RFD Comes Back To Town
Radio From Downtown started life as
Radio Free Delmarva, a name (and a show) that was
too irreverent for some, but a welcome relief for many others.
Broadcast for a golden period from Holloway Hall
Auditorium at Salisbury State University, the show developed a
large and loyal following.
But their humor was a little too biting sometimes, and their
satire too close to home, and in spite of its success,
the show was cancelled. Protests from the community fell on
deaf ears, rather an odd thing to find in a radio station. But
it does happen.
But if there's one thing we admire most here at the Shore Would
Journal is spunk, and chutzpah and Williamson
and Purdy have plenty of both.
They were undaunted, and resolute too. They kept writing scripts,
and found a new home at the Avalon Theater in Easton, and
even when they were denied use of the name they had created along
with the show, "Radio Free Delmarva", they just kept at it.
They stayed on the air, and their fans stayed with them. Tonight,
when Swingshift struck up that familiar jazz tune, it must
have been a sweet victory for the show's producers.
They were back home again, where the show began, working with the
same crowd of people on a warm summer night. And the show felt
right. The Downtown Players were at their best, the comedy
performance very well-recieved, and the music throughout the
evening was excellent.
RFD is a local treasure, and should never have been sent into
exile. But, they couldn't shut down "Bob's Bait Village
and there's no way to stop RFD, either. It really is true that
dreams last as long as people will dream them. We hope Williamson
and Purdy will keep dreaming for a long, long time.
The radio performance will be broadcast Sunday, June 9th, 
It's called "not too far from art", and now,
it's not that far from home, either. When RFD came back
to Salisbury this weekend, it was a victory for more than Van
Williamson and Jack Purdy, the shows indomitable producers,
it was a victory for all of us.
on WESM Radio
(91.3 FM) from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and WCEI (1460 AM) from
7:00 to 9:00 PM.
June 9, 1996 Charles Paparella The Shore Journal