CRB/CRS Announces 2022 Honorees
• The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. (CRB) announced Heather Froglear as the 2022 Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award recipient, and also identified the individuals selected to receive the 2022 Rusty Walker and Lisa McKay Women in Radio Scholarships.
Froglear, a 2021 inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, has spent 28 years on the air at KFRG (K-Frog 95.1)/Riverside and currently sits on the CRS Agenda Committee. Froglear is also the creator of the K-Frogger’s for Kids Radiothon, benefiting Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, where she sits on the board of directors.
The Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award, named in honor of CRB Board member Tom Rivers recognizes an individual in the Country Radio industry who has displayed a magnanimous spirit of caring and generosity in service to their community. CRB/CRS Board President Kurt Johnson remarked, “Heather is the kind of person this award was made for. She’s not about prestige or celebrity, but she has lots of both and personally commits to using them for good. The power of her empathy raises the lives of people who need her. And we all need people like her. CRS is proud to recognize Heather’s significant and very real service.” Froglear will be recognized during the New Faces of Country Music show at CRS 2022.
• The recipients of this year’s Rusty Walker Scholarship are Kyle Matthews, APD/MD, KFGE/Lincoln, NE; Spencer Campbell, AE, WLVK/Ft. Knox, KY; and Morgan Taylor, on-air, KGRT/Las Cruces, NM; while Jacqueline Dunn Pailizzi, APD/afternoons at WCJC/Marion, IN will be the first-ever recipient of the Lisa McKay Women in Radio Scholarship. Each deserving radio pro will receive complimentary registration, hotel, and airfare for CRS 2022. Scholars will also be recognized during CRS Honors, the kick-off to CRS 2022, which rolls Feb. 23-25 in Nashville.
The Rusty Walker Scholarship Program honors former CRS board member and Country Radio Hall of Famer Rusty Walker, an influential programmer, consultant, and mentor who died in 2012. The program was developed to continue Walker’s legacy of supporting bright, young minds in the business. This year also marks the debut of the Lisa McKay Women in Radio Scholarship program, which serves to advance younger females pursuing leadership roles in radio programming. The program is named in honor of the late Lisa McKay, who programmed WQDR/Raleigh for 16 years and was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2018. McKay was also integral in helping the CRB launch the Rusty Walker Scholarship program.
