WWSC countdown to 75 — Ed Bartholomew

This is the latest in an occasional series of posts leading up to the 75th anniversary of Glens Falls radio station WWSC on Dec. 18, 2021.

Dave Covey used to look forward to the nights at WWSC radio when Ed Bartholomew would stop by unannounced.

“He would often appear randomly during the 11 p.m. oldies hour of my 6-hour evening show with Pete Cloutier to reminisce with us about the music and to choose some of his own tunes,” said Covey, a long-time local broadcaster. “We had great fun in that occasional late-night escape from the outside world.”

Ed loved broadcasting as much as politics.

It would be difficult to say which was his first love, and which second.

“During my management days, I could always count on Ed to host the station’s talk program, ‘Speak Up,’ on a moment’s notice whenever the regular host was unexpectedly delayed,” Covey said. “Indeed, he sometimes would call me on the outside chance I might schedule him in.”

It was a pleasure that Ed squeezed in with his busy schedule as mayor of Glens Falls from 1978 to 1985.

“I used to get zinged on a regular basis,” Bartholomew told Post-Star media columnist Ron Pecha in 1987. “But it was a great opportunity for contact with people, for I found that callers were often uneasy about telephoning City Hall.”

Bartholomew hosted the show daily for several months in late 1986 and early 1987, during a gap between regular announcers.

“It’s sort of my lunch hour,” said Bartholomew, who had a law practice at the time.

Shortly before his death, Ed was exploring the feasibility of launching a talk-show format podcast.

Broadcasting played a role in Ed’s life throughout his adult years.

During college he hosted the “Ed Bartholomew Show,” an afternoon radio news reporting and commentary program on WBZA, an AM station in Glens Falls, and worked at WRUC, the Union College radio station.

He also worked for a time at WKAJ in Saratoga Springs.

In his first year as mayor, Ed launched “The Mayor’s Report,” a weekly television show on the Classic Cable System community channel.

Ed talked about his goals and initiatives for the city and interviewed department heads and civic leaders.

In March 1982, while still serving as mayor, Bartholomew took over hosting “Sports Call,” a weekly sports talk show from 7 to 8 p.m. Mondays on WWSC in Glens Falls.

In the mid-’90s, after his term as mayor, he owned and was an on-air personality for a time at WZZM-FM, a country music station in Corinth.

He hosted “Beyond the Headlines,” a weekly interview show, for several years on local television station TV8, now LOOK-TV, beginning in 2006.

Click here to read the most recent previous post in the series.