An Employee’s Search For The Elusive Bob Levy Bobblehead [50 Memories in 50 Days]

As we look back at the 50 great years of WOBM serving Ocean County, everyone has different memories of the station that left an impact on them. For me, its all about my grandparents and Bob Levy.

As a child I spent a lot of time at my grandparents' house before and after school as my parents both had full time jobs. Whenever in my grandparents' house, they always had on the radio and it was always set to WOBM. They were (and still are) big fans of Bob Levy. In fact, my grandpa even went to high school with Bob and they both still remember one another!

Deciding what I wanted to do growing up was a no-brainer. I always wanted to work in radio, whether it was on the air or behind the scenes, I just wanted to have radio around me. When I first told my grandparents that I wanted radio as a career, they both immediately told me that I should find the contact information for Bob Levy and reach out to him. They told me he is a local guy from Lakewood and would be more than happy to help me and guide me into the right direction with what I wanted to do. I knew the name and knew the voice but I had never met Bob.

Over the years, whenever the job topic was brought up, my grandparents would always say to contact Bob. For whatever reason, I never did. During my senior year at Monmouth University while applying for jobs, I received an offer with WOBM to be the board operator for the Lakewood Blueclaws. The first people I told were my grandparents and they were so happy knowing that I got my foot in the door and that I would be working with Bob.

Throughout the Blueclaws season, my role as board operator expanded and I received more responsibilities including being the back up producer for Bob’s morning show on WOBM-AM, which is when I finally was able to meet Bob.

The first time I met Bob, I was happy to finally meet the man I’ve been hearing my grandparents talk about and listen to on the radio over the years. My grandparents were so excited that we finally met and they loved the mornings when they would hear my voice and Bob’s voice together on the air.

My first few years working with the station, I noticed some of the longer tenured employees had a Bob Levy bobblehead. For several reasons, I wanted one but they were nowhere to be found. There were a few on Ebay but the prices were too high.

One morning while working with Bob and Marianne on WOBM-AM, the topic of Bob's bobblehead was brought up and a listener called in telling me that she had not 1 but 2 never opened Bob bobbleheads and they were all mine if I wanted to pick them up.

That day after work I drove a few miles down the road and met the listener, chatted a while about WOBM, and she gave me the bobbleheads.

I was so happy that the search was finally over and that I now had two. The next day I went in and showed Bob, and he even signed them for me!

I gave one of the signed bobbleheads to my grandparents, which is now displayed on top of the TV in their house and the other is sitting on my desk. It’s the little things like this that prove how loyal the WOBM listeners are.

My role later expanded again and I was doing overnights on WOBM-FM Monday-Friday. Who would have thought that after all this time I would be working with the entire staff at 92.7 WOBM let alone the man I grew up hearing about and listening to?

Lets hope that in another 50 years, you will still be hearing similar stories about Ocean County’s Hometown Station.

Do you have something from WOBM's past that you'd like to share with us for 50 Memories in 50 Days? Just fill out the form below to send it to us!