Hagerstown Magazine - The Best of Life in Washington County & Beyond

March/April 2010
FC People: Waking Up With Rick & Lisa
Life and Radio Make a Beautiful On-Air Marriage for WIKZ’s Most Popular Couple.

by Catherine Van Gilder + photos by Mahlon Yeager Photographics

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Morning rituals are sacred, a familiar, comforting start to the day. Perhaps it’s a cup of coffee, a jog around the block, or faithfully tuning in to Rick Alexander and Lisa Harding at 6 a.m. each weekday. Homer and Marge… Batman and Robin… Rick and Lisa. This dynamic, husband-and-wife duo informs, enlightens and entertains the Quad-State region during their three-hour show on WIKZ’s Mix 95.1 FM. Playing six pop hits hourly, the repartee of hilarity and humanism, talk and trends offers a relatable, down-to-earth presence on the radio. Lisa, with her chai tea and animal crackers with honey, and Rick, with his soda and sausage patties, provide a yin and yang that connects with their audience.

Real Life, Amplified
Whatever the formula, ratings are great. “Not just anyone can come into a show and do well,” Rick, the station’s operations manager, explains. “If two people bring the same thing to the table, it’s boring. You have to put yourself out there. It’s about being real, though sometimes amplified.”

In an occupation in which on-air personalities frequently relocate, the couple has been at the same microphones for more than two decades. “There’s nothing we’re afraid to talk about on the air,” smiles Lisa, the brains behind the writing. “It’s kind of like driving,” Rick continues. “Lisa tells me where to go. Without her, we’d be driving aimlessly.” A laugh escapes Lisa’s lips — a typical, endearing interaction between the two that has earned them multiple readers’ choice awards.

Lisa’s Baltimore childhood provided clues to her chosen career. “I was always interviewing friends, taping goofy performances.” She dabbled in television after graduating from Towson University, eventually migrating toward radio. Rick’s first job on-air was at a station in Hershey, Pa., literally in the middle of a cornfield. Still in high school, he had a passion for music, and radio provided the elements he craved. “Live radio is a powerful tool. It affects people’s lives. It’s the last of the local, live mediums.”

They met at the WIKZ radio station in Chambersburg in the mid-80s when Lisa landed the afternoon position. Rick, the nighttime deejay, had already been there for two years. There was an opening in the morning and Rick, though reluctant, decided to try it. A year into the show they realized they were onto something big and needed a second personality. Lisa got the job. “I cracked the glass ceiling,” she grins. “And we’re still picking up the chards,” quips Rick.

The Alexander and Harding show officially began in August of 1986. Already dating, Rick and Lisa decided to keep that detail private from their listeners, as well as their subsequent marriage in 1990. Lisa became pregnant with their only child a year later. Keeping their marriage secret proved difficult; on Valentine’s Day 1992 they shared their union by renewing their vows over the airwaves.

Uniting Life, Radio and the Community
Keeping their home life personal hasn’t always been easy. “It’s a balancing act,” Rick relays. Their teenage son, Jonathan, has been on the audience’s radar since birth. “We had an on-air contest to name him as a baby,” Rick remembers. “He’s never known any different.”

Life experiences have become radio fodder. “We keep a log of our weekends and vacations, hoping something interesting will happen,” Rick says. Normal, everyday issues have morphed into on-air chats, like “things you accidentally put in the wash,” says Lisa, who plans each show a day ahead. “You have to have a master plan. You can’t just wing it.”

But flexibility is key. “You have to be able to change on a moment’s notice,” Rick says. Breaking news trumps everything. “I couldn’t believe what was happening on 9/11. It was surreal. There’s no training for something like that.” They covered the events as they were unfolding, trying to console the community they cherish. “It was a uniting time,” Lisa remembers.

Other memorable moments during happier times, like their publicity stunts and wacky contests, have become legendary — including the weeklong stint on Burger King’s roof. “We were young and crazy,” laughs Lisa. “We walked away with colds and not wanting burgers for awhile,” jokes Rick. Contests, like naming a restaurant’s daily soup or guessing Lisa’s lunchbox contents, generate loads of calls. “People love it,” says Lisa. “Especially when there are prizes. They also raised a whopping $300,000 in a matter of days when Lisa brought Shawn Guyer’s story to the airwaves. He had lost several limbs to leukemia, and the family needed help. “People were bringing in money left and right,” Rick says. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Pop hits and economics have changed over the last two decades, but the magic of the maestros behind the microphones and the support of the community that listens have not. “As long as a station finds a way to do good, local radio, it’ll survive,” Rick believes. “This area has been good to us,” Lisa adds. “We’ve been blessed.”