Soon after it signed on the air Oct. 17, 1960, Radio Station WNPV quickly established itself as the “Voice of the North Penn Valley.”

Almost immediately it became a place area residents could turn to for music, news, sports and a sounding board for the pulse of the region.

As the date suggests, WNPV will mark its 50th anniversary this month and the Lansdale Historical Society will join in the celebration.

The society’s Community Program on Tuesday, “WNPV Radio: 50 Years as the Voice of the North Penn Valley,” will be a trip back in time to the day when 1440 Radio hit the airwaves with all of 500 watts of dawn-to-dusk broadcasting power.

The show will span the decades as the station evolved from a middle-of-the-road music station — flying right in the face of the rock ’n’ roll revolution — to its news and talk format of today.

Along the way, we’ll revive memories of some of the on-air personalities like Dick Heist, Stu Montgomery, Bob Allen, Bob Fretz, Fred Day, Harry Prime, Dean Bennett, John Franklin, Paul Taylor and Jim Church, who came into our homes over the years.

In the photos featured today, you see Heist at the control board in one shot, and Bob Fretz — who later worked at The Reporter as a staff writer and copy editor — wearing headphones and speaking into the microphone.


The program will be narrated by current Program Director Darryl Berger, a 25-year employee of the station and host of “Comment Please by Univest.”

Other members of the WNPV family will also take part in the show, including John Skibbe, the original station manager who is still active at the station.

It will also include some vintage jingles, taped highlights of early shows and the original test broadcast of WNPV, which aired Oct. 14, 1960, three days before the station began regular programming.

Also planned is a video presentation of photos taken over the years, old programming schedules and other memorabilia from the archives.

As usual, the show will be held at the Lansdale Parks and Recreation Building, Seventh Street and Lansdale Avenue. There is no admission charge but donations are greatly appreciated.