Ron Jolly and Colleen Wares

After twelve years on the air together, Ron Jolly and Colleen Wares are retiring together. Their last broadcast will be this Friday (4/10) from 7-10 am. The Ron Jolly Show, which debuted on WTCM in November of 1994, is the longest-running morning radio show in northern Michigan. The show features a blend of local and national news, guest interviews, commentary and listener feedback.

Jolly made a brief on-air announcement back in January regarding the retirement, stating that it was “not an easy thing to leave” but that “all the circumstances add up to that. We will make the most of it. The hardest part is leaving. We can’t see you, you can’t see us, but we are connected."

Popular long-running segments include Northern Michigan Trivia featuring a daily cash prize; Radio Graffiti in which listeners call the station and are allowed one sentence statements; Words to the Wise, a weekly look at the English language with retired English professor Mike Sheehan, and the Top 3 Trending Stories of the hour. Jolly estimates he has conducted over 10,000 interviews during his career including Donald Trump before he became president, former president George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, former Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and James Baker, NFL Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, baseball legend Kirk Gibson, and bestselling authors Lee Child, Richard Russo, and Mary Karr.

Jolly began his broadcast career at WTWR-FM in Monroe, Michigan in 1982. The following year he joined WMZK-FM (now WCCW) in Traverse City and has spent 41 of the past 43 years in the broadcast industry in Traverse City. From 1987-1989, while working as afternoon news anchor for WTCM-FM, Jolly anchored morning newscasts on the local ABC affiliate, WGTU/WGTQ-TV (29 & 8).

Jolly and Wares first worked together in the WTCM newsroom in 1986 where they were awarded multiple UPI and Michigan Radio News Network awards for their reporting. They also worked together hosting coverage of the National Cherry Festival Cherry Royale Parade on TV during the 1980s and early 1990’s.

Wares began her career doing Saturday morning newscasts at WTCM in 1979 when the station was located at 1400 on the AM dial. She became the first overnight disc jockey in 1982 when WTCM switched its frequency on the dial to 580 and began broadcasting 24/7.

In 1983, Wares moved to Key West, Florida where she was named News Director of WWUS Radio. In 1984, she returned to Traverse City and WTCM as morning newscaster teamed up with Jack O’Malley. In 1986, after a stint at WSGW in Saginaw, Michigan, Jolly returned to Traverse City to join Wares in the WTCM Newsroom where they worked together for three years until Jolly left for a radio advertising sales job in Traverse City. The pair were reunited in 2014 on the Ron Jolly Show and have worked side-by-side since.