MACON, Ga. — From time to time on 13WMAZ, we'll air source or archive footage. Many of those videos come from a time long before the digital age and finding that video isn't always easy.
Aaron Bowers is a former promotions director at WMAZ. During his tenure, he thought ahead and created a system that would make searching for old footage less of a hassle.
35 years ago, we celebrated a big milestone for the station. We showcased history that many of our viewers might remember today.
Bowers remembered it fondly when he visited the station recently.
"It was fun to work here. It was a real challenge and I loved it," Bowers said.
He produced dozens of promotions that would air leading up to each night's evening newscasts and more.
"There were a lot of promos that we had to produce and then there was news promotion. That was a big deal because that was changing every day," Bowers said.
When Bowers began wrapping up his time at 13, he had a big worry.
"When I left the station, I was somewhat concerned about what was going to happen to all this stuff," Bowers said.
Because he had such a wealth of knowledge, he had the bright idea that would benefit employees at the station for many years to come.
"I proposed to the, then, manager that, perhaps, they could keep me on as archivist," Bowers said.
Managers at the time agreed and gave Bowers time to help create a museum at the station with old phones and cameras and what many employees here refer to as the "Archive Room."
"It's like a library and there are some things that you can see on the walls, but basically everything is in boxes or in files," Bowers said.
The room is filled with old records and tapes of important historical events and the computer Aaron used when he worked here.
"I could search this computer for George P. Rankin and it would tell me everywhere. [If] there was a picture of him or film of him or videotape or anything like that," Bowers said.
After dusting it off, he was thrilled to see it still worked.
He was able to show us how to search for things and even found files on the station's founder George Rankin.
Preserving this station's history and creating a robust archive system was paramount for Bowers. He didn't want people to forget the efforts of the pioneers who bravely got us on the air in the first place.
"The people who started this station didn't have any idea what they were doing," Bowers said. "They just kind of forged ahead and did what they knew to do and it grew into what it is today," Bowers said.
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