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SIGNING OFF
She has...
devolved into
a one-woman
news department.
Those of us who rely on WUGA-FM for our radio news have
depended, for longer than any of us cares to admit, on Mary
Kay Mitchell to tell us what is happening in Athens. "This is
Mary Kay Mitchell, and you're listening to WUGA FM 91.7..."
Now, we'll be listening to see (hear) who takes her place,
because our longtime radio voice has retired.
Of course, she is irreplaceable—all that in-depth knowl
edge about Athens, all those stories, all those news briefs,
all those interviews, those hours at the typewriter and the
computer—oecause she has to write it before she broadcasts
it. (She doesn't just make up all that stuff on the spot, you
know.) We're losing all that and starting over from scratch, and
of course Mary Kay started from scratch, too. She was in on
the very beginnings of WUGA when it first went on the air, and
she has been around ever since and reflects the fortunes of the
station.
Mary Kay was there in those heady days when our local
radio pioneers brought National Public Radio to Athens. You
can't imagine what that meant. Before WUGA, we had an hour
of classical music on Sunday night. Local radio then as now
was a vast wasteland of bad country music and worse gospel,
sketchy news and the occasional local angle like election
returns. WUGA brought all the great national stuff: "A Prairie
Home Companion," the news programs, magazine features
and classical music. NPR was like
an invigorating rain on a parched
desert, and its local affiliate had a
strong commitment to local news
and features.
WUGA also gradually developed
Ihe staff to create what it wanted
to deliver. David Bryant, Angela
Elam, Rob Hilton, Melinda Weir and Steve Lickteig produced
thoughtful, insightful, creative news and commentary about
Athens and beyond. They were like an alternative newsmaga
zine of the air, teaching us again what radio could be, with
a dedication to getting news right and giving it enough time
to tell the story with intelligence and a fidelity to the truth
on our own station, right here in Athens, Georgia, brought to
us by the University of Georgia. It is impossible to imagine
Athens without WUGA, though we have had to get used to
a vastly reduced presence, with all that great, creative staff
gone, except for Mary Kay, and now her.
She has, after successive budget cuts over the years,
devolved into a one-woman news department, with the abil
ity to go out and do the interview, come back and write it up,
go on the air with her report, then back to her office to write
up the next news report, hosting the weekly "Athens News
Matters."
Mary Kay has been like a princess once accustomed to a
full staff now reduced to doing everything herself, but a noble
princess, never complaining, actually taking pride in her abil
ity to do it all, even enjoying it, despite the frustration of not
being able to do more, as she could when she had a full staff
of radio geniuses.
One other thing, while we are eulogizing her career, that
you don't usually associate with a hard-driving newsperson:
Mary Kay is kind and caring. She genuinely likes people and
is interested in their stories. That may mean she would never
make it as a modern-day news-shouter, but it frequently meant
that she was able to make people real in her interviews and
stories and make their humanity palpable through the air. She's
funny, too: not at all pretentious, and that carries across the
ether.
OK, the radio station is out of the university's control now,
given over to Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta, and Mary
Kay has decided to hang up her headphones. Here's hoping the
station is able to hire a worthy successor: they're trying, and
they know it's a tough hire.
Thanks, Mary Kay, from all your fans, all the nameless and
faceless people you had to imagine were out there listen
ing every time you turned on your microphone. We were out
there, and we were listening; we depended on you to keep us
tuned in. You were there alone in the studio, but you were sur
rounded by people all over town counting on you to keep us
up to the minute with local news. 1 hanks a lot. Mary Kay. We
heard vou.
Pete McCommons
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
HEWS .§3 FEATURES
City Dope 4
Athens News and Views
Local Democrats and Republicans are co-sponsoring an Aug. 14 town hall meeting on redistrictmg
Athens Rising 7
What’s Up in New Development
A few musmgs on the various cycles of life in Athens-Clarke County.
Theatre Review 11
Wit and Wisdom
An Ideal Husband is a very fashionable story of love, blackmail and the hell of others' expectations
Grub Notes 12
Summer Wrap-Up
A roundup of all the openings, closings and changes that summer brought
M1US0©
A Tale of One City 15
How Athens Keeps the Hits Coming, 30 Years Going
An mtro to our music scene through the lenses of a newcomer and a veteran
How to Get Your Band in Flagpole 16
Tips for Beginners
Playing music in Athens? You'll need publicity, and this is how to get it
| —
! CITY DOPE 4
j CITY PAGES 5
; CAPITOL IMPACT 6
I ATHENS RISING 7
j MISCELLANY 8
j GUIDE TO ATHENS 9
! MOVIE DOPE 10
| THEATRE NOTES 11
j GRUB NOTES 12
j THREATS & PROMISES 13
WELCOME TO THE MUSIC SCENE 15
GETTING IN FLAGPOLE 16
PATTERSON HOOD 17
BELA FLECK 19
THE CALENDAR! 21
BULLETIN BOARD 28
ART AROUND TOWN 29
COMICS 30
REALITY CHECK 31
CLASSIFIEDS 32
EVERYDAY PEOPLE 35
ras iH m
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featuring an illustration by David Mack
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
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CONTRIBUTORS John Barrett H i ary Brown Nicole Cashm, Kevin Craig. Tom Crawtord. David Fitzgerald. John Huie.
Jy! Inov Gordon Lamb. Emily Pairing John G Nettles ;eft Tobias Drew Wheeler Kevan Williams Marshall Yarbrough
CIRCULATION Charles Greenleat Nish Hogan Jesse Margum. Matt Shirley
WEB DESIGNER Kel.y Ruberto
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VOLUME 25
ISSUE NUMBER 31
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