PA Radio: WEEO Hires Real Morning Mayor

Darren Brown

Darren Brown is about to take on a modified persona — with a radio handle of Mayor Darren.

Brown, the mayoral voice of Chambersburg borough, is poised to become the morning radio voice for an even wider audience as host of First News, the morning morning on NewsTalk WEEO 103.7 FM. (licensed to McConnellsburg, PA)

According to The Chambersburg Public Opinion, Patrick Ryan, general manager at 103.7, said it's a match made in heaven for a local radio station.

"Can you think of a better host for a local news radio show than the mayor?" Ryan asked. "As mayor he certainly knows how to talk. He's at every ribbon-cutting in town and champions local issues that everyone needs to know about."

The 35-year-old Brown said he took his first plunge into radio in January when Ryan approached him to do a "Mayor on the Air" segment as part of First News. He accepted.

"I thought that tied in perfectly with finding new and better ways to reach out to the public," Brown said. "We did it for a couple of months and I decided I'd be interested in an actual job in radio."

Ryan was open to that scenario.

Brown is currently "anchor in training" for the First News show that airs 6-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

"There is a learning curve," Ryan said. "It's a hands-on process. Darren is here every day. You'll hear a progression over the weeks and months. It's a living breathing process."

WEEO 103.7 FM (135 Watts) Red=Local coverage Area

Two years ago, Darren Brown was elected Mayor of Chambersburg, PA, in 2013. Brown joined the U.S. Army in 2004 and was deployed to Iraq for 11 months and Afghanistan for 13 months.