By Adina Bernstein
Summer 1958
Mr. Eldridge lay in the hospital room surrounded by his family. He had a heart attack last week and had been in the hospital. His family had just signed the paper to disconnect all the machines that had kept him alive. Now his nephew, Henry, opened the envelope that held his uncle’s will. Mr. Eldridge did not have much, just some jewelry, some family heirlooms, but the most valuable thing in his will was the ownership of radio station WENN. The station itself closed in 1948, but several different businesses rented the property over the years.
Mr. Eldridge's last wishes as stated in his will concerning radio station WENN was the following: every staff member who worked at WENN owned a part of the station and each had a say in what to do with the property once he passed on. He didn't care if the property was sold, just that it was put to good use. He also stated that every staff member needed to be there at the reading of the will, otherwise, the ownership of the property would revert to his family, who would probably sell it.
In California, Betty and Scott Sherwood were having breakfast with three of their children, John and Jessie, and Kara. while their other children, Peter and Anna 4, watched Saturday morning cartoons in the living room. Betty was one the writers on the television show 'Life With Hilary', and Scott was a regular actor. A few miles away, Hilary Booth and Jeff Singer were also eating breakfast with their children, Vivian and Katherine, when the mailman popped the mail in the mailbox. Hilary and Jeff were the stars of the television show, Life With Hilary. Among the usual bills and other mail was a letter with a return address that looked unfamiliar to both Hilary and Jeff.
Hilary opened the letter and scanned the letter, when one of the sentences caught her eye. "We are sorry to inform you about the death of your former colleague, Tom Eldridge. It was a request of Tom Eldridge that you and your family be present that the wake and reading of the will. After the will reading, you and your family must visit radio station WENN in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with the rest of the former staff, on a day and time agreed upon all staff members. The wake will be next Friday, April 15th, at 1:30, in Patterson Memorial Home in Patterson, New Jersey. The will reading will take place the next day, in the home of Mr. Eldridge’s nephew, Henry. Directions are enclosed."
"Hilary, what does the letter say?" Jeff asked.
"It says that Mr. Eldridge died and we have to be at the wake and the will reading. We should call Betty and Scott."
The phone rang two seconds later. “Hello?” Anthony asked. "Tony, honey, its Aunt Betty. Are your parents there?"
"Yeah, hold on. Dad, its Aunt Betty," Tony said as he handed his father the phone.
"Hi, Betty. Is this about the letter about Mr. Eldridge?" Jeff asked.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Hilary was just about to call you."
"Scott and I were talking and we decided that we will take the kids out of camp for a few days. It would be nice to visit the station again and see everybody again. Jeff, you there?"
"Sorry, Betty, Hilary says that she agrees with you and Scott. Let us know about booking train tickets and hotel rooms."
"O.K, will do. Bye."
In Chicago, Maple was working at the Crimson Follies at as a choreographer. After working as a dancer with the Crimson Follies for several years after WENN closed, Maple was hired by the owners of the Crimson Follies to open and help to manage a new show in Chicago. It wasn’t bad, but she missed her friends from WENN. After a long day of work, Maple got home. She was single and had no children, but she had her dog, Maura, and she kept in touch with her brother and his family. She skimmed through the mail, but the letter about Mr. Eldridge caught her eye. As she opened up and read it, her breath caught in her throat for a second. Then she called her boss to tell him that she had to miss next weekend because of a personal vacation.
In New York, Mackie worked as a regular actor in small theater shows around town. He never hit it big, but he was satisfied with his life. As he opened the letter about Mr. Eldridge, he thought back to working at WENN and how much he missed Mr. Eldridge. Then he called Celia. After Celia’s career had cooled in Hollywood during the mid 1940’s, she moved east and took jobs in New York theater and did some modeling. She and Mackie saw each other once in a while. The phone rang while Celia read the letter.
"Hello, Celia Mellon."
"Celia, it's Mackie. Did you get the letter?"
"I'm looking at it right now. It’s a shame about Mr. Eldridge. He was so sweet."
