A public radio colleague told me a funny story recently that reminded me how far flung WDAV listeners can be. We know our Charlotte area listeners are well traveled, and also that we have listeners via the Internet across the country and around the world.
But what I’m talking about are those odd moments when you come across a listener in an unexpected place. So I wondered: what’s the furthest or strangest place you’ve ever come across one of your fellow WDAV listeners?

The colleague I mentioned is from Minnesota and was vacationing at a resort in the north of the state with his wife last summer. They were whitewater kayaking when they suffered a mishap and their vessel turned over, tossing them clear.
They were wearing life jackets and remained afloat, eventually drifting into calmer waters. But four tense hours followed before they spotted a small boat with a couple of passengers. They hailed the boat, which quickly made its way to them to offer rescue.
As my friend was pulled out of the water, he noticed his rescuer was wearing a WDAV tee shirt. In his dazed and fatigued state, all my friend could think to say was, “WDAV? Do you know Frank Dominguez?” “Well, I don’t know him,” said the man who pulled him onto the boat, “But I’ve heard him on the radio. That’s a great station!”
Ted Weiner tells the story of the time he and his lovely wife Carol were on line for tickets in New York City when a pair of WDAV listeners from Statesville who were also on line tapped him on the shoulder to tell him they’d recognized him.
And I can remember waiting for a flight with Ted at an airport in Saint Louis on our way back from a conference when we encountered two long time WDAV listeners and volunteers in the terminal coming off a flight.
It’s a small world when it comes to your fellow Classical Public Radio listeners. I’d love to hear your stories of coming across other WDAV lovers in unlikely places.
Frank Dominguez is WDAV’s Program Director