[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S47-S48]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL CAREY

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermont is fortunate that it still 
has at least one major radio station that has not forgotten its 
connection to the community. This station is WDEV from the town of 
Waterbury. It is only a few miles from where I was born and raised and 
I have known the Squire family who owns the station throughout my life. 
It is presently owned and run by Ken Squire, who carries on the family 
tradition of representing Vermont first and foremost. Part of that 
tradition has been the long running ``Wake Up Vermont'' program I heard 
each morning with the great team of ``Michael and Michaels.'' The 
program was done by Michael Carey and Eric Michaels and was one of the 
finest radio programs in Vermont. Eric Michaels has a great ability as 
an interviewer on even the most complex of subjects, and Michael Carey 
added a sense of continuity and comfort to the program. Between the two 
of them one had an enjoyable way to start the day.
  I was saddened, as were most Vermonters, to hear that Michael Carey 
is retiring. I have known Mike for years and always enjoyed meeting 
with him, either at the studio in Waterbury or over the phone when I 
would be on their program from Washington, D.C. Eric Michaels said he 
will be devastated by the loss of his radio partner and I can well 
imagine he is, but I am thankful that Eric will remain.
  I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much Michael Carey 
has meant to Vermonters and how his sacrifice in getting up in the wee 
hours of the morning made it possible for rest of us to face the day.
  I want to wish my Washington County neighbor the very best, and to 
thank him for the years of pleasure he has given all of us in central 
Vermont, and I ask that an article about this radio legend by Robin 
Palmer in the Times Argus be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

                 [From the Times Argus, Dec. 30, 2000]

                      Vermont Radio Legend Retires

                           (By Robin Palmer)

       Waterbury.--A radio personality whose reliability co-
     workers say was unmatched, ended a nearly 40-year career 
     today with a final ``Wake Up, Vermont'' program on WDEV.
       Michael Carey, 53, is retiring because of health reasons 
     and, despite a last show dedicated to Carey and his many 
     attributes, it was a sad day for him and for central Vermont 
     radio.
       ``It's a retirement that's been forced upon me and not one 
     that I'm looking forward to. I loved the profession and 
     that's what makes it doubly hard,'' said Carey, who shirked 
     at the attention surrounding him, calling his ``just a 
     profession.''
       Carey's profession began at an early age, and one he said 
     he never expected to have.
       At age 13, from his parents' apartment on Elm Street in 
     Waterbury, Carey had an illegal radio station. He played 
     records and read the weather, until a WDEV employee, Norman 
     James, heard Carey's pirate station and thought he'd put the 
     illegal endeavor to some good use, Carey said.
       James got Carey a job answering phones for a WDEV Saturday 
     night request program called ``The Green Mountain Ballroom.''
       ``Norm James got my foot in the door,'' said Carey, whose 
     name was already familiar to those at the Waterbury radio 
     station.
       Carey's late parents, guitarist Morton ``Smokey'' Carey and 
     singer Lois Carey, used to perform each morning on WDEV, said 
     radio station owner Ken Squier.
       Carey himself was later well known as the drummer in the 
     popular ``Carey Brothers Band'' that entertained throughout 
     the area in the 1970s.
       In 1965, the radio pirate turned student worker was hired 
     as a full-time announcer at WDEV by legendary Vermont radio 
     personality and former ``Wake Up, Vermont'' host Rusty 
     Parker, who died on the air in 1982 while reading the news.
       Since his start in the 60s, Carey said, ``I've done every 
     shift here at the radio station except a Sunday night 
     shift.''
       During that time, ``there have been memories both very good 
     and very bad ones,'' Carey said, listing Parker's death and 
     the death of ``Cousin'' Harold Grout as two of the worst.
       Two years after Parker's death, in 1984, Carey was promoted 
     to sign-on the station and host the morning program, 
     including ``Once Around the Clock'' from 5 to 6 a.m. and 
     ``The Morning News Service'' from 7 to 8 a.m.
       When Grout died, Carey became the voice of the long-running 
     ``Trading Post'' program. And in April 1994, Carey was teamed 
     with radio group Vice President and General Manager Eric 
     Michaels for a 6 to 9 a.m. morning news program that 
     quickly became know as ``Wake Up, Vermont with Michael and 
     Michaels.''
       ``From the first day we were in the studio together we felt 
     like we had worked with each other for a long time,'' said 
     Michaels. ``He can read me like a book.
       ``So I'm devastated (that Carey's retiring), if you want to 
     put it in a single word. It's like getting a divorce,'' 
     Michaels said.
       Michaels praised Carey as one of the most competent 
     broadcasters he's ever met. Carey can technically run a show 
     while not missing a beat as an announcer.
       ``He's an absolutely wonderful news reader,'' said Michaels 
     of his co-host.

[[Page S48]]

       Carey was rarely flustered.
       ``Doesn't matter if it was a snowstorm and floods, he could 
     always rise to the occasion. Squier said, ``That is his 
     strength.''
       Bad weather and flooding once closed the Waterbury station 
     and after a 20-minute delay, Michael and Michaels went on-air 
     at a nearby studio that was so cold their lips stuck to the 
     microphones. Carey was unfazed, said Michaels.
       And one stormy day, it took Michaels over two hours to 
     drive from Barre to Waterbury.
       ``I called the whole program in by phone,'' said Michaels, 
     who all the while was guided by reliable Carey, sitting 
     comfortably at the station and casually chatting with 
     Michaels over the phone.
       With Carey's retirement, Michaels will continue on with 
     ``Wake Up, Vermont.'' The ``Michael and Michaels'' portion of 
     the name will be dropped, and another WDEV radio announcer 
     will fill in for Carey while the radio station searches for a 
     replacement.
       ``It's been the most reluctant job search that I've ever 
     had to do,'' Michaels said.
       While the job search will stretch beyond Vermont's borders, 
     Squier said he is committed to keeping the morning broadcast 
     a ``Vermont sound.''
       And Carey is invited back anytime he feels up to it, Squier 
     said.''We were terribly sorry to lose him,'' said Squier.
       ``I think all of central Vermont will miss him,'' Squier 
     said. ``He was a steady hand for listeners in the morning.''
       Carey said he may come back at some point and do part-time 
     work but, for now, that's not possible.
       The Duxbury resident and father of three who for decades 
     has awoken at 3 a.m., said he will be ``trying to get back to 
     a normal life.
       ``Just some R and R, rest and relaxation, getting on the 
     computer and trying to do some things. Just keeping active 
     and doing stuff,'' said Carey of his plans.

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