The Vermont Association of Broadcasters is thrilled to announce this year’s inductees into the VAB Hall of Fame as well as this year’s award winners! These broadcasters will be celebrated during the VAB Hall of Fame & Awards Gala Saturday, November 16, 2024 at the brand new Farmhouse located on the grounds of The Essex Resort & Spa in Essex, VT.

2024 Hall of Fame Inductees

Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson has been a journalist in Vermont since 1982. He has worked in print, broadcast and digital media, including 25 years as the host of “The Mark Johnson Show,” a two-hour daily public affairs program on radio stations WKDR and WDEV. There, he interviewed public policy makers, authors, politicians and experts, locally and nationally, on a wide variety of topics. During the Legislative session, he broadcasted live from the Vermont Statehouse, interviewing legislative leaders, public officials and policy experts. He has also hosted numerous election debates on radio and television and is a regular panelist on Vermont Public’s roundtable news program “Vermont This Week.” Mark is respected by Vermonters and his peers for his impartiality, preparedness, insightful questioning and getting “the story behind the story.”

Johnson was a founder and employee owner of Hometown Broadcasting, which operated WKDR, a talk radio station in Burlington, from 1990 to 1998, alongside fellow Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Famers Louie Manno, Jim Condon and Andy Potter. He currently works at WCAX, hosting 802 News, a podcast featuring interviews with public policy makers on issues relevant to Vermonters.  Prior to his career in radio, Johnson worked at the Eagle Times in Springfield and was the City Hall reporter for the Burlington Free Press in the 1980’s when Bernie Sanders was mayor of Burlington. After his radio career, Mark worked for five years at Vermont Digger as a news reporter and senior editor and mentored many up and coming reporters. He has also taught journalism at Champlain College. Mark is married to CCTV founder Lauren-Glenn Davitian and together, they have a daughter, Stella Rose Johnson.

Rich Haskell

In 1979, Rich Haskell’s love of radio materialized when he became the overnight board operator at WTSL-AM in Hanover, NH. So it makes sense that while attending Lyndon State College, he volunteered for the campus radio station WWLR-FM doing sports play-by-play, then as the Program Director and eventually General Manager. While attending college, Rich also moonlighted for WLTN-FM in Littleton, NH as a DJ, their News Director and again doing sports play-by-play.  A few years after graduation, Rich made the big move to the “little” city of Vergennes, VT where, over the course of four years, he did pretty much every DJ shift at WIZN-FM. In 1992, Rich left WIZN to become the Program Director of Champ 101.3 (WCPV-FM) where he also did afternoon drive. From 1997-2002, Rich made a move to WDEV AM & FM in Waterbury where he was their News Director and did sports play-by-play. The only time Rich deviated from sports play-by-play on the radio was when he co-hosted “Rich and Mary’s Morning Mess” with Mary Cenci on Champ 101.3 (WCPV-FM) from 2002-2008. But when WCPV-FM became an ESPN affiliate, Rich went back to his love of talking sports as co-host of “The Huddle” where he stayed from 2008-2021.

Rich now produces news and sports segments that air on all the Vox AM/FM stations, he fills in on-air when needed and, you guessed it, calls play-by-play for Middlebury High School football and Middlebury College hockey on WVTK-FM. You can also hear Rich Haskell’s recognizable voice at Centennial Field where he has been the voice of the Vermont Lake Monsters for 28 years!

Gary Sadowsky

Like the Wright Brothers, Gary’s first career was bicycle repair. But he really flew when he followed his true professional passion and got a degree in Meteorology from Lyndon State College (he also holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota). Gary started at WCAX in 1992 as the weekend weathercaster. In 1995, he moved to 11:00 PM weekdays. And when the Channel 3 Early Morning News was launched in 1997, Gary – a natural “nightowl,” was chosen to begin everyone else’s day with a smile and a forecast! After 26 years of getting up “dark and early”, Gary’s indelible presence on the WCAX morning show made him a household name. Farmers, professionals and parents tuned in to plan their day based on his weather forecast and on snowy winter mornings, children watched with bated breath hoping for school to be canceled! Would the storm be a “Doozy” or a “Snoozy” on Gary’s “Doozometer”? In the Spring of 2023, Gary was named Chief Meteorologist and was “time-shifted 12 hours into the future” to be part of the evening news teams.

