{"id":3319,"date":"2023-06-09T09:28:28","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=3319"},"modified":"2023-06-09T09:28:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:28:30","slug":"meet-the-staff-ed-thurman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/09\/meet-the-staff-ed-thurman\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Staff: Ed Thurman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The first time Ed Thurman tells someone that he\u2019s done over 3000 high school games as a radio broadcaster, it doesn\u2019t seem possible.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When he reveals that he called his first game at the age of 17, it makes a little more sense.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ed Thurman is an integral part of the Z-team here at WZBD. Taking on broadcasts in basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, he is usually a one-man wrecking ball, filling listeners in with wonderful commentary and a voice that fills the room.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His colleague at WZBD, Rex Brewer, can\u2019t turn off the radio when Ed is on the air.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe guy could make a tiddlywinks game compelling,\u201d laughs Brewer. \u201cHe brings passion and excitement to every broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with his game broadcasts, Thurman also covers news and produces commercials for the station and its sister station, WPGW in Portland.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRadio is literally the only thing I have ever done,\u201d exclaims Thurman when he considers his career in the industry. \u201cOutside of mowing yards when I was a teenager, it\u2019s the only thing I have done since I joined the station in Hartford City at 16 years old in 1972.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listeners will have no trouble believing Thurman when he talks about his passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlay by play is truly my first love in radio,\u201d he says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thurman is a graduate of Blackford High School and he went on to Vincennes University to further his education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ed has worked at multiple stations in his career, including in Wisconsin and Southern Indiana, but his heart has always been in his native Blackford County. Thurman spent 24 years working for a station in Marion before coming to WPGW and WZBD in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"308\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ed-Thurman-early-days-1024x492.jpg?resize=640%2C308\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ed-Thurman-early-days.jpg?resize=1024%2C492&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ed-Thurman-early-days.jpg?resize=300%2C144&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ed-Thurman-early-days.jpg?resize=768%2C369&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Ed-Thurman-early-days.jpg?w=1167&amp;ssl=1 1167w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Thurman spent 24 years working for a radio station in Marion before coming to WZBD\/WPGW in 2019.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When he\u2019s not behind a microphone, Thurman is spending time with his wife, Rhonda, and his four kids, who are all grown up now. Ed became a grandpa for the first time in 2022.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thurman\u2019s wife works as an elementary teacher in Blackford County and the two of them are active 4-H leaders, along with being active members of their church.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thurman is a firm believer in local radio and loves working with WZBD because of its identity as a truly local station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWZBD strives to serve the local community,\u201d says Thurman. \u201cI hope we stay that way and the community appreciates our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first time Ed Thurman tells someone that he\u2019s done over 3000 high school games as a radio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[15,63],"class_list":["post-3319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meet-the-staff","tag-featured","tag-meetthestaff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image0-18-scaled.jpeg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}