Break A Leg: Back Then…The Unofficial History Of NJ 101.5

Break a leg!

That's an old show biz phrase to wish someone good luck. But, early one morning at New Jersey 101.5 back then, our beloved weather-caster and household word, Alan Kasper, really did break a leg!

It was no laughing matter at the time,(especially for Alan). He was in considerable pain that morning.

It was a cold, icy winter morning in 2000 and we were still situated in our old studios, just a stone's throw from where our studios are now. I was doing the early morning news that day, working with Alan and Jim Gearhart.

Anyway, I am sitting in the main studio, in the middle of a newscast. Jim walks in holding a cup of coffee. He looked at me and Mike Lavelle, who was Jim's engineer back then, and matter-of-factly announced, "Alan just broke his leg."

Apparently, what happened that morning back then, was Alan had gone out into a very icy, slippery parking lot for some reason that now has been forgotten. Alan was not aware of how slippery it was out there. He went down...hard, and...well, broke his leg.

Alan told us later that it was so painful that he actually passed out. Poor guy.

Annette Petriccione, our Assistant News Editor, started searching for him when he went missing for a bit. Annette opened the door, looked out into the parking lot and saw Alan crawling on all fours on the ground, trying to reach the door.

Annette's first reaction was, "Alan! What are you doing on the ground?"

An ambulance was quickly dispatched back then and Alan was whisked off to the hospital. He mended nicely and was back on the air, trooper that he is.

Of course, the irony of our veteran weather man getting felled by, well, ...the weather, was not lost on any of us either.

We use a lot more rock salt on our parking lots nowadays.

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