Les Etter

Inducted 1996
Deceased   

In 1945, Les Etter and Raymond Stadiem, eager to launch a business after completing their military service, sought the advice of a friend during a visit with Stadiem's family in Greensboro, NC. 

The friend suggested radio broadcasting, and Etter and Stadiem saw an opportunity because Etter's hometown, Lebanon, had no radio station and the Federal Communications Commission had begun to issue new licenses following World War II. 

On the drive back to Lebanon, Etter and Stadiem stopped in Washington, D.C., where they visited the FCC, began the application process, and hired a communications attorney and a consulting engineer to help them apply for a license and build a station. When WLBR  signed on the air in November 1946, Etter went to the bank to borrow the first week's payroll. His belief in the radio business never faltered; the station has been on the air for more than fifty years. 

In 1948, Etter and Stadiem founded sister station WQIC-FM.  For more than fifty years, WLBR-1270 AM has been a full service radio station, providing news and information, weather reports, coverage of local sporting events, festivals, and celebrations, traffic bulletins, and recognition of the accomplishments of its community members. Talk shows, children's shows, musical performances, and political events have been part of WLBR's programming through the years.   

One of the station's early on-air personalities was Bill Haley, who came to town as an  out-of-work gospel singer soon after the station went on the air.  Haley performed on the station for almost a year before moving on to earn fame as the man who invented rock 'n' roll with the new sound known as Bill Haley and the Comets. 

Etter was a founder of TV Channel 15 in Lebanon. He eventually sold the station to devote his efforts entirely to radio. He and Stadiem established Radio Station WCOY in Columbia in 1957.  Not satisfied to be absentee owners, they later sold the station. 

Etter is a lifelong resident of Lebanon, active in civic and charitable organizations.  He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Good Samaritan Hospital, chapter chairman of the American Red Cross, president of the Kiwanis Club, and vice president and director of the Quality Inn of Lebanon.  

He has been a member of the Boards of Directors of the Lebanon County Workshop, the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Lebanon Valley Tourist Bureau, the Credit Bureau of Lebanon County, and the Lebanon Council Boy Scouts.  He was president of Congregation Beth Israel and president of Lebanon B'nai B'rith Lodge.