(VERMILLION, SD) – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016
After nearly 20 years hosting Morning Classics on SDPB, Owen DeJong has decided to retire.
DeJong will sign off SDPB Radio permanently at the end of his last Morning Classics broadcast, Friday, December 30, 2016 from 9am-Noon (8am-11am MT).
”The Morning Classics audience has been a great audience,” says DeJong. “But it’s time. Time for me to back on out of here.”
DeJong took the helm of Morning Classics in 1997 after a career teaching high school English, art, and music. During the 1980s he performed extensively in Nashville with the Travelin’ Band and other musicians. In an earlier day, DeJong spun classic rock for KVRA/KVRF in Vermillion. He holds Masters Degrees in English and Violin Performance from the University of South Dakota. A classically trained violinist and self-taught fiddler, DeJong plays viola with the USD Symphony Orchestra and also plays fiddle, with guitarist Nick Schwebach, in the popular regional country-swing acts Public Domain Tune Band and Poker Alice.
SDPB will spend the month of December honoring DeJong’s service, including a Live On-Air Retirement Party on Morning Classics Wednesday, December 14 from 9am-noon (8am-11am CT).
SDPB will continue to broadcast and stream Classical music 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week on SDPB Radio's HD2 signal – available on the SDPB app, SDPB.org and wherever HD Radio signal is available. More information is available at SDPB.org/Classical.
Beginning Monday, January 2, 2017, SDPB will broadcast On Point with Tom Ashbrook, a live, 2-hour interactive news and culture program, weekday mornings from 9am-11am CT (8-10am MT). Also beginning Monday, January 2, SDPB’s Dakota Midday will expand and return as In the Moment with Lori Walsh – a two-hour news, arts, and culture magazine program featuring extended news coverage by a team of beat reporters throughout South Dakota. In the Moment will broadcast weekdays from 11am-1pm CT (10am-noon MT).
Meanwhile, as part of SDPB’s month-long tribute to DeJong, the public is invited to call SDPB’s Tribute Line at 605-679-7850 to leave a message for Owen DeJong that may be used on the air.
