Of Country Al, devine Providence and Reynolds aluminum

Providence, Rhode Island



In a business full of characters, Al Watterson is one of the all time greats...
I worked with Al at a radio station in South Dakota in the late 1960's. He was "Country Al" the host of a popular country music oldies show called the "Country Hall of Fame". I was a college student, working as the morning man at the station, newly married, and waiting for the Army to invite me to the big dance in Southeast Asia. Al was a few years older, no longer draft eligible and had punched his broadcast ticket at other stations as he bounced around the country.

Through the mists of time I don't recall exactly when we parted ways with that particular radio station, but I believe that Al left first either to avoid the man from the finance company or an angry ex-wife. A month or two later I was gone to a brief job in Florida and ultimately a date with the U.S. Army Infantry.

As people do, Al and I lost touch with each other until around 1977. Now with two daughters, my wife and I were living in San Diego. I was still happily working in radio at KOGO and had not given too much thought to South Dakota or Country Al in quite a while. Isn't that how it always works? It was a Sunday afternoon; the phone rings and...it's Al calling from Providence, Rhode Island where he is on the air at WHIM. We quickly catch up and promise to stay in touch and... DON'T.

In 2002 Al finds me once again this time through the Internet and we now stay in contact like a couple of friends who are more aware of our mortality than we were in our salad days. Al has retired to the woods of Vermont near the town of Tunbridge and is being well taken care of by the "wife of his life", Joanna. He and I talk on the phone frequently and enjoy remembering our South Dakota days and have fun filling each other in on radio adventures that transpired during those "lost" years between 1977 and 2002.

A couple of weeks ago Al said to me, "Did I ever tell you how I got to Vermont?" My response in the negative netted this ONLY IN RADIO tale:
It all began shortly after Country Al had checked in from WHIM in Providence. He was only working part-time at the station; hanging on in hopes of eventually getting full-time work. One Sunday afternoon, while doing "rip and read" news off the Associated Press wire, Al read the story of a tragic traffic accident that had killed the program director and mid-day host of WNHV in White River Junction, Vermont. In misfortune...Al spotted opportunity.

After finishing his Sunday shift, Country Al packed his car and headed for Vermont. He was at the front door of WNHV by 8:00 AM Monday. The station was owned by Rex Marshall, the long-time TV spokesman for Reynolds Aluminum who had smartly diversified his money into broadcast ownership. Everything in the station was aluminum! Well, Rex did make an exception when he passed on putting aluminum foil on the rollers in the restrooms...but you get the idea. Rex liked Al and by early afternoon he hired him to fill the hole he now had in his radio line-up. The unfortunate program director's wife came by the station to pick-up his belongings that afternoon and Al made arrangements to buy his car and, since she was leaving town, rent the widow's house. Not a bad day for Country Al. (Also, the widow)

Al stayed on at WNHV for a number of years and became a real legend in the Vermont and New Hampshire environs. I'm making plans to get to New England to see Al real soon...a genuine radio character is a living museum piece these days. I'm also wondering if he can still get me a deal on some Reynolds Wrap.