WPTL serves Canton on air for 60 years and counting

Aug. 31—CANTON — WPTL, Canton's hometown radio station, celebrated its 60th anniversary this month, with radio personalities through the years reminiscing about the station's roots.

The station has been owned and operated by the same family for most of its existence, after being bought by Bill and Linda Reck in 1978. Today, the station is owned and run by their daughter, Terryll Evans. Evans moved back to her hometown to help her dad out following Linda's death in 2014. She became partner in 2015 and eventually took over after her dad's retirement in 2020. He died the following year.

"I had very big shoes to fill," she told the crowd, adding that she never expected she would be in the radio business. Prior to moving her family back to Canton, Evans was an ophthalmology assistant.

WPTL has followed a similar format since its inception, playing mostly gospel and country music, offering a flea market exchange Monday through Saturday, with worship services broadcast on Sunday, live sports coverage for local teams and special programming such as Papertown Roots Radio with Tim Surrett.

WPTL is found at 101.7 FM and 920 AM, which proudly promotes its "real country music" entertainment.

Richard Hurley, one of the earliest broadcasters on the Canton station, traced the station's history back to 1963, when he started working there as a high school student. The station offered a bit of something for everyone, bluegrass, gospel easy listening and a teen show, he recalled, playing all the favorite hits of the day.

WPTL was started by Vernon Pressley in 1963 and sold to Charles Price of Price-McNabb advertising agency three years later. The agency operated the station until it was acquired by Bill and Linda Reck in 1978.

Hurley provided a history of radio in Canton during his remarks, including the popular artists played on local stations.

John Anderson also spoke at the celebration. He began his broadcasting career at WPTL when he was a Pisgah High School junior in 1977, and has been involved in numerous radio enterprises since then. He is currently the morning personality on the station.

"Local radio has always been an important part of a community," Anderson said. "It's gone from playing records on turntables to songs on computer files, but there's the same feeling that we take care of our listeners."

Hurley presented Evans with a mounted record of Bobby Bare's "Detroit City," which was a big hit in 1963, when WPTL was started.

"The record was at the station and had the date and sticker written on it," Hurley said. "She gave me some records a while back, and that was amongst them, so I gave it back to station. It's a nice piece of memorabilia, and one that would have been played in that era."