In a well-used office tucked back in the corner of the school, Pete Bowers is reminiscing.

  “This part of the building was probably built in the 50s or 60s,” Bowers, Andover Student Radio Advisor of 35 years begins. “I mean, look at the ceiling, it’s pretty bad, there are holes in going up into the roof. We’re pretty lucky to still have a [physical] station… I thought I would get it going and maybe move to something else. If it got really boring and I wasn’t enjoying it I probably would have left a long time ago, but it isn’t [boring] and I can’t believe it’s been 35 years.”

 The Biff, 88.1 WBFH – Andover and Lahser’s resident radio station, is currently celebrating over three decades in broadcasting; prompting a trip back in time to when the program first began.

  “There have been a couple exciting moments here: When we went on the air October 1, 1976; in 1980 when we raised our power from 10 watts to 360 watts; when we started to stream on the Internet,” says Bowers. “ I should write a book with the great memories I’ve had here [I have had so many], because working with young people is like the Twilight Zone. The people are always the same age here and even though people graduate, new people come in – they’re always the same age; they have lots of energy and they’re fun to be with. [They keep things exciting].” 

 Part of the reason The Biff has not met the fate of some other high school stations is due to the number of student prospects says Biff Radio Technician of 12 years Randy Carr.

  “Some of the high schools are not doing too well with their radio programs because it costs a lot of money to operate the stations and to have teachers run them,” says Carr. “Southfield may not be around for much longer, Plymouth is having some money problems.”

  However, the Biff has not been facing these same problems, Carr explains. “Challenge wise I can’t really say that we’ve been having a tough time because we’ve had a lot of interested students come through here. The community has been really good to us.”

  According to Junior Tyler Kieft, who has been on staff since his freshman year, the group of students on staff each year who are helping to keep the program going are like a family.“Everybody is very close on the radio staff, even the new people adjust very quickly to the social environment. When we see each other in the hallway we have conversations, there are a lot of inside jokes.”

  However, according to Bowers, the quality of the Biff’s productions and its achievements are sometimes born out of the competitive spirit within the station itself. “A lot of times a WBFH staffer’s biggest competition is another WBFH staffer, not somebody from New York or Plymouth. Sometimes people get second place and who did they lose to? Another WBFH staffer.”

  The staff and the competitive level of its broadcasting has been a constant, but the biggest changes have come in the form of technology. “[Pete Bowers] started out playing records and tapes, CDs and now we’re completely automated,” says Carr. “He has done amazing things.”

 “The biggest change hasn’t been in people, but in technology,” agrees Bowers. “We have progressed. Technology is a train [that’s constantly moving]. We went from playing records to CDs — that was technology.”

  Bowers says that the staff plays a role in keeping the “train” moving in a positive direction. “We wanted to have an Internet station in addition to our regular one and we did it. I had nothing to do with it. [The staff] did all the technical stuff; I just sometimes sit back, in shock and awe, amazed at some of the productions they do, thinking, ‘how did you do that?’ We just try to jump on the train and hang on.”

  Bowers states that while technology moves into the future, ultimately it’s the accomplishments of WBFH that will prove as motivation. “We don’t do what we do for awards, but it’s great to be recognized for it. We’ve won the High School Station of the Year seven times now, we won Best High School Radio Station in the nation four times. To see [the staff] walk across the stage and get their state award and then for them to announce that WBFH has won station of the year, it is the greatest feeling in the world. To have done that seven times, that’s amazing. All of these gold record plaques that you see around here, if anything, looking at [them] helps motivate [current staff members] to want to get another.

Written by: rlefebre on November 17, 2011.