2021 Ended With The Loss Of Another “Good Guy”

This is my first segment of 2022 after a longer than expected break following the WOBM Christmas Classic.  The unexpected part was due to a head cold which hit me pretty good and yes I had two negative COVID tests so it was/still is just a head cold.

We are past the time to talk about New Year’s resolutions and the like but all of us are hoping to a quick end to the COVID surge which has changed our lives in many ways.  Among them is when you get a few sniffles you right away wonder if indeed you have the virus and go searching for a test.  As I heard someone say the other day, “2022 is all about thinking positive and testing negative.”  No truer words were ever spoken.

Even though it was over the holiday break I wanted to acknowledge the passing of someone who went from listener to friend over the years.  One morning many years ago when I was doing the morning show with Steve Paul we received a surprise visit during a snowstorm from Charlie Triolo who at that time owned the 7-11 on Route 9 in Lanoka Harbor.  He had pots of fresh coffee along with rolls and bagels and vowed to bring us stuff anytime the weather was bad.  He was a regular listener and said all we had to do was let him know on the air and he would get to us…which he did for many years before selling the store.  A short time later he purchased Always Nature’s Way Sprinklers and I became a customer where I mostly dealt with his wife Maria who managed the office.

Charlie finally retired a few years ago and I only ran into him a few times in recent years.  When his oldest son Joe contacted me to let me know of his Dad’s passing at the age of 77 I was truly saddened and when it snowed the other day I thought of him and how back in the day he would have been there for us with coffee.  A good man, a good friend and an even better father and grandfather.  Rest well!