The town governments of Chapel Hill and Carrboro have declared December 18 this year as Ron Stutts Day, a move recognizing Stutts’ many years of representing and informing the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community.
While not officially proclaimed during its latest virtual meeting, the Chapel Hill Town Council heard a preview of the proclamation from Mayor Pam Hemminger on Wednesday. She said the town will formally honor Stutts on the day he plans to host his final live morning show with 97.9 The Hill. Stutts announced his retirement from the radio station after 43 years in November.
“We want to thank [Stutts] for many contributions to our community and wish him well as he moves on to new adventures,” said Hemminger. “We’re going to miss you Ron. Thank you for waking us up with important information and for being the voice of our community.”
Proclamations have long been an honorary procedure in town government. Mayors may proclaim events or days of celebration that are of interest to the town and its residents. Chapel Hill describes its proclamations as “a reflection of civic activity, pride, and accomplishment.”
The full Chapel Hill proclamation reads:
WHEREAS Ron Stutts began his career with WCHL on July 16, 1977, and will retire 15,861 days later on December 18, 2020; and
WHEREAS Ron Stutts has been waking up the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community on air for 43 years and is recognized as the “voice of our community”; and
WHEREAS Ron Stutts has been one of our community’s “leading action adults” for more than four decades, always keeping the town of Carrboro “one degree cooler” and ensuring that WCHL is “Where Chapel Hill Listens” for fun, informative, vital, and sometimes even lifesaving local news; and
WHEREAS Ron Stutts has been the voice of the UNC Football Pregame Show Countdown to Kick off for 43 years; and
WHEREAS in the great ice storm of 2002, Ron Stutts helped WCHL stay on the air and guided our community with vital information during a power outage that lasted for days, while sleeping in the studio of WCHL for several nights in a row; and
WHEREAS Ron Stutts was awarded Radio Personality of the Year by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019; and
WHEREAS Ron Stutts has donated hours of his time serving as the Emcee for many community events and organizations over the years, including at festivals, concerts, fundraisers, and even the Town of Chapel Hill’s Independence Day Celebrations.
WHEREAS citizens throughout the community will miss starting each day listening to that silky smooth voice to get their community news and information, as well as some groovy song recommendations, from their friend Ron Stutts; and
NOW, THEREFORE, we the Chapel Hill Town Council do hereby proclaim Friday December 18, 2020 to be ‘Ron Stutts Day’ in the Town of Chapel Hill and urge everyone to show their appreciation to Ron for his amazing career and for his dedication to our community.
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle shared her town’s official proclamation with Chapelboro on Monday. It reads:
WHEREAS, Carrboro has “woken up” nearly every morning the past forty-three years with Ron Stutts, the host of the “Ron Stutts Show” on WCHL radio; and
WHEREAS, Ron has announced that he is retiring from WCHL, and that his last day on the air will be Friday, December 18, 2020; and
WHEREAS, Ron has had a lengthy, storied career as a radio broadcaster; although a handsome fellow, he would always say he “had a face for radio;” and
WHEREAS, a Rockingham, NC native, Ron came to Chapel Hill in 1977 after six years at station WRMT in Rocky Mount; and
WHEREAS, during his years at WCHL, also known as Chapelboro, Ron also hosted community events too numerous to count, many of which took place in Carrboro; for example, Ron was the emcee of many Fourth of July celebrations at Carrboro Town Commons; and
WHEREAS, on the Village Pride and Hometown Heroes segments of his morning show, Ron often featured Carrboro residents, business owners, non-profit directors, leaders, volunteers, and others over the years, highlighting the good work being done in our community; and
WHEREAS, earlier this year, when the COVID19 pandemic struck the country, Ron improvised so that the community could still hear him in the morning on WCHL, broadcasting from his home during the early weeks of the crisis; and
WHEREAS, while on the air, whenever noting the temperature outside, Ron would always say that the temperature was “a degree cooler” in Carrboro; Mayor Lavelle wants to tell Ron that wherever he is, in her opinion, that place“is a degree cooler;” and
WHEREAS, although we will all greatly miss “waking up” with Ron Stutts in the morning, we wish him the very best.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Lydia E. Lavelle, Mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim this Friday, December 18, 2020, as “Ron Stutts Day” in the Town of Carrboro, North Carolina. I urge all Carrboro residents to join me in thanking Ron for his years of service, and to send him good wishes for his well-earned retirement.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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