"You want to go down together?"
"Sure. Mackie, I have to go. I have a photo shoot in the morning," Celia said.
"O.K. Call me tomorrow."
In Pittsburgh, Mr. Foley and Eugenia had been married for 16 years. They tried to have children over the years, but failed and had several foster children since they had married. Their last foster child had lived with them until 2 months ago, so it had been some time since they had children living in their house. Ever since WENN closed, Eugenia and Mr. Foley had both done commercials for television and radio. They still kept in touch with Gertie once in while, mostly with letters. Gertie worked as a receptionist in a hotel until she retired three years ago. She lived in the same apartment she had lived in with her second husband, Hank since his death in 1936. She and Hank didn’t have any children, but Gertie had a daughter, Laura Rudset, from her first marriage. She kept in contact with her daughter and grandson, Nicholas. When she received the letter, she had to sit down from the shock of the death of a good friend.
On Thursday afternoon, April 14, Betty, Scott, Hilary and Jeff arrived at the hotel in Patterson with their children. Betty, Hilary and the children went inside to get the room confirmation and keys while Jeff and Scott parked the cars. After Scott and Jeff parked the cars and were heading inside to the hotel, they heard a female voice calling their names. They turned around to see Maple running toward them. Maple hugged them both Scott and Jeff and the three of them walked into the hotel together.
"Hey, girls, look who we found," Jeff said to Betty and Hilary.
"Hey, Maple, you look amazing," Betty said as she hugged her friend.
"You haven’t changed a bit," Hilary added.
"Thank you, Hilary. It's nice to hear a complement from you after all these years."
"Aunt Maple, do you remember us?" Katie asked.
"Of course I do. Your parents send me pictures all the time. You guys have really grown up since I last saw you."
"I think we should go to our rooms before we crowd the lobby," Jeff said.
As they were getting into the elevator, Celia and Mackie arrived. As they got in Mackie heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see Eugenia and Mr. Foley entering the hotel. They all hugged and started chatting about old times and what they were up to now. Gertie was the last to arrive with her daughter, Laura and grandson, Nicholas. Gertie hugged everybody and introduced her family. As they were hugging and talking, Betty, Scott, Hilary, Jeff, Maple and the children came out of the elevator. Again, there was hugging and talking. While the children were sent to the playroom, the adults sat down and talked about life since WENN closed.
They talked for several hours. About 5:30, stomachs started to rumble and a decision was needed on where to have dinner. After looking at a brochure that held information on restaurants in the area, they all decided on a restaurant. Betty, Hilary and Gertie went to get the children from the playroom while the rest went to get coats from the rooms. Fifteen minutes later, everybody was ready to go.
The next morning at 11:00, the funeral started. After the funeral was lunch. After lunch, the group headed back to hotel. At 1:30, the will reading began at Henry Eldridge’s home. "Is everyone who worked at radio station WENN and the family present?" Mr. Lons, the family attorney, asked. They all nodded yes.
Mr. Lons read through the will until he got to the part regarding WENN. "As the owner of radio station WENN in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since October 5, 1941, I give the property to the former staff, to do with it what they want as long as it is put to good use." A few minutes later, the will reading ended and refreshments were served. Scott approached Mr. Lons and Henry.
"Mr. Eldridge owned the station all this time and didn’t say anything to us? How did he pay for it?" Scott asked.
"He used the lottery ticket that he won before the war. He swore me to secrecy," Henry explained.
"Mr. Eldridge had a little secret. Thanks," Scott said and walked back to the table he was sitting at. "I just found out something very interesting. It seems that Mr. Eldridge has kept a secret from us all these years."
“Scotty, tell us. Don’t keep us in suspense!" Maple exclaimed.
"Do you remember the lottery ticket Mr. Eldridge bought during the fiasco with Pruitt in 1941?"
"Yeah, but what does the lottery ticket have to do with the will?" Mackie asked.
"Mr. Eldridge bought the station with the money he won."
