Jan 24 & 31 Jack Benny Month begins two weeks early this year because of two special programs in February.
February 7 TWTD presents an Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial salute observing the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 16th President of the United States. Special guest is historian Curtis L. Katz.
February 14 TWTD presents, for the first time in many years, a Valentine’s Day broadcast of appropriate heart-themed shows on an actual St. Valentine’s Day.
March 7 Broadcast number 2,000 for Those Were The Days. Chuck announces his plan to retire from the program at mid-year.
April 4-5 TWTD acknowledges announcer Ken Alexander’s 50 years in radio with a special broadcast of his appearances on the air over the years. The program is followed the next day by a sold-out dinner in Ken’s honor at Don Roth’s Blackhawk Restaurant in Wheeling, attended by scores of his friends and fans.
April 24 Chicago Sun-Times Media & Marketing columnist Lewis Lazare writes:
After a hugely productive and heavily nostalgic-laden 39 years in broadcasting, Chuck Schaden will sign off for the last time as host of his long-running radio show, Those Were the Days on June 27, though the show itself will live on.
Schaden has tapped Steve Darnall to replace him as host, and Ken Alexander, who has worked alongside Schaden as on-air announcer, will continue working with Darnall.
Schaden was under no pressure to retire, but he felt his 39th anniversary in radio was the right time to do it. Why? Well, as you might suspect, it’s partly an homage to one of his favorite radio icons, Jack Benny, who famously celebrated his 39th birthday some 41 times. Plus, Schaden turns 75 two days after his final broadcast. “That’s 10 years after I would normally have bowed out,” said Schaden.
May 2 Those Were The Days’ 39th anniversary broadcast. Chuck presents vintage radio programs featuring radio stars at the age of 39.
MAY 3, 2009 Actor Eddie Carroll stars as Jack Benny in “Laughter in Bloom,” the event at Chicago’s Portage Theatre, marking the 39th Anniversary of TWTD.
May 3 Special Event at Chicago’s Portage Theatre celebrating the 39th anniversary of Chuck’s Those Were The Days. Jack Benny impressionist Eddie Carroll was the headliner at the sold-out event, presenting his live theatrical production, “Laughter in Bloom.”
May 23 Karl Pearson, TWTD’s resident Big Band Historian, joins Chuck for their final show together to present a Glenn Miller Special. Karl’s first time on the air with Chuck was on WLTD, Evanston on August 10, 1973.
June 6 Bob Kolososki, TWTD’s resident Movie Historian, joins Chuck for their final show together to present a salute to actress Bette Davis. Bob’s first time on the air with Chuck was on WNIB, Chicago on July 14, 1979
June 13 Steve Darnall, editor and publisher of Nostalgia Digest, and who will become the new host and producer of Those Were The Days, is Chuck’s guest. Listeners hear high-school-student Steve’s 1978 interview with Chuck.
June 15 The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists/Screen Actors Guild talent union presents a special award to Chuck Schaden, noting that “for 39 years, listeners have benefitted from your devotion to Radio’s Golden Age as you kept the sounds of yesteryear alive.”
June 21 Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed writes:
I don’t stream. I don’t Twitter. I don’t do Facebook. But at 1 p.m. most Saturdays, I do the radio. I turn my radio dial to WDCB-FM, sit at my kitchen table, pay bills, answer letters, flutter paper, stamp envelopes… and go back in time — back to the womb of my grandmother’s kitchen, where the radio held sway.
Listening. That’s what I do for four hours on Saturday; listening to a guy named Chuck Schaden serve up the golden age of radio, which he has done since 1970….I have since scrubbed floors listening to Sam Spade, Private Eye; wrapped Christmas presents listening to The Cinnamon Bear; howled at the repartee of Phil Harris, and am held in wonder at the comedic timing of Jack Benny.
Sadly, although the radio show will continue, its host since 1970 has decided to call it a day. Schaden is retiring next Saturday. Thankfully, the new host will be Schaden’s old friend Steve Darnall, and sidekick Ken Alexander… but I’ll miss the voice I’ve been listening to for 15 years. My Saturday stint at the kitchen table will never be the same; [Chuck,] your voice will now be part of my past. But, how golden it has all been.”
June 20 Chuck’s final TWTD program from the WDCB studio on the campus of College of DuPage.
June 25 TV appearance: Chicago Tonight WTTW Channel 11, Chicago. Host Phil Ponce interviews Chuck Schaden — who is about to close his 39-year broadcasting career — and Steve Darnall — who will follow Chuck as host and producer of Those Were The Days.
JUNE 27, 2009 Morton Grove Trustee Shel Marcus, center, and President Dan Stackmann announce the honorary naming of a Village street for Chuck.
June 27 “Chuck Schaden’s Retirement Party and Open House” is his final Those Were The Days broadcast. The event is held at the Civic Center in Morton Grove, his hometown, which names a street “Chuck Schaden Lane,” an honorary title, and proclaims June 27 as “Chuck Schaden Day.” The program is an audio recap of 39 years’ worth of TWTD programming and events. Chuck’s daughters Sue and Patty again surprise him with another “fan letter” telling listeners “39 things that they never knew about our father.” The young couple who got engaged on the air during a TWTD broadcast in 1999 — Jillene and Edward Brodizky — are again in the studio audience, this time with their children, Healey and Nora.
July 4 Steve Darnall’s first broadcast as host and producer of Those Were The Days. It’s a National Holiday!
July 31 Antique Radio Club of Illinois presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to Chuck Schaden for “39 Years of Broadcasting.”
