Vermont Business Magazine WLVB-FM Operations Director Craig Ladd, Vermont Public Producer/Announcer Betty Smith-Mastaler and WTWN-AM/WYKR-FM Owner/Operator Stephen Puffer will be inducted in the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Saturday, December 3, 2022 at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington, VT.
Small market radio broadcasters have to be consistently good at multiple jobs and Craig Ladd is among the best! When he wasn’t doing the afternoon show on WLVB-FM in Morrisville, he was writing and producing commercials, organizing station promotions, creating daily logs, generating invoices and helping promote events and fundraisers for area organizations with interviews and PSAs.
Ladd’s 50 plus year career reads like a road map of radio around the region. Ladd’s career took him from WEAV-AM and WKDR-FM in Plattsburgh, to WDOT-AM in Burlington, to WDEV-AM & FM in Waterbury. He then helped build WLVB-FM in Morrisville, where he was the Operations Manager from 1993 until cancer forced him to retire in September 2022.
At Vermont Public, Producer/Announcer Betty Smith-Mastaler is known as the "founding mother of VPR." One of the pioneers that brought public radio to Vermont, she was at the drawing board when the station was just an idea, a series of meetings and community gatherings. As the service grew from one signal to a statewide, multi-format service, Smith-Mastaler remained an important voice on the air in the afternoons. Sharing her passion, commitment and grit, she has brought voices and perspectives of countless individuals, stewarding the Commentary Series for years.
Stephen Puffer built his two small market radio stations alongside his father, Gene Puffer. First WTWN-AM in Wells River in 1976 and then WYKR-FM just over the New Hampshire border in 1990. He is a second generation broadcaster who, over his 46 year career, has been a jack-of-all trades, doing announcing, engineering, sales, management and everything in between.
Guided by the philosophy "if we are all getting along in radio and promoting radio - Radio Wins!", Stephen gets along with fellow broadcasters, seeking advice when needed and giving advice when asked. He has served on the VAB Board of Directors, is involved with multiple civic organizations, has won local excellence awards, participates in fundraising events for local charities and is well known and respected in his community.
Being inducted into the VAB Hall of Fame is not the only accomplishment being celebrated December 3rd at the Hilton Hotel. Six more broadcasters and one “Friend of Broadcasters” will be recognized with excellence awards.
The VAB’s Distinguished Service award will go to retired WCAX-TV Newscast Director Roger Lewis. Lewis started his 40 year career directing the evening newscasts and then moved to the morning and noon newscasts for the second half of his career. Lewis made newscasts seem smooth even when behind the scenes, things were going wrong. He would quietly, calmly take charge and turn it around so viewers couldn’t tell something wasn’t going as planned. Having Lewis in the director's chair gave everyone on the team a sense of confidence that all would be good.
The VAB’s Broadcaster of the Year award goes to local Fox affiliate WFFF-TV (Local 44) and ABC affiliate WVNY-TV (Local 22) in Colchester. Following an antenna fire on the tower serving WCAX-TV and WPTZ-TV on Mount Mansfield that left both stations unable to broadcast their signals, WFFF-TV, WVNY-TV and their parent company Nexstar chose to help the competing stations construct a temporary antenna on their tower allowing WCAX and WPTZ to get back on the air quickly instead of using it as a competitive advantage.
Andrea Lammly, the Business Manager for Hall Communications in South Burlington will receive the VAB’s Snyder-Teffner award for excellence behind the scenes in a support role. Lammly has been overseeing the business side of stations WJOY-AM, WKOL-FM, WOKO-FM, WIZN-FM and WBTZ-FM for over 30 years and is well liked and appreciated by her colleagues. The Snyder-Teffner award is named for long-time VAB Board members and Broadcast Engineers Dennis Snyder and Ted Teffner.
Great Eastern Radio stations WWFY-FM “Froggy”, WRFK-FM “Frank” and WSNO-AM “The Beat” in Barre will receive the Alan Noyes Community Service Award for their 2021 “Stuff-A-Truck” food drive to benefit the Salvation Army Food Pantries in Barre and Burlington. The Alan Noyes Community Service Award is named for the VAB’s First Executive Director who is also a Hall of Fame member.
The VAB is giving two “Rising Star” awards, one to Vermont Public Producer/Director Kaylee Mumford and one to WCAX-TV Anchor/Reporter Dom Amato. The Rising Star award recognizes young adults new to the broadcast industry that demonstrate talent, passion, resourcefulness and dedication to community needed to enjoy long and successful careers in broadcasting.
The VAB has only given a “Friend of Broadcasters” award three times in 27 years. Major General Gregory Knight of the Vermont National Guard will be the fourth. As The Adjutant General of Vermont, Knight has embraced speaking to the media on a regular basis, has made transparency the new normal and has strengthened the relationship between the Vermont National Guard and Vermont's radio and television stations. He believes in radio and television's ability to share the guard's story and continues to use the VAB’s Non-Commercial Sustainability Announcement (NCSA) program to find recruits.
Additional details about all the Hall of Fame Inductees and award winners can be found at https://vab.org/2022-vab-hall-of-fame-inductees-and-award-winners/
Monday, October 31, 2022 – VAB
