The Spencer Family of Parke County originally applied for the broadcast license that is now WAXI Gold 104.9, in 1976. While in the process of getting ready to put the station on the air, tragedy struck. Three men from Crawfordsville invaded the Spencer Home near Hollandsburg on Sunday evening February 14th, 1977, killing the Spencer's three boys and injuring Mrs. Spencer. It has come to be known as the Hollandsburg Massacre.
The Spencers bravely went ahead with the station. It went on the air July 25, 1977. August 1, 1983, WAXI was sold to Bob and Sharon Rouse of Terre Haute. Rouse was a well known radio operator in the Wabash Valley. They managed the station until 1985 when Rouse hired Bill Cook as station manager. Bill promptly hired his wife Kandee, whom he had met at WJNZ (now WREB) in Greencastle, and subsequently married. The Cooks ran the station until 1998, when the Rouses decided to sell the property to Crossroads Communications of Terre Haute. Crossroads also owns WBOW-FM 102.7, WSDM-FM 92.7, WSDX-AM 1130 and WBOW-AM 1300.
Crossroads retained the Cooks, keeping Bill as WAXI manager and moving Kandee to the Terre Haute office as business manager. However at the end of September, 2001, Bill Cook left Crossroads for a new position with Concepts for Pets in Clinton, Indiana. Bill, however, has returned to us as a program director and account executive and can again be reached at (812) 234-9770.
While WAXI is run primarily from the Terre Haute office and studio, WAXI Gold 104.9 still operates as the primary local station for Parke and Vermillion counties. It serves the greater Terre Haute market with its "60's and 70's" music format, Cubs baseball, and local high school sports.
The main studio for WAXI was moved at the end of October, 2002, to Crossroads' main facility at 1301 Ohio Street in Terre Haute. The studio is linked to the transmitter via microwave.
