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To Madge with Love by Scott Spears (WMRN-2026-054) is a digitized 66-page biographical booklet about longtime WMRN broadcaster Madge Cooper Guthery, preserved within the WMRN Personalities and Staff Documentation Collection. Written by Scott Spears with Chris Collins, the booklet was digitized from a Marion Public Library reference copy. No formal publication date appears in the scanned pages, although the library copy contains a December 6, 2011 catalog or accession stamp.

The booklet documents Guthery’s life and long association with WMRN, beginning with her arrival at the station in 1941. It covers her work as director of women’s activities, continuity writer, and WMRN’s first woman program director, along with her later local-history program The Way We Were and her extensive community service. Photographs and contextual material also document WMRN, Marion broadcasting culture, Ray Marsh, Rod Serling, Scott Spears, and other people connected with Guthery’s life and career.

Career and Historical Topics Documented in Booklet
1941 – Madge Cooper Guthery begins her association with WMRN shortly after the station goes on the air.
Director of Women’s Activities – Guthery develops and presents programming directed toward women in the Marion community.
Continuity Writer – Guthery writes station copy, announcements, and other broadcast material for WMRN.
First Woman Program Director – Guthery becomes the first woman to hold the program director position at WMRN.
The Way We Were – Guthery later hosts a local-history program focused on Marion’s people, places, and community memories.
Community Service – The booklet documents Guthery’s involvement in civic, historical, and community organizations.
WMRN Broadcasting History – Photographs and narrative material provide additional context concerning WMRN-AM, WMRN-FM, station personalities, and Marion broadcasting culture.

Historical Significance

This booklet preserves one of the most detailed known accounts of Madge Cooper Guthery’s life and broadcasting career. It is especially useful because it documents her arrival at WMRN during the station’s earliest years, her progression through several important programming and writing positions, and her role as WMRN’s first woman program director.

The item also preserves a broader history of WMRN and Marion broadcasting through photographs, personal recollections, and contextual material involving station employees, community figures, and local media history. As a biographical document, it helps connect Guthery’s personal story with the institutional history of WMRN and the development of local radio in Marion, Ohio.

Exhibit Label

To Madge with Love: The Story of Marion’s First Lady of Broadcasting, Madge Cooper Guthery. c. 2011. Written by Scott Spears with Chris Collins. Digitized biographical booklet. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post To Madge with Love: The Story of Marion’s First Lady of Broadcasting, Madge Cooper Guthery first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout (WMRN-2026-053) is a printed station-history and anniversary handout associated with WMRN-AM / WMRN-FM, preserved within the WMRN Promotional Ephemera Collection. The handout was likely produced in or after September 1993, based on its “53 Years” anniversary language and the latest milestone printed on the sheet.

The piece features a blue-and-white design headed “Celebrating 53 Years of Serving the Marion Area,” with a central color photograph of the WMRN building, flagpole, landscaping, and antenna towers. The lower portion presents a selected institutional timeline of WMRN milestones from the station’s 1940 sign-on through early 1990s facility and operational improvements.

Timeline Milestones Printed on Item

• December 23, 1940 – WMRN-AM signs on the air under the auspices of Robert and Frank Mason.
• February 1949 – TV writer/producer Rod Serling is hired under a college work-study program.
• May 1953 – WMRN-FM signs on the air simulcasting WMRN’s AM signal with 25,000 watts of power.
• November 1967 – WMRN-FM ceases simulcasting and offers its own “beautiful music” format.
• January 1971 – A major addition is completed, more than doubling space for studios, offices, and transmitting equipment.
• April 1, 1981 – “Beautiful music” is replaced with a contemporary country music format.
• December 23, 1990 – WMRN celebrates its golden anniversary.
• April 1992 – WMRN-FM becomes “Hot Country-107.”
• September 1993 – WMRN-AM-FM completes a major capital improvements project, computerizing station operations with digital audio technology.

Historical Significance

This handout documents how WMRN presented its own institutional history to listeners and the Marion community during the early 1990s. It is especially useful because it combines facility imagery, station anniversary language, AM/FM development, programming changes, and technology modernization into a single promotional object.

The item also preserves WMRN’s public narrative of continuity: from the Mason-era 1940 sign-on, through Rod Serling’s early station association, FM expansion, format changes, Hot Country 107 branding, and early digital operations. As printed ephemera, it helps show how local radio history was summarized, commemorated, and distributed outside the broadcast itself.

Exhibit Label

WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout. c. 1993. Printed promotional timeline handout / station history flyer. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

I ♥ WMRN Promotional Button (WMRN-2026-049) is a promotional button associated with WMRN-AM / WMRN-FM, preserved within the WMRN Promotional Ephemera Collection. Dated unknown, the item contributes to the documentary record of WMRN station branding, listener engagement, and community-facing promotional material in Marion, Ohio.

