Hank Nevins Tapped for Hall of Fame; Still Going Strong at WLVL and WBEN

By Tony Farina

Attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales of 1836, the idiom “better late than never” is certainly befitting at this time for long-time radio personality Hank Nevins who, excuse me, is past 70 and this week was included in the class of inductees, along with six others into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame Class of
2025.

Recognized for his radio career that began in the 1970s at WUSJ while attending Grahm College in Boston and included stints at just about every other station in these parts and for AFVN Radio/TV in Vietnam while serving his country, Hank is totally honored for being recognized by his peers in the radio category and will be formally inducted Wednesday, Sept. 10, along with the other members of the class at Samuel’s Grand Manor in Williamsville.

“It feels great, just phenominal,” said Nevins about the Hall of Fame announcement on Monday by the BBA, “and I have lots of friends who are already recognized and it is a great honor to join them. It is truly the icing on the cake for me and my wife, Mary.Amazingly, Hank is still pretty busy for Bill Yuhnke’s WLVL 1340 AM and
WLVL.com and also for WBEN Radio, 930 AM.

“It is really wonderful to have a treasure like Hank Nevins still delivering for our listeners and I am thrilled at the news of his well-deserved induction into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame,” said Yuhnke this week. “I hope he keeps going as long as he can.”

Nevins does the weekend wake up from 8 to 10 a.m. at WBEN on Saturdays and Sundays, with news of the day, sports, whatever else people are talking about on the popular show. He also is part of the team on WLVL’s Wake Up Niagara on weekday mornings from 6 to 9 a. m., delivering the news and talking about current events and newsmakers in the area.

Nevins credits his two years in Vietnam (1969-70) as really jump starting his career and he later completed his education courtesy of G. I. bill after his discharge.

He worked at several stations including WGR, WKBW, and WBEN, and he programmed at WQCR for former WLVL owners Hall Communications before joining WBEN as operations manager from 1985 to 1991. Nevins even sprinkled in a stint in marketing and public relations for the former Lockport Memorial Hospital and elsewhere.

Simply a remarkable career that is still going strong at this stage and listened to daily by many in our community. He will be a proud member of the Class of 2025 on Sept. 10. Others being recognized as new members of the Hall of Fame are Mary Alice Demler, WGR TV; Jerica Duncan, CBS weekend anchor; Rob Ray, color analyst, Buffalo Sabres; Kevin Keenan, Keenan Communications Group; Todd Broady, Audacy Buffalo; and Dave Jickster, 97 Rock.