Elderberry Wine
Selected Radio Commentaries
by Peter Wotton
Celebration: 10th Anniversary of Elderberry Wine
Peter Wotton began broadcasting "Elderberry Wine" commentaries on June 2, 1982. Commentary #520, broadcast on July 27,1992, celebrates the 10th anniversary of "Elderberry Wine" which was broadcast on KLCC-FM, the public radio station on the campus of Lane Community College.
Celebration
# 520 -- July 27, 1992
When I was in my early teens, about 1934, we used to listen to Henry Morgan on the radio. It was a short program, a lot like mine, and for a while Henry was all the rage in Pasadena. I remember the time he suggested that if the government was short of submarines, they might try sending them up the streams in pairs. At the end of his program, he'd say something like, "Well, I'll be back on the same corner next week ..."
Was that the inspiration for Elderberry Wine? I don't think so -- but it was an early model. Elderberry Wine started just over ten years ago, when Jim Dunn, then head of the Communication Department at Lane Community College, asked me if I'd like to host a weekly program for or about older people. I jumped at the chance, and thus "Elderberry Wine" was born. I think the name just came to my mind, and it has worn well. I also use it for my column in the Senior News, which runs one of my scripts every month.
I've had a lot to say about employing the elderly, about Social Security and Medicare, and about other topics dealing directly with our older population. It's certainly true that senior issues are relevant to everyone -- my saying is that this is the one minority everybody joins if you're lucky enough to live that long. And yet, like other older people I know, I don't focus on "senior issues" all the time. So I talk about topics that interest me -- and because I'm a certified senior (I'll be seventy-two in November) I think it's fair to say that what interests me is relevant to this program. So far I've always had more ideas than I needed.
I was very pleased when Tripp Sommer and Don Hein, two of the guys who helped me get started in my broadcasting venture, gave me a big boost at the KLCC retreat on May 30. That's because the program was ten calendar years old in June. But just to be precise, or perhaps because I want another celebration, I'm writing this one as Elderberry Wine number 520 -- ten times fifty-two weeks. Hooray! Happy birthday! Whoopee!
In those ten years, I've met many of my listeners. People recognize my name, or my voice, and almost invariably I get positive feedback. The program really seems to fill a need. One man I spoke with briefly at Fern Ridge Reservoir said -- "Say, your voice sounds like that guy, Peter Wottonberry!" It's really important to me to know I have friends out in radioland, which is getting bigger all the time. I've heard from listeners in Bend, and Roseburg, and Corvallis, and through the addition KLCO, Jean and I now have new personal friends, Nancy and Corinna Chase in Lincoln City.
If there are topics you'd like to hear about, please don't hesitate to let me know. I don't usually do "topical" programs, meaning I probably won't announce your next fund-raiser, but I'm always open to new ideas. I believe in being far-sighted -- caring what happens down to the seventh generation -- and I see myself as a peacemaker. Put very simply, I sell common sense.
This is Peter Wotton, with Elderberry Wine, KLCC and KLCO's weekly salute to the older people in our community. And my message for this week is: Wow! My baby is ten years old!
Copyright
"Elderberry Wine" is copyrighted by KLCC-FM. Permission to rebroadcast or publish the commentaries must be obtained from KLCC-FM.