ASHLAND, Ohio – After 30 years of his familiar voice traveling across the airwaves of Richland County and beyond, Ron Colman is hanging up the headphones.
Mid-Ohio’s Country Music Station, 101.3 WNCO, announced on Friday the longtime morning show host would retire from his on-air duties after 30 years with the station. Colman’s last day on air will be Friday, May 1, but he will continue partnering with the station as a community ambassador.
“I’m looking forward to one final month on the air, then I’m throwing my alarm clock out the window,” said Colman. “You’ve allowed me into your homes and cars each morning, and it has been a privilege.”
“Colman in the Morning” first came to Mid-Ohio on August 1, 1984 after its namesake hosted radio shows in Pennsylvania, Kansas and Youngstown, Ohio. Each weekday morning since 1984 Colman has been waking up listeners to 101.3 WNCO.
“He’s not just a local legend,” said Keith Kennedy, iHeartMedia Senior Vice President of Programming. “His impact has been felt over the years by the entire country music community. Ron helped create many country stars by exposing their music to listeners on WNCO.”
Radio first came into Colman’s life as a boy growing up in Youngstown, Ohio.
“I was one of those kids that had a radio taped to the handlebars of his bike and the radio was on all the time,” he said. “I just loved it, and thought I’d like to do that someday. When I was 13 my mom and dad bought me a tape recorder and I started doing radio shows on tape.”
Over the years Colman has amassed quite the resume of interviewees, from the matriarch of the Brady Bunch, Florence Henderson, to Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, not to mention innumerable country stars in Nashville and elsewhere. But it was a hometown story that sticks with Colman as his most vivid memory – welcoming home soldiers from the Ohio National Guard’s 1486th Transportation Company returning from Operation Desert Storm.
“We led a parade from Lahm Airport through downtown Mansfield,” Colman recalled. “It was breathtaking to see people holding flags everywhere you looked. It was a great salute to our soldiers, and I got to do the broadcast live.”
In 1994 Colman was inducted into the Country Western Music Association DJ Hall of Fame. More recently, he was inducted into the Ohio Radio and Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2014. Colman received numerous awards for his outstanding community service during tenure at WNCO.
“I can’t thank Ron enough for the positive impact he has made in our community,” said 101.3 WNCO Market President Margie Tasseff. “Ron knew it was always about using the power of radio for the betterment of our town.”
After waking up at 3 a.m. for so many years, Colman said his first goal in retirement is to learn how to sleep in – at least until 5 a.m. After that he hopes to write a few books, get back to his longtime hobby of woodcarving, and travel.
“It was all good,” said Colman of his time at WNCO. “The public has been wonderful, and the clients I’ve worked with over the years have been really good. Thirty years of waking up with my listeners has truly been a blessing.”
“He’s not just a local legend,” said Keith Kennedy, iHeartMedia Senior Vice President of Programming. “His impact has been felt over the years by the entire country music community.
