MA Radio: Rick Bletaire Signs-Off At WBRK

Rick Beltaire

Radio lost another veteran Berkshire voice on Friday when Rick Beltaire signed off at WBRK 1340 AM in Pittsfield, MA for the last time.

According to The Berkshire Eagle, Beltaire began his broadcasting career at WBEC 42 years ago after graduating from Williams College.

Beltaire, who grew up in Cleveland as a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan, joined WBRK in 1984 as a member of the ownership group that purchased the station. Beltaire became WBRK's vice president of programming.

"It is easy to throw the word great around, but in Rick's case it's an accurate statement," said WBRK's President Willard "Chip" Hodgkins III, "He's truly been an icon of Berkshire County radio and an iron man as well."

"His 30 plus years in the morning drive slot keeping us all informed and entertained is an incredible accomplishment," said Hodgkins, whose father, Willard H. "Huck" Hodgkins, headed the ownership group that bought WBRK for $625,000 in 1984.

After spending three years at WBEC in the mid-1970s, Beltaire left the Berkshires in 1977 for a job at WCOD-FM in Hyannis. But Beltaire missed this area, and returned to Pittsfield in 1980, where he replaced longtime local radio personality Bob Cudmore as the host of WBEC's morning show.