers said. He also urged that interested persons come to the station at any time.

The students will have adult supervision during the 77-hour period and Bowers said he might stay for the whole time “just for the heck of it.”

NO SPECIFIC monetary goal has been set for the marathon except that the students would like to top the $1,500 raised in 53 ours by another station in a recent similar action.

“We don’t have a real goal but we’re shooting for better than that,” Burch said.

The marathon will be a real test for the station, Bowers said, “to see if we can get parents to listen and pledge. We know we have a high school audience.”

But pledges are not limited to parents and students.

“We will take pledges from anyone,” Bowers stressed. The marathon will serve more than one purpose for the station although the March of Dimes cause is “number one in our minds,” he added.

It also will be a good public service activity which “can be used to justify our existence when license renewal time comes around,” Bowers said.

The station has been broadcasting since last fall.