Gary holds the prestigious Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation from the American Meteorological Society and the Seal of Approval for TV and Radio from the National Weather Association. When he is not on the air, Gary enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid bicyclist and runner.

2024 Distinguished Service Award

Ira Wilner

For 50 years, Ira Wilner has been a respected broadcast engineer who has left an indelible mark on dozens of radio and television stations around Vermont and New Hampshire. In the ‘80s, Ira worked with FCC engineers atop Mount Mansfield to fix RF issues ensuring WVPS remained on the air. He led the build of the WNNE-TV studios in White River Junction and pulled mountain-top transmitter duty during their first weeks of operation. Ira helped design Vermont Public Radio’s original Colchester studio as well as help build their original studios in Windsor, VT. Ira helped several community radio stations get their LPFM licenses and get on the air including WVEW-LP, WFVR-LP and WOOL-FM. He co-wrote the original Vermont EAS plan, helped design the original EAS network with Vermont Emergency Management and serves on the VT State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC).  Ira now provides engineering services to WKVT-FM, WINQ-AM and WRSY-FM, part of the Monadnock Media Group, as well as to WTSA AM & FM, all in Windham county. Whether it’s trekking up difficult trails midwinter or flooded swamps in monsoon season to restore transmission systems, or converting analog control rooms to digital without disturbing programming, Ira does what needs to be done to keep broadcast stations operating because he is dedicated to serving the public and helping his colleagues do their work as easily as possible. Ira is always willing to help other broadcast professionals, even the competition. Whether it’s sharing his vast knowledge and experience, troubleshooting issues or assisting getting a station back on the air after an equipment failure, Ira is a passionate cheerleader for broadcasting. He is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers who also mentors, he is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and he contributes to various trade magazines and listservs. In his spare time, Ira is a trustee in his local ham radio club and volunteers for the theatrical group Wild Goose Players doing tech and occasionally being on stage.
Read the Radio World Article about Ira here!

2024 Snyder-Teffner Award

Dave Turner

Dave Turner is the Chief Engineer at WFFF-TV & WVNY-TV. In 1999, he started working with WVNY (ABC22) as an independent consultant; selling and installing network equipment, setting up email servers, AP news room servers, workstations and printers. But after being self employed for almost  25 years, Dave decided the time was right to be a part of a team again when the opportunity came in 2018. As Chief Engineer, Dave is responsible for keeping the stations on the air (he jokes that he never new 5 seconds of dead air could make his heart race so fast), identifying and acquiring all equipment, building maintenance, vehicle acquisition and maintenance and transmitter operation and maintenance. The part of the job he enjoys the most is working with the people at the stations and helping improve the quality of life for all.

2024 Alan Noyes Community Service Award

WWFY-FM, WRFK-FM, WSNO-FM & AM

Over the summer, WWFY-FM/WJKS-FM (Froggy 104.3 & 100.9), WRFK-FM/WWFK-FM (107.1 Frank FM), and WSNO-FM/WWFY-HD2 (97.9 & 105.7 The Penguin) created a battle of the bands style competition called “Jam 4 SlamT1D” to raise money for SlamT1D, a Vermont organization that empowers people of all ages affected by Type-1 Diabetes to live life in full. Local musicians submitted their work and eight were selected as finalists to perform live over three consecutive Wednesdays at The Old Post in South Burlington. Celebrity judges whittled it down to one winner, Frankie & The Fuse, who was awarded with 2 days of recording studio time at Egan Media Productions, and an opportunity to have their song played on Great Eastern Radio stations. Together, the stations raised just under $20,000 for SlamT1D! The Alan Noyes Community Service award honors the VAB’s first Executive Director and Charter member of the VAB Hall of Fame, Alan Noyes.

