In the first few minutes of the program, Doug Stephan described Mobile this way: “It has the feeling of New Orleans. It’s older, it’s cleaner, it’s nicer”. This was his first visit to Alabama after visiting every other state in the United States. A video camera was set up inside the studio at WABB for users of the Paltalk Express chat room on the World Wide Web. Bob Klopfenstein (“Bob K.), the program’s general manager, and Jennifer Horn, who substituted for Roberta Facinelli as co-host, joined Doug in his visit to Mobile. Local guests scheduled for the program include Steve Cape of Springdale Travel, Leslie Schraeder of Bellingrath Gardens, Chris Morgan of the Senior Bowl, Chris Tipton of the Windcreek Casino in Atmore, Alabama, and listeners visiting WABB.
Doug shared a few facts about Mobile (Alabama’s only sea port, birthplace of Mardi Gras, population just above 500,000, and the election of Sam Jones as Mobile’s first black mayor) along with the city’s former rank of number 3 among Alabama cities by population before soon realizing the rank is now number 2. He joked that he and his staff raised the rank to number 2 since coming to Mobile yesterday. Listeners were encouraged to call in and repeat one or more of these facts as part of the “20/20 questions” segment. Kathy, a caller from Las Vegas, Nevada and a former resident of Mobile and Birmingham, did not know about the Mardi Gras fact previously. She mentioned her birthplace of Pensacola, Florida and her parents’ return to Alabama when she was nine months of age. She mentioned her visits to the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama and the city’s proximity to Mobile. She will be receiving a WABB T-shirt and membership to the Doug Club on the host’s website. Doug suggested that Kathy could tell folks, “Hey, I’m from Mobile” while wearing the shirt.
Doug mentioned the meaning of the call letters WABB: Alabama’s Best Broadcasters. He referred to the station’s FM hosts as “those FM guys” and mentioned “a couple of donuts” from Krispy Kreme in the FM studio. He said hi to Judith (“Judy”) Dittman, the wife of the late station owner Bernard Dittman, and Betsy Dittman, her daughter. The host wondered if they are related.
The song “Mardi Gras in Mobile” was played. Before introducing Leslie Schraeder, “As a kid in New England, I expected every place in the world to be filled with snow. There is no snow in Mobile, Alabama”, said Doug as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” played.
“I just found out that this [was] the first home for Scott Shannon”, said Doug. “Casey Kasem’s first radio home for ‘American Top 40’ was WABB”, he also mentioned.
This is the first time I heard “Doug Stephan’s Good Day” in the 8:00 AM hour on WABB-AM. The program concludes just before 9:00 AM.
After saying Under Armor Senior Bowl, “Try saying that three times fast. The Under Armor Senior Bowl, Under Armor Senior Bowl”, said Doug. “I’m learning that Mobile is subtitled football. Mobile, Alabama: football”, he said before introducing Chris Morgan. “I’ve got my under armor stuff right now”, said Doug before the segment ended with laughter.
“This is the average WABB listener. We’ll have him all over the website”, said Doug as he introduced a listener named Garrett, who is a fireman for Saraland, Alabama. “I’ve been listening to WABB for a number of years (20)”, said Garrett, whose parents were fanatics of radio talk shows. “They used to have the WABB rabbit”, said Garrett, who remembers when WABB-AM was a music station. “This station had been responsible for a ton of firsts”, said Doug. “I started out in a little town called Prichard, Alabama, which is right next door to Mobile”, said Garrett. “What would you like best about the radio station?” Doug asked. “Any kind of talk shows”, said Garrett before he was asked what intrigues him. “The political, I love the politics”, said Garrett, who enjoys local and national talk shows. “I’m not doing a political talk show, why do you listen to me?” Doug asked. “Because it’s a talk show”, said the listener. “Now that I can see the city, I see why people are so glad”, said Doug Stephan before sharing the story of his papa’s unpleasant encounter with someone in the southeast United States and being told to get out. “Now that would never happen in Alabama, I’m sure”, said Doug. “We progressed a lot down here”, said Garrett. “Actually, it’s a charming place”, Doug said about Mobile.
“I want to say thank you to the Battle House Hotel”, said Doug, who checked in at about 7:00 PM on Sunday. “Is it (Andrew) Johnson or Jackson?” Doug asked about one of the hotel’s famous guests. “Andrew Jackson”, said Jennifer before jokingly saying, “Actually, it’s Howard Johnson”. “Actually I can claim immunity because I’m a Yankee, a damn Yankee”, said Doug before sharing the story of a dog in the hotel.
