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1966 - Fannie Steve Retires Rhythm and Games

Fannie Steve Rhythm and Games

Fannie Steve boasts one of the longest careers with WHA in the station’s history. Host of popular School of the Air program Rhythm and Games, Steve inspired and energized hundreds of thousands of children across Wisconsin and beyond during her 36 years with WHA and the Wisconsin State Broadcasting Service.

On October 9, 1931, Fannie Steve completed the first Rhythm and Games broadcast, which aired Fridays at 9:30 am. A program of music and activities designed for younger grades, Rhythm and Games was heard in classrooms throughout Wisconsin for 35 years, until the final broadcast on May 13, 1966. Her long career is a testament to her love of her work. Steve says, “I never want to lose contact with children. They are an inspiration, and I enjoy playing games with them by radio.”

A pioneering program at its outset, Rhythm and Games became a classroom staple to the 60,000 listeners, mostly rural Wisconsin schoolchildren, who participated in the program over the course of the schoolyear. It is estimated that the program has been heard by more than one million school children over its 35-year run. Steve felt that the main value of the program was in “giving children poise, and they get exercise in an enjoyable manner, without realizing they are building sounder bodies.”

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