As the year comes to an end, I want to take this opportunity to thank the people who’ve made it possible for our program, “Breakfast with Roger and Friends,” to become the fastest growing morning show on Peoria radio. Royce Elliott and I started together on WOAM in 2002 featuring fun, humor, great regular guests like Pete Vonachen, Jim Maloof, Kevin Lyons, George Shadid, Mike Dentino, and many others.

Sadly, Royce died in 2013, but the program continued with a festival of talk and music along with the most comprehensive news, weather and sports reporting unmatched by any local broadcast outlets. Today, heard on WAZU FM 90.7, it features well-known community leaders and personalities like John Meisinger, Jim Bixby, Mike Olson, Phil Salzer, Mike Dentino, Teri Chamberlain and Dr. Gene Sidler. Dr. Sidler has been on the program since 2016. No station, radio or TV, has provided anywhere close to the volume and quality of virus and other medical news as our morning show.

Regular guests with extraordinary knowledge and insights have included defense attorney Kevin Sullivan who offered exclusive analysis of murder trials from Minneapolis to Kenosha, Wis., to Mackinaw and Peoria. Who knows government better than former Congressman Ray LaHood, another go-to guest. Colonel Dan McDonough, Commanding Officer of the 182nd Air Lift Wing, gives monthly reports on activities of the Air Guard here and around the world as did then Colonel William Robertson. Former Navy fighter pilot Dick Crain, graduate of Manual and Bradley University, is our source for the wars in the Middle East and air transportation in the U.S.

Information on food and diets comes from Hy-Vee dietitian Brooke Bisbing Rush. Licensed professional counselor, Mary Beth Cunningham, of CAIM Counseling, helps us deal with the challenges of life. Former teacher, coach and past president of the Peoria Federation of Teachers Terry Knapp gives the only “live” summary of Peoria School District board meetings. Sie Maroon of the Peoria Public Works Department regularly reports street improvements, flooding and snow conditions. And we have our own college educated meteorologist Kyle Varnold, a graduate of Northern Illinois University. Thanks to Kyle, who once worked for the National Weather Bureau, our weather forecasts are timely and accurate. No one knows more about weather. Ditto sports. John Meisinger, Mike Olson, Jim Bixby and Phil Salzer played and/or coached sports at local high schools providing over 100 years of experience.

When it comes to news, I’ve done that and been there at WSIV, WPEO, WSWT, WJIL and the American Forces Network, Europe, with an estimated audience of 55 million. I served on the Peoria County Board for 22 years, did stints on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Housing Board of Appeals, and Peoria City/County Health Department’s board.

If this all sounds like a cheap plug for “Breakfast with Roger and Friends,” it is. Let me add, every one of the above people and others, are true “friends.” I’m grateful for their support. Thanks to everyone who make it a habit to join us on the radio and the Internet each day. God bless.

Goodbye Clare

I would be remiss if I failed to publicly say thank you to the newspaper’s managing editor Clare Howard. She took over the leadership of the Community Word 7 ½ years ago. She brought new life and community interest in the monthly publication. Today it has a marvelous format and a much wider distribution. I thank her for resisting calls for the elimination of my column by those who believe in censorship of anyone opposing their views. Clare became a friend. She and her husband are leaving, and the community is losing a friend as well. I wish them well, good fortune and much happiness.

Praying for our country

As a small child, I remember December, 1941, when a Peoria Journal Transcript newspaper boy yelled, “Extra. Extra. Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.” It was a major crisis affecting and infecting everyone in the country with gas and food rationing, Victory gardens, air raid sirens and wardens, blackouts and more. Kids collected tin foil and newspapers to help in the war effort. Men and boys were drafted and enlisted. Women took their places in factories and businesses while others joined the military. The country pulled together and because of that we defeated the Japanese in the Pacific, the Germans and Italians in Europe.

Today we face another conflict. The country has never been more divided since the Civil War. With the support and encouragement of the media, things will get worse rather than better. It’s hard not to inject politics, but I’m not going to. We need less of that, rather than more. These last days of 2021 when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us pray for the renewal of His presence. Let us pray for peace with one another. Let us pray for the elimination of the virus.

Quote of the month

“There is no justification for taking away individual’s freedom in the guise of public safety.” –– Thomas Jefferson