Instead of lighting the birthday candles this February, turn up the volume on your radio and celebrate the Wilkes College Listening Habit’s 45th anniversary.

WCLH has been providing the Wyoming Valley and surrounding areas with student produced programming since 1971. The station offers a variety of music genres including metal, alternative and hip-hop music as well as specialty programming and sports coverage.

Over the last four decades, WCLH has achieved some great accomplishments. A few years ago, the staff launched a new program, Receso Comunitario. This program is produced entirely in Spanish and can be heard across the globe through online streaming.

The station also received the Best College Radio Station award by entertainment weeklies The Weekender and Diamond City. WCLH has also been ranked as one of the Top 50 College Radio Stations in the country (bestcolleges.com).

“One the biggest highlights for WCLH has been the ability to keep our equipment and software current to reflect what’s being used at commercial radio stations,” Kristen Rock, station manager said. “From vinyl to cart machines to compact discs and MP3’s, WCLH has been able to provide students with quality hands-on training while giving listeners great programming.”

In honor of the anniversary of the radio station, WCLH will be airing a five-hour pre-recorded show beginning at noon on Feb. 4.

“The staff has really taken on this project with full enthusiasm,” Rock said.

She said she supports them with whatever they need in terms of alumni outreach, production and anything in between.

The executive staff has been working diligently to pre-produce the show. Staff members include Kendle Peters, metal director; Kya Lewis, hip-hop director; Kim Hein, marketing director; John Michael Ray, production director; Emily Bellanco, alternative director; and Cody Colarusso, assistant alternative director.

The show will feature the past four decades that WCLH has been broadcasting along with alumni interviews and archived audio and music. Each staff member will be on the air highlighting a different decade.

“I am excited to be hearing from past WCLH DJ’s, as I feel the station is influencing my future career choices, and I will enjoy hearing how WCLH influenced [alumni],” Peters said.

According to Rock, the station plans to have some alumni visit the day of the show for a listening party at 2 p.m. She hopes to have a few of the alumni get behind the mic to talk about their personal experiences at WCLH.

“Everyone will have something to relate to, and it’s something you won’t want to miss,” Lewis said. “It will bring memories, laughs and maybe even tears.”

To prepare for the show, Lewis, contacted all of the past WCLH DJ’s from the 90’s decade. The staff collaborated on a list of questions to ask Wilkes DJ’s from the past and has been pre-recording their responses.

“I am excited to see it come together and hear the different aspects of the show throughout the decade and how the station has changed over the years,” Lewis said. “Being able to see past DJ’s, and learning how they conducted their shows will be an amazing experience, that I can not wait to witness.”

She hopes that everyone tunes in.

“Listeners should tune in because it’s an amazing opportunity to hear where we’ve come from, where we are now and where we plan to be in the future,” Rock said.