"It was Mr. Eldridge who kept the station open. Wow, him of all the people," Jeff said.
"When do we get to visit the property and make the decision about what to do with it?" Hilary asked.
"I guess as soon as we're ready," Eugenia said.
"Why don’t we leave tomorrow morning after breakfast? We can rent a bus and take a look at the station either tomorrow or Sunday," Betty said.
Henry then approached the table. "I just overheard the conversation. My uncle had a recording that he wants you to listen to, but it has to be listened to when you get to Pittsburgh. Its in my office. I'll get it now." He came back a few minutes later with a record player and a record in a bag.
"Thank you for all of your help, Henry," Hilary said.
"It’s my pleasure. Uncle Tom always used to talk about all of you when I saw him. I put a battery pack in there and the main key," Henry said, handing the bag to Scott.
"I guess that we had better get going, if we are going to rent a bus. Why don’t Scott, Mackie and I rent a bus, while the you start getting the stuff together?" Jeff said.
That sounds like a good idea. We'll see you guys in a few hours," Hilary said.
The next morning at 10:30, all the bags were in the back and everybody was loading up in the bus. Scott, Mackie and Jeff alternated driving. The ride took 6 hours. They arrived at the hotel at 4:30. They had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel, as a group that night and agreed to visit the building the next morning.
The next morning, as Scott turned the key and everybody walked in, memories came flooding into their minds. "Why don’t we take a walk around and listen to the recording later?" Jeff asked.
"Good idea," Gertie said.
They all went in different directions. Betty headed to the writer’s room with her daughters, while Scott took the boys into the manager’s office. Jeff, Hilary, their daughters, Mackie, Celia, Mr. Foley and Eugenia, walked into Studio A. Gertie went into the green room with her daughter and grandson.
Twenty minutes later, they met again in the lobby. Scott put the battery pack in the record player, put the record on, and pressed set the needle. "Hello, everybody. It’s nice to see you again, sort of. I'm sure that you were shocked when Mr. Lons read the will. I apologize for keeping the secret, but it had to be done. As you know, the decision on what to do with the former WENN property is up to you. I understand completely. If you have any questions, in the bottom of the bag is all the information on who has rented the property. I hope it’s helpful. Yours, Tom Eldridge."
The record stopped. "What do we do now?" Celia asked.
"I don’t know. Why don’t we rent it for now, and as soon as we come up with something, we'll talk about it and make a decision," Hilary said.
Who would want to do it?" Maple asked.
"It should be someone who lives as close as possible," Celia said.
"That leaves us out," Betty said, referring to herself, Scott, Hilary and Jeff.
"What about you, Mackie? You live only a few hours away?" Gertie said. "I'll do it," Mackie said.
"Now what?"Eugenia asked.
Mr. Foley looked like he was about to say something when Maple said "Why don’t we get together in Pittsburgh at least once every few years, just to check on the place?"
"Good idea, Mapes," Scott said. Then they walked out of the station as a group, not saying goodbye forever, but agreeing to keep in touch and get together once in a while.
Mackie Bloom died in 1975. In his will, he passed the station on to the Sherwood and Singer children. John Comstock, now twenty-nine years old, had an idea while visiting his parents. He spoke with his siblings and his fiancé, Katherine Singer, and her sister Vivian. His idea was to restore WENN to what it had been while his parents worked there and make it a museum. Jessica Comstock, Peter Comstock, Anna Sherwood, Kara Sherwood, and Vivian Singer agreed that John had a good idea. John spoke to his parents, the Singers, and the rest of the remaining staff members about investing in the museum and helping him to recreate the station the way it was during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.
It took 2 ½ years, but on March 18, 1977, the Remember WENN Radio Museum opened for business. In one room, John put a picture of his father, Victor, and CJ the engineer, who died in WW2, Mr. Eldridge and the other staff members who had passed away since 1948.
Today, John and Katherine have both retired, but his daughter, Lisa and the rest of her cousins run the museum and remember the staff of radio station WENN.
The end
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