Mark Logas  Biography
WLCO    WLBE    WQBQ

Thanks to Mark for this bio of his time on Central Florida Radio airwaves.
Mark wrote "I began working at WLCO-AM 1240 in 1977 when I was 14 years old. Dave Barringer hired me to do Saturday afternoons. It was a great place to work. I got to do the requests/dedications and do live broadcasts from various places around town. For instance, the Muscular Dystrophy Skate-A-Thon from the local roller rink. There were numerous record give-aways. Dave Barringer was one of the nicest people in the business. In late 1979, Dave Barringer sold the station and General Manager Jack Rankin stepped in. Rankin's first order of business was to call each of  the loyal staff members in and fire them. Next, he changed the format to Country and Western. He retained me because I worked weekends and also contributed on-air news stories. The only other survivor was Sam Sawyer, a reservist in the National Guard. It was no longer fun to work there. So, I decided to talk to Dick Ravenhill from WLBE-AM 790. He had called me a few times over the years to come to his station. They wanted to expand their news operation and venture into the younger audience in the evenings with requests and dedications. Because I was not old enough to drive, my mother, father, and brother would have to drive me to the station so I could do my shift. Oddly, the WLCO studios were located in a converted house at the end of residential street. I can still remember covering Hurricanes Frederick and David in that building and feeling the wind blow through the cracks in the floor and exterior walls. The tower was actually located in a very low spot which even further limited our 250 watts at night. The transmitter hummed quite loudly. If you listened carefully to your radio you could hear it because the transmitter was in the broadcast room.
Next stop  WLBE-AM 790.
Gene Smith was the General Manager and Dick Ravenhill was the Program Director. Both were great at what they did. The station was quite popular, so I left WLCO and did the Saturday night request/dedications while supplying news stories during the week. During the first two years, the audio board was the original board that was used to simulcast WLBE-AM 790 and WLBE-FM 106.7 between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Bill Mays was another great on-air talent during the weekdays. He really made his contributions known during Sunday mornings with his live Gospel music shows. As noted, Gene passed away
far too young, Dick Ravenhill passed away in his early 90's about two years ago, and Bill Mays' health is in decline. These men were wonderful to work with. They never treated me as the teenager that I was. Instead, they recognized by abilities and rewarded them by allowing me to be the station's assistant news director and clearing drive-time air for my news investigative reports and music specials, like when John Lennon was murdered. When I started at WLBE, Radio Road turned to dirt just past the station. The Lake Square Mall was not yet built. That entire area was a swamp with random orange groves. In fact, there wasn't even a street light on the corner of Highway 441 and Radio Road. The only street light that existed was outside the station. Forget traffic lights. The closest traffic light was in Tavares. It was very eerie leaving that station around 1:00 a.m.
Today, there's a mall, several neighborhoods, numerous street lights and traffic lights. It's a different world. By 1991, I returned to do the morning music show with the understanding that we would launch a new "OPEN LINE" talk show format later in the morning after the popular "SWAP SHOP" show. Several of our "Open Line" programs caught the attention of the Lake Sentinel; however, regardless of the popularity of talk radio on the station, the decision was made to continue to limit it to a one-hour program with more emphasis on the music. In 1992 Mark moved to WQBQ-AM 1410. General Manager Bob Green made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. In the nine months the show was on the air being broadcast LIVE from the Lake Square Mall (with actual sound proof windows that shoppers could look through), we uncovered extreme waste by members of the Lake County
School Board. In fact, one of the popular incumbents who lost his seat complained that my show changed the outcome of his re-election bid. We were the first radio station to broadcast LIVE from a county animal control facility to raise awareness of what the workers needed in order to properly care for the animals. That led the Lake County Commission to approve our request for a daily "Adopt A Pet" segment. In the end, over 60% of the pets we featured were adopted. Finally, the show provided
election coverage like never before. In fact, WESH Channel 2 began simulcasting their 6:00 p.m. newscast to enhance our election coverage. It helped that I was WESH's election coordinator at the time. I ended the show when the elections were over due to a contract dispute. I continued working in Central Florida television. I left Central Florida television in 2002 to teach as a Professor of Political Science at Valencia Community College. That same year I began contributing political analysis on WLBE Radio with GM Mac McNair and veteran Bob Andrews, two great people that I am proud to call colleagues. Several of my fellow radio/television colleagues such as Ben Aycrigg (my mentor), Bill Bauman, Marty Stebbins, Vanessa Echols, Mac
McNair, Glenn Richards, and Steve Triggs have spoken to my students in our Government and the Media class. 
Finally, my parents owned the Club Rudo Restaurant on the Orange/Lake County lines on Old Highway 441 just outside of Mount Dora. I mention this because they advertised quite heavily on Central Florida radio before they closed the restaurant in 1981. The Club Rudo was torn down last year after standing since 1948.

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