96.3 FM WGOG

Gary Butts has been the general manager of WGOG since 2001. Butts is a graduate of Westminster High School in Westminster, SC, and has a broadcasting degree from Tri-County Technical College.

Butts began his radio career in 1982 at WBLW in Royston, GA. Career turns included a part-time announcing stint at WZLI in Toccoa, GA before coming to WGOG in 1991.

Butts was hired as Station Manager of WBCU in Union, SC in 2000, but returned to WGOG as General Manager when the station was purchased by Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Company in 2001.

Butts has served as president of the Walhalla Rotary Club; He has also served on the board of directors of both the Westminster and Walhalla Chambers of Commerce, the Leadership Oconee Board of Directors, and the advisory board for the broadcasting curriculum at Hamilton Career Center.

Butts is married to the former Juliana England of Walhalla, SC and has two boys, Aaron and Aidan.

A lifelong resident of Oconee County, is the proud mother of three grown sons, and proud grandmother of four, with a fifth grandchild due in May.

Ann worked in banking for many years, and held a seat on the board of Directors at First Union National Bank.

After the sudden and tragic death of her husband, Bruce, Ann was a stay at home Mom for several years, raising their three sons.

Ann later worked at Walhalla Middle School, as secretary for the Assistant Principal, and worked as a licensed agent for Associated Employee Services.

In 1990, Ann attended Tri-County Technical College, majoring in Radio and Television Broadcasting, where she maintained a 3.90 average.

In 1991, after seeing Ann’s name on the Dean’s List, Marvin Hill, then General Manager of WGOG, called and asked her to come in for an interview.

Hired in April of 1991, Ann worked as an announcer for WGOG, three afternoons a week. Two months later, a sales position opened and Ann was offered the job. Her job includes sales, writing ad copy, producing ads, hosting remote broadcasts, billing, collections, and more. In April of 2009, Ann will have been with WGOG-96.3FM for 18 years.

Over the years, Ann has been active in many civic and community projects including helping get the very first Walhalla Oktoberfest off the ground in 1978; working with Oconee Community Theater; 15 year Garden Club member and past president; and volunteering at Oconee Memorial Hospital. Ann has emceed numerous Fashion Shows and has judged, as well as emceed numerous Beauty Pageants in Oconee & Pickens County.

An active member of College Street Baptist, Ann sings in the Choir, plays Hand bells in the Adult Hand Bell Choir, and performs with College Street Baptist Church’s Interpretive Movement Group.

Kris has been heard on the airwaves of the Golden Corner since the Fall of 1994, when he got his first paying job at 96.3 WGOG. Beginning as a part-timer, Kris did "just about everything" at one time or another, before being tapped to take over morning show duties in 2001 when his mentor George Allgood went into advertising sales full-time. Kris hosted the "Golden Corner's Morning Show" until 2006, when he left to work in public education, while continuing to work at WGOG on a part-time basis. Kris returned to the morning show full-time in the Spring of 2009. He also serves as Operations Manager for the station. Since 2002, Kris has been the color commentator for High School Football broadcasts each fall.

When he turns the microphone off, Kris is either reading a book or watching classic movies from the 30's, 40's, and 50's. His favorite stars are Clark Gable, Cary Grant, William Powell, Norma Shearer, and Myrna Loy. He also loves to listen to his extensive collection of jazz recordings and has a large collection of memorabilia from "The Andy Griffith Show" and Broadway. In the sports world, Kris follows the South Carolina Gamecocks, New England Patriots, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Hawks and has recently discovered a love for the Greenville Road Warriors hockey team.

Brandon is a graduate of Mauldin High School in Mauldin, SC. After high school he attended North Greenville University. Brandon holds a bachelors degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Marketing.

Brandon began his radio career in college sports broadcasting at North Greenville University. He worked as the Sports Director for the college radio station announcing NGU Football and Basketball games. He went on to win the Most Promising Radio Broadcaster award his freshman year and finished with honors in Mass Communications.

