Remains Of My 1st On-Air Radio Job In "Tel Geneva"

 During a recent drive across the country, my wife April took this photo of me on June 30, 2026, of me standing on a small piece of land, where a small building once stood which was once the home of my first on-air radio job (decades ago), AM 1480, WFXW, at 7 Richards Street (at the corner of Richards Street & State Street/Illinois 38) in Geneva, Illinois. Many who read this blog know that I obviously became better known around the globe for other credits in television, radio and professional wrestling, but we are not to despise small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10).

As of this writing, the real estate listing site Realtor lists "7 Richards Street, Geneva, IL" as a 0.98 acre lot that is off market/not for sale. When I worked there (when the building still existed), a White Hen Pantry was next door, but a 7-Eleven is now next door to this now-empty lot, after plucking the Hen.

On March 13, 2018, the Geneva History Museum invited the public to its radio history event, on the history of WGSB ("Geneva, St. Charles, Batavia"), later known as WFXW ("The Voice Of The Fox River Valley"). Terry Emma, the executive director of the Geneva History Museum, suggested that I should join this event's panel via "video conferencing", if I'm not able to be there in person. Instead, I sent a letter on KWVE letterhead ("K-WAVE" 107.9 & 1110/Los Angeles, my full-time on-air radio home for fifteen years, through my retirement earlier this year), which I told Terry she could share or pass around at this event. Ms. Emma later told me that my letter (which was read out loud at this radio history event) will be filed in the museum's archives with info on the radio station, "preserved for the future". 

While standing on what was once a parking lot next to grass where the radio station's building once stood, I thought about the adventures that April & I have enjoyed in the Biblical land of Israel, where there have been archaeological findings revealing evidence of ancient buildings mentioned in the Bible, and various "tels", including Tel Megiddo (where a future battle will take place, per Revelation 16). A "tel" is a layer of land above other layers of land, with each layer of land representing a kingdom that ruled on that land in ancient times. 

WGSB/WFXW (under different owners, managers and formats) existed from 1961 to 2001. Metaphorically, several little kingdoms ruled in the area reflected in this photo, within the hallowed grounds of Fox Valley small town radio. Per Isaiah 40:8 and 1 Peter 1:24-25, the grass withers and the flower fades (as do temporary kingdoms and radio stations, large and small) but the word of the Lord endures forever, and April & I look forward to a certain kingdom that will never end (Luke 1:33)...compared to the photo above, one with much better pavement (Revelation 21:21)!