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STORY INDEX Introduction Service still most important product at Ligonier Telephone Co. A black and white sensation: Tiny Screens a big attraction in early years of television A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done Indiana Extension Homemakers better the lives of families How to be a good wife The show goes on at The Strand: Kendallville theater survives decades of changes in the movie business Some movies forgettable, but not Cleon Point: Memories of colorful, longtime Strand Theatre manager live on Small towns once supported their own movie theaters 'You'd see everyone there': Kendallville residents have lasting memories of teen hangouts old and new Links of land and lakes: County, state officials worked together to establish Chain O' Lakes State Park William Jennings Bryan among among orators at Rome City's Western Chautauqua Dr. David Rogers - Man of mystery, and benevolence DNR restoration programs working: Once abundant wildlife returning to area Rise of girls athletics have changed face of school sports Decades of intramurals: Before the '70s, girls had limited athletic opportunities Ford Frick was reared on Noble county's sandlots: Baseball executive always considered himself a 'lucky fan' Ruth was greatest player ever: Frick Frick's predictions for 2000 not far off Small Wolf Lake big winner in 1942 basketball regional Four in a row: Finally with a gym of their own, KHS cagers went to 'Sweet 16' four straight years Ink to flow into 21st century at county's newspapers Broadcast media: Manahan was pioneer in Noble County broadcasting WAWK's history dates back to 1959 Soundwaves from the past: Ligonier museum has one of the largest collections of antique radios in U.S. Health trends: Changes through the century occurred in medicine, health care Scarlet fever, polio were early health scares From sanitarium to partnership: A century of Noble County's medical care Funeral directors ran ambulance service in county prior to '74 'EMS arrives in time for '74 tornado LaGrange County doctors once made house calls by horseback Country doctor delivered babies in his home and drove a Thunderbird Service to mankind condensed to footnotes of history Lengthy Mier-Straus rivalry ended with bank merger : German-Jewish immigrants had impact on Ligonier's history Who are the people of the Amish faith? A place to live, farm, worship, and raise families: Amish began settling in LaGrange, Elkhart counties in 1840 Two controversial religious sects from the 1970's have impact on Noble County Churches with rich heritages served parishioners in LaOtto, Ege WAWK's history dates back to 1959 By JOE POTTER The News-Sun KENDALLVILLE - Kendallville's local radio station, WAWK 1140-AM, and its former sister station, WAWK 93.3-FM, have a long and interesting history in the community. In 1957, Fred Manahan and three other partners - Weldon and Gertrude "Trudy" Dornell, Paul King, and an unnamed silent partner - purchased Kendallville's 250-watt radio station, WKTL 1570-AM, which had began operations in 1955. They quickly changed the call letters to WAWK, which meant W-Auburn-W-Kendallville, because there had been plans to also have a station in Auburn, Manahan said. In the 1960s, he and his partners successfully applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to broadcast on the lower frequency of 1140-AM. That made it possible for the signal from the AM station's 250-watt transmitter to be received in a 45-50 mile area. In 1964, Manahan and his partners started WAWK 93.3-FM, which had a 37,000 watt transmitter, which could cover a similar area as WAWK 1140-AM's 250-watt AM transmitter. The new FM station also had the ability to broadcast in stereo, which was unique at that time, Manahan said. For 20 years, WAWK 93.3-FM broadcast the same programs as WAWK 1140-AM until they and their frequencies were sold to Empire Communications Inc., headed by Paul Ruse. Shortly before he sold the stations, Manahan had the call letters of the FM station changed to WBTU. During 1984, he could not sell them to another station owner within a 100-mile radius, Manahan said. This is different from today, when one person or company can own several radio stations in the same community. "This is a huge change and I'm not sure it is a good one. However, there are so many stations in our country that consolidating some operations under one management and ownership is a way to increase operating efficiency," Manahan said. Manahan, who was the radio stations' sole owner at that time, reportedly sold them to take life a little easier and to enjoy the success of the Noble TV Cable company, of which he was president. Ruse later sold both stations and their frequencies to Fort Wayne Media Ltd., which moved WBTU to Fort Wayne in January 1988. In July 1985, WBTU's signal was increased to 50,000 watts. In 1991, Don Moore, who had managed WAWK in the early 1980s when it was an AM-FM operation, and John Schuster, who was then WAWK's station manager, purchased WAWK 1140-AM from Fort Wayne Media Ltd. and restored local radio programming to Kendallville. The FCC won't allow WAWK AM-1140 to broadcast fulltime because its transmissions could possibly interfere with WRVA AM-1140 in Richmond, Va., according to Manahan.