Mary Beth Zolik and Rick Woodell of 101.5 The River recently had a special guest visit their downtown Toledo studio.
Santa Claus stopped by to chat with the hosts of the “Mary Beth and Rick” morning show.
“We have long been known as ‘The Christmas Station, Christmas on The River’,” Woodell said of the radio station, which starts playing Christmas music in mid-November. “We got the very rare opportunity to interview Santa. We did it here in the studio. Santa stood right there. We sat at our normal stations and just recorded like we would any other interview — although we were both very nervous because it was Santa Claus.
“Santa’s a great guy, let me tell you. He’s got a big belly; it shakes like a bowl of jelly. I understand he can go up and down chimneys. I did not see this happen, but that’s what I’m told and I have no reason not to believe him. He seemed rather magical. Just an all-around good guy. Definitely somebody you want to stay on the good side of.
“We just launched into it and the interview flowed real well. We feel like all the right questions were asked and answered.”
Woodell said he and Zolik were honored to be asked to contribute the interview to the “Holiday Wishes 2” CD for Make-A-Wish.
“It’s quite an honor,” Woodell said. “Anytime you can do something that involves community and that involves charity in a community, we love to do that. Our job is perceived by the public as playing music and some commercials, which is a huge part of it and we have a great time doing that, but when we can give back in any way, shape or form, if they can use us as a platform for something that helps others, we love it. That’s what the business is really about. That’s how it got started and that’s what it should be.
“Our contribution is just one little bitty teeny tiny wheel in this giant thing. The whole project, if you take away any one thing from it, it would be the spirit of giving. It’s always nice to remind ourselves at Christmas, but hopefully it will follow through for the rest of the year, too, and not just Christmas.”
Zolik, who recently announced she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and has started chemotherapy, will blog at “Mary Beth’s Journey” at www.1015theriver.com.