2024 Rising Star Award Winners

Rising Star in Sales: Spencer Lieberman

Spencer Lieberman joined Vox AM/FM/Digital right after graduating from UVM in 2019 with a degree in finance and marketing. Over the last few years, Spencer has shown a tremendous amount of growth, which led to his promotion to National Sales Manager at the age of 25. In 2023, he obtained 43 new advertising accounts and won Vox AM/FM/Digital’s New Business award. Its no wonder radio seems to run in Spencer’s blood – his father was the General Manager of several radio stations throughout New England.

Rising Star in News Anchoring: Lauren Granada

Lauren Granada graduated from Emerson College in the spring of 2020 and started as an MMJ reporter at NBC5 (WPTZ-TV) in June 2020. She worked every shift possible from late nights to early mornings and in October 2021, Lauren was promoted to Weekend Anchor. As she filled in during the week, it became clear Lauren should be a permanent fixture on the weekday morning show, so in February 2024, she was promoted to Weekday Morning Anchor.  Lauren’s maturity, poise and natural story-gathering skills make her a leader in the newsroom and the right voice to anchor NBC5 newscasts. Lauren also works to amplify voices in Vermont’s AAPI community sharing their stories in NBC5’s Project Community segments.

Rising Star in Investigative Reporting: Ike Bendavid

Ike Bendavid is an award-winning reporter who began his career as an intern at WCAX-TV in 2016.  Ike graduated from Castleton University cum laude where he anchored and reported for their Video Magazine and did play-by-play broadcasts for varsity athletic games. Now a WCAX-TV senior reporter bringing viewers local and regional stories of interest, breaking news and the weekly Wildlife Watch segment, Ike was honored with a 2022 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his investigative report “Retail Rip Off” which uncovered rental scams being used to steal personal information. Ike also received regional Emmy nominations in 2020 for Feature News, 2021 for Health/Science and 2022 for Continuing Coverage and Arts/Entertainment.

Rising Star in Meteorology: Haley Bouley

Between working various community events and taking over as leader of the weather department, Haley Bouley has become one of the most recognizable faces at WFFF-TV & WVNY-TV. She is dedicated to forecasting accurately but is not too proud to seek feedback that helps her grow. Given more responsibility early in her career, Haley mentors and trains new employees and seeks out technology that can make the work all the meteorologists do better and easier. The ultimate team player, Haley often works doubles and jumps in to help anywhere she is needed. Haley genuinely loves what she does and is not shy to share her opinion on the importance of local meteorologists vs. weather apps. Haley shows poise and strength, especially during severe weather, and is a true rising star!

2024 Friend of Broadcasters Award

Dr. Lewis First, Chief of Pediatrics, University of Vermont Children’s Hospital

Dr. Lewis First, Chief of Pediatrics at the UVM Children’s Hospital and Chair of the UVM Larner College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, will be awarded the VAB “Friend of Broadcasters” award. Although broadcasting is not his day job, since 1995, Dr. First has written and hosted a clever weekly segment called “First with Kids” which currently airs on both WPTZ-TV (NBC5) and on 98.9 WOKO-FM. This long-running series offers tips to parents and families on how to keep your infants, children and adolescents safe, happy, and healthy and is delivered with Dr. First’s special brand of humor.

In addition to providing more than 1,400 First With Kids weekly segments spanning almost three decades, Dr. First plays an active and passionate role educating the community about the important work of the UVM Children’s Hospital while co-hosting WOKO’s annual Big Change Roundup for Kids broadcasts; a campaign that has raised millions of dollars for the UVM Children’s Hospital over the course of more than 20 years.