Attendees mingle during an open house to celebrate WBGU-TV’s 50th anniversary Wednesday. (Photos: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

Bowling Green State University student Cortney Hutton will graduate Saturday with more than a diploma.

She already has a job in her field, broadcasting. And she’s has even more than that. “I’m graduating with
a passion for what I do and why I do it.”
Hutton credits WBGU-TV, where she has worked throughout her undergraduate career, with that. “Working at
WBGU has shown me what it is to be passionate about what you do. This isn’t just a job. … This is
something I love.”
Hutton was one of four students speaking at the open house Wednesday marking the 50th anniversary of the
public television station going on the air. BGSU holds the station’s broadcast license.
The station first went on the air on Feb. 10, 1964, said Tina Simon, WBGU-TV general manager for finance
and development.
It was the same year “Jeopardy!” premiered and just a few days after the Beatles appeared on “The Ed
Sullivan Show.”
“So we’re in good company,” she said.
The student workers represent an important part of the mission that founding general manager Dwayne
Tucker had in mind.
Margaret Tucker, his widow and herself a key player in the station’s development, said that mission was
three-fold: Bring excellent programming to Northwest Ohio, create excellent local programming and train
the next generation of broadcasters.
“He knew the value of real-life experience,” his wife said.

Jennifer Karches, Traffic Manager at WBGU-TV Public Television, looks back on an old photo during a ceremony to celebrate the station’s 50th anniversary Wednesday May 7, 2014.

“You can’t learn to operate a camera in a classroom,” said student Roman Buetel.
That educational mission was evident at Wednesday’s event. Among those speaking was Ron Gargasz, who
started working on the station with Dwayne Tucker in 1961 while it was still in the planning stages. The
station, Gargasz said, was a “living learning lab” before those were in fashion.
“BGSU is very fortunate to have a public television station,” said BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey. “It
means so much to our students.”
She cited the number of hours students work at the station for pay and credit.
“We hope to be able to continue this collaboration,” Mazey said.
She also noted the wealth of local productions. Each speaker who took to the podium cited a different set
of PBS specials.
“Telling the story of Northwest Ohio” was part of the mission from the beginning, Margaret Tucker said.

Gargasz said in the early years that included covering university sports, and even a documentary on the
National Tractor Pulling Championship. WBGU-TV submitted a segment of that to BBC for its series on
unusual sports, prompting this response from a British official: “Now I know you’re all dingbats.”
Mayor Richard Edwards noted that one of the station’s perennial favorites has been “The Blizzard of ‘78,”
except this year when people had enough of a real life harsh winter.
“I can’t think of life without public television,” Edwards said. WBGU-TV “has played a significant role
in moving things along economically and socially.”
Students are at the center of all that. “We are committed to using students in everything we do,” said
Tony Short, WBGU-TV general manager for production, engineering and educational services.
“I wouldn’t feel confident, “ Hutton said, “calling myself a professional in the industry without the
support and experiences from WBGU.”