Correspondent photo / Bill Koch Youngstown Radio Reading Service staff member Otha Mae Braziel of Girard, left, shares a laugh with volun By BILL KOCH teer Kathy Gerberry of Canfield at Thursday’s 50th anniversary celebration of the YRRS.

LIBERTY — The Goodwill cafeteria was full of laughter and stories Thursday evening as the Youngstown Radio Reading Service celebrated 50 years of broadcasting for blind and print-impaired people in the community.

The satation, technically a subcarrier of WYSU-FM, began in 1976 in the Society for the Blind building on Glenwood Avenue. In 1992, it moved to Youngstown Area Goodwill on Belmont Avenue.

YRRS offers a variety of programming, including daily readings of The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle, additional local newspapers such as the Morning Journal, The Review and the Boardman News, books and magazines, discussion shows on various topics and a feature called “Living with Blindness.”

With the move in 1992, Mike Bosela, who had been a staff member since 1979, became the manager. He retired in 2018, but continues to come in once a week to assist.

Bosela, who has been completely blind most of his life, said the best part is “there’s always a place for us.” Not only did he learn how to run a radio station, he has provided community outreach to blind people who did not know where to turn. In addition, he has been able to witness others developing skills, including newer technicians Otha Mae Braziel, Larry Karabin and Alex Budrevich.

Mike Muder was a college intern in 1995 and became a full-time staff member in 1997. In 2018, he succeeded Bosela as the YRRS manager.

“I always thought he needed to be my successor, and it worked out,” Bosela said of Muder.

Muder and Bosela readily acknowledged that the key to their success is the approximately 70 volunteers who dedicate their time to the station.

“We have a good time, but when they start recording they take it very seriously. I don’t have to worry about the quantity or the quality of our mission,” Muder said.

Muder noted the technological changes, from reel-to-reel, cassette and CD to the internet and streaming platforms through Siri and Alexa. However, the programming has stayed fairly consistent as they broadcast things that are difficult to access otherwise, such as local news, obituaries and even coupons.

Among Thursday’s participants were longtime collaborators Don and Pam Reisinger. Together they produce a program from their Champion home called Potpourri. Her son, Scott Bowden, said they were friends in the 1970’s, and 20 years ago, they were on a bus to Goodwill when they recognized each other’s voice. They have been married since 2007.

Sandra Baxter of Canfield has been a volunteer reader for about five years. She focuses on literature for children and young adults. As a retired English teacher she said, “I value reading. It’s the window of life.”

Boardman resident Jim Perrotta has been a YRRS listener since the move to Goodwill, but is also a volunteer, doing both a sports show and a restaurant review.

“Being a blind person myself, this is my friend circle. It’s fun and I like helping the other listeners,” Perrotta said.

YRRS has a 50-year legacy of being a vital part of the community, and Bosela said he hopes it will continue another 50 years. Paraphrasing the Grateful Dead song, he said, “What a long, wonderful, exciting trip it’s been.”