If eastern Connecticut residents had the opportunity to select the most recognizable name in the area, their one choice, hands down, would be Wayne Norman, the morning radio host on WILI-AM.
Wayne–or Wano–whichever you like–wakes most of us up in the morning and gets us out of bed. He tells us how to dress so we can keep out the cold of winter and let out the heat of summer. He tells us whether or not we should leave home early for the long drive to work because of bad road conditions. When we do leave home, he accompanies us with soft patter and keep-you-awake music.
Wayne is also the first person to tell us how the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets did the night before. All of this comes after he gives us the results of the Eastern and UConn basketball or baseball games.
He also lets us know how the school teams of our sons and daughters did the day before on the playing fields.
Wayne is also a closet weatherman. Although he won’t admit it, he is as knowledgeable about the weather as any meteorologist on the air. He even has his own personal wind sock within sight of his microphone and has weather reporters in area towns.
Wayne often displays great knowledge about the people and the history of the area. He is one of the few people east of the Connecticut River that can tell you where Occum is located. All this is not bad for a transplanted California sun worshiper.
No, Wayne is not a real Connecticut Yankee–at least not yet. He is a true son of southern California, but his tan is wearing thin.
Wayne received his early training in radio at WHUS on the UConn campus, and it was for the listeners of WHUS that he reported his first play-by-play of basketball and baseball.
Friends report that Wayne’s first solid radio job after leaving UConn was WADS in Ansonia. He later joined WILI following an offer from a college friend, Dave Evan, to become the host of the afternoon drive show in the early 1970’s.
He became host of the morning show a year later, a spot he only relinquishes when he is out of state covering a major sports event.
Over the years that followed, Wayne honed his on-air skills. He has become one of the better interviewers in the state. The people who have joined him at his microphone arrived complete with many skills–in science, government, housekeeping, astrophysics, gardening, education, and Scouting.
Wayne has been prepared to meet them head-on, one-on-one, which makes delightful and educational listening. As an example, over the years hundreds of students, faculty, and staff members at ECSU and UConn have journeyed down the hill for on-the-air chats with Wayne on a wide variety of subjects.
He has become part of the eastern Connecticut community. He was Romantic Willimantic’s first Cupid, and has served in various roles in dozens of charitable events.
He also played an important role in helping to organize the town’s nationally known Boom Box Parade. He serves as grand marshal of the event each year.
Wayne’s work day doesn’t end when he signs off at 10 AM. As Program Director for the AM side of the radio station, Wayne spends the next several hours scheduling, making on-air assignments, selecting music and doing promotional work. He also does free lance work for national radio networks, reporting on sports events.
Aside from the weather, Wayne’s friends say if he had another hobby, it would be traveling. They report that there are not many spots in the world that haven’t been visited by Wayne. “If a country has an airport,” they say, “Wayne has been there.”
Fortunately for his thousands of listeners, Wayne has always found his way back at 5:00 AM each weekday to his microphone and wind sock.
When he is not on the air, the day is somehow different.
–HAVE A GOOD WEEK!
(The late Bill Pike was retired editor and director of the Willimantic Chronicle’s editorial pages)
He’s got the longest continuously running morning show in Connecticut. He’s Wayne Norman. In October 2018, Wayne was inducted into the Connecticut Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.