FALMOUTH – In May 2022 when Rich Rogers, more than 40 years old with no on-air radio experience, applied for a deejay job with WMVY, his friend Tom Bushy thought, “They’re probably not going to know what they have.”
But of the half dozen applicants for the job, said PJ Finn, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard independent radio station, Rogers and his unusual resume of blue collar jobs stood out.
Rogers had co-owned a burrito restaurant, and he had worked at other restaurants including at Steve’s Pizzeria; and Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant. He had worked municipal jobs in the Falmouth Department of Public Works parks department and in the DPW water department; and in maintenance at the Falmouth Housing Authority; and in the facilities department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Rich Rogers, in front of the WMVY building in West Tisbury. CAPE COD WAVE PHOTO
It turned out, the station did what know it had in Rogers. He was hired in June 2022.
The job was for an overnight deejay and, said Finn, “This person was also going to book shows for us.” The radio station puts on several live music shows a year at venues on Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod.
Rogers, in fact, had a lot of experience putting on concerts and shows, mostly in Falmouth. Finn had even met him while emceeing one of those shows at the Coonamessett Inn.
Of those hundreds of shows Rogers had put on, he said, “Finally, I could put them on a resume.”
Rogers background putting on shows helped, but Finn said, the most important thing was that Rogers’ can-do attitude and friendly personality fit perfectly into the station’s culture.
Purchase Required
To read the rest of this one Longform story, please purchase access. The price for this one story is $3.00. To access all of our Longform stories, choose a $5.00 monthly membership or a $50.00 yearly membership.