Local radio is nothing new to Brandon. After college, Brandon went on to work for 1150AM/103.3 FM WSNW in Seneca as the Sports Director and Sales Representative. He then went to work for Clear Channel in Greenville, SC in sales and found that local radio is where he felt at home. Brandon has been a part of the WGOG staff since September of 2007.

In his free time Brandon enjoys fishing, hiking, bowling, softball, basketball and watching college football. He is married to the former Brittney Bowling of Simpsonville, SC. They have two dogs, Ralph and Esther.

Debbie is the daughter of Ralph Hardy and the late Margaret Hardy and is a lifelong resident of Westminster.

She is married to her high school sweetheart, Jerry Lyles. Jerry is a former teacher at Westminster Middle School and has been pastor of Welcome Baptist Church in Westminster for almost twenty years. They have two sons, Rob and David.

Debbie is proud of having been a stay-at-home wife and mom and of home schooling her children until their middle school years. She has been at WGOG for two and a half years.

Dick Mangrum has worked in radio news in four states, but his home is South Carolina. And his backyard is Oconee County. He arrived a few months before Armstrong walked the moon and has been recording Oconee County life pretty much ever since.

At one time he wanted to do something other than to chronicle the local events, but he got “hooked” on news when, while learning broadcasting, got to see David Brinkley live with Chet Huntley and a Lawrence Spivak-moderated Meet The Press. At WGOG, he learned from three of the station’s legendary announcers: George Allgood, Jerry Dyar, and Marvin Hill.

A veteran of 35 years in radio, television, newspapers, and public relations, Wayne is a native of Westminster, SC. He is a graduate of Westminster High School (Class of '67), Brevard College, and studied journalism at Columbia University and public relations management at New York University.

Wayne has taught radio/television broadcasting at Tri-County Technical College. He is also a licensed minister and studied theology at Southern Wesleyan University. He also serves as assistant chaplain at Oconee Medical Center and served as a chaplain in the S.C. Army National Guard.

Wayne and Donna have been married 40 years and have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Will is a native of Seneca, and graduated with honors from the broadcast program at Tri-County Technical College. Will is a big fan of country music, NASCAR, and the Clemson Tigers. He can be heard delivering local news, and hosting the Sunday mid-day report on WGOG.

In March of 2009, Rock Hill native Kate Whitten will have been with WGOG in Walhalla for 13 years.

Along with sales, Kate hosts the “Ask the Experts” show every Saturday morning from 7-8am.

She is married to Scott Whitten and has 5 children and 2 grandchildren. She loves to cook, work in her garden and enjoys landscaping their century-old farm.

Adrienne brings major market experience to WGOG. Prior to being heard in the Golden Corner, Adrienne was the morning show host on KZLA and KNX in Los Angeles – and also KTLA Television. She was also the morning DJ on KAJA, San Antonio. Adrienne follows "The Golden Corner's Morning Show" and precedes "Golden Corner Afternoon's" each weekday.

Tad has been broadcasting since he was in high school, starting out in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at a country station, of course! Tad worked for 16 years at KYGO - FM in Denver before joining WGOG.

Penny has spent the past quarter century in country radio. Penny really enjoys getting listeners involved on the air...but never at the expense of the music. She loves interviewing country artists and has been blessed to talk with some of the biggest.

Don has been in local and network radio for more than 30 years. He's well-known and respected in Los Angeles for his work at KHJ-AM, KNX-AM & KWHY-TV. Don also is a successful writer & producer and has hosted many nationally syndicated country radio shows.

Lon Helton has been the host of Westwood One's Country Countdown USA since its inception in 1992. Country Countdown USA can be heard every weekend on over 200 stations nationwide, including 9:00 AM - Noon Saturday's on 96.3 WGOG. Lon can also be heard during "The Golden Corner's Morning Show" with his daily feature, "Country's Inside Track", at 7:40 each morning. Lon is the Editor & Publisher of Country Aircheck, a music industry publication. He is also the Country Chart Editor for Mediabase. Country Countdown USA uses the Mediabase country chart. Lon's country radio career began in 1971. He spent 12 years as both personality and programmer at KLAK/Denver, WMAQ/ Chicago, and KHJ/Los Angeles.