The round white pinback button features a red heart graphic and red and black WMRN lettering. As a listener-facing giveaway or station identity item, it reflects how WMRN extended its brand beyond broadcasts into public appearances, contests, remote broadcasts, station events, and other community interactions.

Historical Significance

Small promotional artifacts such as buttons, stickers, and pins help preserve the visual language local radio stations used to build audience recognition. This button documents a compact, direct form of WMRN station identity: a message meant to be worn, shared, and seen in the community rather than heard only over the air.

As part of the archive’s growing ephemera collection, the artifact helps connect WMRN’s broadcast history to the everyday objects that carried station loyalty into Marion’s public life.

Exhibit Label

I ♥ WMRN Promotional Button. Date unknown. Promotional Button / Pinback Button. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post I ❤️ WMRN Promotional Button first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

Buckeye Chuck Groundhog Day Promotional Buttons Collection (WMRN-2026-050) is a grouped promotional button accession associated with WMRN-AM / WMRN-FM, preserved within the Buckeye Chuck Collection. Dated 1993/1995, the collection documents WMRN’s long-running Buckeye Chuck Groundhog Day broadcasts, public appearances, and related station promotion in Marion, Ohio.

The accession consists of mixed-color pinback buttons connected to Buckeye Chuck events and WMRN promotion. These objects document the way a recurring broadcast tradition also produced physical memorabilia for listeners, participants, and community members.

Objects Included

• WMRN-2026-050.1 – Yellow 1995 “Will I see my shadow today?” button.
• WMRN-2026-050.2 – Blue 1993 Buckeye Chuck button.
• WMRN-2026-050.3 – Yellow 1995 “Will I see my shadow today?” button.

Historical Significance

Buckeye Chuck is one of the most recognizable recurring traditions associated with WMRN’s public identity. These buttons show how the Groundhog Day broadcast extended beyond the radio program itself into visible community promotion, event participation, and local memory.

Preserving the buttons alongside broadcast-related documentation helps show how WMRN built annual rituals through a combination of on-air coverage, civic participation, and tangible station-branded objects.

Exhibit Label

Buckeye Chuck Groundhog Day Promotional Buttons Collection. 1993/1995. Promotional Buttons / Pinback Buttons. This grouped accession is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post Buckeye Chuck Groundhog Day Promotional Buttons Collection first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

Hot Country 107 Prize Buttons Collection (WMRN-2026-051) is a grouped promotional button accession associated with WMRN-AM / WMRN-FM and the Hot Country 107 branding era, preserved within the WMRN-FM Promotional Collection. Likely dating from the 1990s, the collection documents station-branded prize and giveaway material in multiple color variants.

The buttons use fluorescent yellow, orange, and green backgrounds with Hot Country 107 branding and WMRN-AM identification. As prize or promotional giveaway items, they represent the kind of small-format branding material used to support audience engagement, remote broadcasts, contests, and station appearances.

Objects Included

• WMRN-2026-051.1 – Yellow Hot Country 107 prize button.
• WMRN-2026-051.2 – Orange Hot Country 107 prize button.
• WMRN-2026-051.3 – Yellow Hot Country 107 prize button.
• WMRN-2026-051.4 – Green Hot Country 107 prize button.
• WMRN-2026-051.5 – Yellow Hot Country 107 prize button.

Historical Significance

This collection documents WMRN-FM’s Hot Country 107 identity, one of the station’s major late twentieth-century branding eras. Prize buttons like these helped turn station slogans and frequency branding into physical objects that listeners could receive, wear, and keep.

As part of the archive’s promotional collection, the buttons help show how local radio marketing operated beyond broadcast audio: through color, typography, giveaways, and repeated public visibility at events across Marion and surrounding communities.

Exhibit Label

Hot Country 107 Prize Buttons Collection. Likely 1990s. Promotional Buttons / Pinback Buttons. This grouped accession is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post Hot Country 107 Prize Buttons Collection first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

Terry Cole Rotary International Radio Identification Button (WMRN-2026-052) is an identification button / broadcaster ephemera artifact associated with longtime WMRN broadcaster Terry Cole, preserved within the Terry Cole Collection. Dated unknown, the item documents the relationship between local radio identity, civic participation, and community presence in Marion, Ohio.

The circular Rotary International identification button bears the name “Terry Cole Radio” in the center field. The object connects Cole’s public role as a broadcaster with his civic identity, showing how WMRN personalities often appeared in community contexts where radio, service organizations, and local public life overlapped.

Historical Significance

This button helps document the public-facing role of WMRN broadcasters beyond the studio. Local radio personalities were often recognized not only as voices on the air, but also as civic participants, event hosts, public speakers, and community representatives.

As part of the Terry Cole Collection, the artifact preserves a small but meaningful piece of broadcaster identity: an object that links name, occupation, and community affiliation in one wearable form.

Exhibit Label

Terry Cole Rotary International Radio Identification Button. Date unknown. Identification Button / Badge. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post Terry Cole Rotary International Radio Identification Button first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.