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On Friday afternoon, the deejay booth inside WLNG studio in Sag Harbor was jam-packed. And everyone’s attention was on one man.
Station employees, local officials and members of the media looked on as Rusty Potz, the voice of 92.1 FM for nearly 40 years, signed off from his afternoon radio show for the last time with a final, bittersweet ring of the bronze bell, his family not far from his side.
“Hey, folks, it’s been great,” he said, “and God bless you.”
Mr. Potz, who will celebrate his 72nd birthday in July, is leaving behind a decades-long legacy as an on-air radio personality to embark on the next chapter in his life: a move with his wife, Margaret, from their home in Noyac to warm weather year-round in Sarasota, Florida. It was a decision eight years in the making, he said. They leave on Saturday.
“I decided it was right when I was shoveling snow this winter,” Mr. Potz explained to a visitor, State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. “I said, ‘Never again!’ Every time I’m shoveling all this deep snow, it reminds me of the old saying: ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’ I kept saying that to myself, while I’m shoveling this snow, ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’”
With as much of a straight face he could muster, Mr. Potz delivered his punchline: “I said, ‘I’m tired of eating elephants!’”
Laughter erupted throughout the booth.
“That wasn’t, like, a Republican joke, was it?” Mr. Thiele replied.
“I hope not,” Mr. Potz said with a chuckle. “I hope not.”
Mr. Potz’s radio career started in 1963, reading on-air reports about bad road conditions for his employer, American Automobile Association. That was back in his native Connecticut, where he went by his given name, Robert Potz, and met many program directors at stations throughout the tri-state area. He landed his first full-time gig at a station in Windsor that same year, working part-time for 18 other stations in Connecticut and Massachusetts over the next decade. At one point, he worked for four stations at once.
In 1966, after using several different names on the radio—“Big Bob Russell” and “Bob Ryan” were just two—he dubbed himself Rusty Potz, because, as he puts it, his actual name wasn’t particularly memorable. “Who could remember Bob?” he said. “Rusty Potz goes together.”
He finally settled down in 1975, when Paul Sidney, the late WLNG president, hired him and gave him his own show, which, up until Friday, aired on weekdays from 3 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“It’s a great radio station. It’s a lot of fun to work there,” Mr. Potz said on Monday during a telephone interview. “The audience at our station is so close to the announcer. We have a very close relationship. Our listeners are extremely loyal.”
He will miss the routines he fell into: ringing the station’s ship bell at the end of every show, strictly drinking hot beverages before and during airtime to keep his radio voice intact, and playing his two favorite songs, “Skinny Legs and All” by Joe Tex and “Waitin’ in School” by Ricky Nelson, as many times as he could.
He will fondly look back on decades of memories, he said, including traveling to Dallas, Texas, with Mr. Sidney earlier in his WLNG tenure to create jingles for the station at PAMS Production, arguably one of the largest jingle companies in the world.
“That was a great experience,” Mr. Potz said. “I think that was the greatest experience. We have more jingles than anyone in the entire country now.”
During Mr. Potz’s final broadcast, his fellow employees bid fond farewells to their beloved co-worker, wishing him luck on his life in Florida.
“It’s been an amazing time, Rus. I’ve been working with you for 25 years, and enjoyed it,” said Dan Duprey, a member of the station’s news staff. “We wish you all the best down there. We know you love the hot and the humidity. I can take it in small doses, but you’re going to get it 24-7.”
“It’s been a pleasure,” added Gary Sapiane, WLNG’s president and general manager. “I remember it was 1975 when you arrived, same year that I did. I should say, it’s not the end of it. You’ll be checking in every day. It’s great to be your friend.”
Though his days as a disc jockey are now complete, Mr. Potz’s career with WLNG is still going strong. He will continue his tenure with the station as its vice president and sales manager, working remotely from his new home. He said his loyalties have been, and always will be, with the East End’s 92.1 FM.
“When I was on the last day, I didn’t get choked up. Unexpectedly, I got a little bit choked up a week beforehand,” Mr. Potz said. “Being a deejay for 52 years ... that’s a big thing to give up. I remember how hard it was to get into the business.
“It’s been really heartwarming,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want to work for any other station.”
on Jun 2, 2015