Wadsworth Community Radio’s Dynamic Duo
You can often hear Tina Heiberg and Tom Stugmyer playfully taking jabs at each other during the 97.1 FM morning show they co-host. Over Wadsworth Community Radio airwaves, their personalities both oppose and complement one another as they trade remarks on everything from the day’s headlines to the score of the Akron RubberDucks game.
Heiberg likens their lovable banter to a relationship we all know well. “Tom — as much as I hate to admit this — he kind of feels like family,” she says. And family always teases family.
The pair gets you close to other locals with live acoustic performances, on-air theater sneak-peeks and playbacks of school holiday recitals. We talked to Heiberg and Stugmyer about the King of Pop, hidden skills and granting wishes.
What are some of your favorite hits you play?
TH: This is where it gets fun because we have some different tastes in music. We both love Fleetwood Mac. And we also love being able to showcase local artists. Now the greatest artist in my opinion of all time — don’t shake your head, Tom ...
TS: She can’t see me shaking my head!
TH: ... is Michael Jackson. And this man refuses to play Michael Jackson! In October there is something in Wadsworth called Scare on the Square. I love it because it’s a zombie thriller dance. Also, I love it because Tom is tortured with 30 or 40 minutes of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on a loop.
What newsmakers have you had on your show?
TS: There’s a veteran from the area that was dying of leukemia. One of his bucket list wishes was to ride in a World War II plane. There happened to be one in a hangar at the Wadsworth Municipal Airport [others arranged for him to ride]. We had him on-air, and then we were thinking about it afterward like, What else is on his bucket list? He had never gotten to go to a [Cleveland] Indians game. We had a contact up at Progressive Field, and during the playoffs last year, we secured four tickets to the very first playoff home game.
What are some things people don’t know about Wadsworth?
TS: We have a pretty good gamut of individuals from Wadsworth. We have astronauts, NFL referees. The referee did a couple Super Bowls.
How about something that would surprise your listeners about you?
TS: I have a degree in math, physics and astronomy.
What is your favorite part of the morning show?
TH: For me, it’s that it’s different every day. Tom stop laughing!
Does this job fit your personality?
TH: To a T. We open our show every morning with the “T.N.T.” song. When I say to a T, I mean that in the best way.