Sharon DeSantis - NewsWatch62 News Reporter
62 WHEN Radio - Syracuse, NY

"In Her Own Words"

Frankly, I’m flattered to even be asked to write something…Although I was, indeed, a member of the illustrious Newswatch62 team…it was at the “end of the era”…although, I certainly tried earlier. Back in 1978, during my senior year at SUNY Oswego, I interviewed at WHEN…and was turned away with a nasty rejection that STILL stings…but I took the advice to "get some experience before you come back"…and went on to work at WKFM (twice), and several radio stations in Ohio and West Virginia (including another “legendary” station, WXIL in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1979/80…at the end of their era... I afraid there’s a pattern here!).

Flash forward to 1990…the WHEN staffers are hanging out at Riley’s on a Friday night…I’m with my (then) husband, WHEN air personality, Chris Davis and the discussion turns to backtiming into the news. At that point, I had not worked in radio in several years, preferring a steady paycheck. But I chime into the discussion and claim that it’s somewhat like riding a bike and "of course, I can backtime into the network, I did it for years."

News Director Bill Pfohl says, "OK prove it…come in & do the 2pm newscast tomorrow afternoon." So I did..and I hit the network then and every Saturday afternoon for the next year & a half (along with some Sundays and the occasional weekday fill-in around my "day job"). It was definitely more fun than my other employment…and it was sad that while I was out on maternity leave, Newswatch62 was pretty much destroyed during the bloodbath of early ’92.

Flash forward to today…the "baby" is 20 years old, I’m living in California and am actually "old enough to retire" from my job in County government. I’m an Engineering Technician for the Tuolumne County Community Resource Agency. I never worked in radio again after WHEN. However, I’m absolutely not done with media. I appeared for years (along with my current husband) in a regional PSA on TV in California for hazardous waste recycling, and have won over $10,000 in cash & prizes by producing contest winning videos, including videos for Tyson Anytizers, SheSmoke BBQ, Kenyon Custom electric grills, Mambolicious and more!

Stay tuned, you never know where I’ll turn up next!

“Sharon DeSantis”/Ledsome/Mikesell
WHEN alumni 1990-92