The 15-year-old Georgia Radio Hall of Fame has decided to end inducting new members and holding events and focus only on collecting Georgia radio historical artifacts.
Current president John Long, a retired radio executive, had no successor and decided to stop actively holding the annual induction ceremony. The all-volunteer group has inducted more than 100 people over 14 annual ceremonies including local legends like Neal Boortz, Clark Howard, Don Sutton, Bert Weiss and Ryan Cameron.
He also had created a Georgia Radio Hall of Fame museum in LaGrange, which shut down in 2021. In a press release, Long said the pandemic influenced his decision to basically shut the organization down. He has moved the physical archives of the museum to Columbus attached to the Lunch Box Museum.
The GRHOF website has been transferred over to Georgia State University to oversee.
This news comes just two weeks after the formation of similar group Friends of Georgia Radio, consisting of many radio veterans who want to preserve Georgia radio history, raise funds for scholarships for broadcast students and hold social events. The group is starting its own ceremony that is set for Aug. 27. It’s unclear if the new group will create its own equivalent of a hall of fame.
“I have no idea what they’re doing,” Long said. “We had no communication.”
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