Al and Mary Jane Pohlers

Al and Mary Jane Pohlers,were lifelong Joliet residents who started the city’s first FM radio station.

​In the1940s, Al started “Al Pohlers’ Memory Hour,” a Sunday afternoon radio show featuring local talent and co-hosted by Mary Jane. The program played on four AM stations in the area, and was originally broadcast from Pohlers Machine Works, before the show eventually relocated in the 1950s.

On Easter Sunday of 1960, the pair took their own station on the air. It was called 93.5 WAJP-FM and offered easy listening while also promoting patriotism and civic duty.

​Every afternoon, Al and Mary Jane would take to the airwaves from 4:30 to 6 p.m. for “Polka Time,” a program where callers could recognize loved ones’ birthdays, graduations, anniversaries and the like, and listeners could hear a combination of commendations and polka music.