The Voice That Stayed Local

More than 55 years ago, John Schuler built WSCH into a trusted voice for Southeast Indiana

John Schuler. Photo by Cheryl Damon-Greiner.

Long before WSCH became a community institution—now known as Eagle Country 99.3—it was simply an idea in the mind of a determined young entrepreneur named John Schuler. Now 90, Schuler looks back on a life shaped by hard work, resilience, and a deep commitment to the communities he served.

Schuler’s story begins on a farm along North Hogan Road near Moores Hill.

When he was 13, tragedy struck. “It was March 19, 1949,” Schuler recalls. “We were in bed when a car pulled into the driveway. It was my mother returning from Christ Hospital, where my father had just died of liver and lung cancer.” As the oldest of three children, John suddenly took on responsibilities far beyond his years. Alongside his mother, he helped work the family’s 118-acre farm, even operating the Ferguson tractor they bought when he was 16. “It was hard to make a living on a farm in those days,” he says.

Those difficult years forged lessons that would guide the rest of his life. After leaving the farm, Schuler found work at the Fernald Atomic Plant near Cincinnati. Even with a stable job, though, he knew he wanted more. “I had a strong desire to succeed and own my own business,” he says.

In 1960, Schuler left Fernald and opened a new Sunoco station on U.S. 50 in Aurora. Five years later, a Texaco station opened next door—news that felt like a setback. “At first I thought it was more competition,” Schuler says. But what seemed like a threat became an opportunity. He eventually took over the Texaco operation and turned it into a distributorship, supplying gasoline, farm fuel, and furnace oil throughout the region.

Looking back, Schuler sees that moment as an early lesson in perspective. “When you go through life, it is difficult to tell what is going to be good or bad for you,” he says. So he kept moving forward, trusting that time would reveal the value in unexpected turns. It was a philosophy that would serve him again and again.

That next chapter began on a cold winter evening in Aurora. Working at his Texaco station, Schuler noticed people gathered around speakers hanging from light poles downtown. A local sportscaster was broadcasting a high school basketball game by telephone, and residents stood in the cold just to hear the action. The scene stayed with him.

At the time, most listeners in Southeast Indiana relied on AM stations from Cincinnati, Louisville, or Indianapolis. Local programming was scarce. A friend, Johnny Nugent, suggested they start an FM station together. Nugent later left the project to run his family’s tractor business, but the idea stayed with Schuler. After researching the possibilities, he brought it to his wife, Barbara. “She was all for it,” Schuler says.

Turning that vision into reality took nerve. FM radio was still relatively new. Schuler sold FM converters to help listeners tune in and offered affordable advertising to local businesses priced out of larger city stations. After months of paperwork, construction, equipment purchases, and staffing, the station was finally ready.

On October 29, 1970, at exactly 6 a.m., John Schuler flipped the switch. WSCH was officially on the air.

The first song played was the Carpenters’ “Close to You.” For Schuler, that moment remains unforgettable. When asked when he realized the station had truly made it, his answer comes instantly: “The moment we first went on the air.”

While many broadcasters focused on ratings, Schuler focused on relationships. His years operating service stations gave him a unique advantage. “We lived here,” he says. “When I owned the service station, I heard everyone’s opinion, so I knew our listeners.” That understanding shaped WSCH from the beginning. The station’s country format drew loyal listeners, but so did its local sports, weather, news, and the now-famous Swap Shop program.

Nothing demonstrated WSCH’s role as the community’s information source more clearly than severe weather. The station invested early in a generator so it could stay on the air when others could not. During major storms, snow emergencies, and power outages, residents depended on WSCH for updates. Even when roads were nearly impassable, staff still found ways to reach the station on Salem Ridge before sign-on at 6 a.m.

Schuler remains especially proud of those moments. “When we stayed on the air during storms because we had a generator and dedicated staff,” he says, “other stations called us to get news for their stations.” That reliability became part of WSCH’s identity.

Even after WSCH found its footing, Schuler’s entrepreneurial instincts never disappeared. When another radio station launched in Versailles, many saw it as competition. Schuler saw another opportunity. He eventually purchased the station, effectively doubling WSCH’s listening area.

Then, after 25 years in radio, he added another venture: a tour bus business. Using the radio station to promote trips, he organized excursions to destinations including Branson, New York City, Washington, D.C., Mount Rushmore, Nashville, Philadelphia, Texas, and Wisconsin. “It was exciting to meet all the people and see many interesting places,” he says.

For generations in Southeast Indiana, WSCH has been more than background sound. It has been the familiar voice in the truck at sunrise, the source of reassurance during storms, the thread tying together schools, businesses, and neighborhoods. That kind of connection cannot be manufactured. It had to be built, day by day, year after year.

Long before “local” became a marketing slogan, John Schuler understood its true value. He didn’t just build a radio station. He built a voice that people trusted, and Southeast Indiana is still listening.