schedule that included popular music and ethnic programming, including a polka music show hosted by local radio legend John Reddy. Officially, Gerald was listed as station president, Rosa as program director, and Ralph was chief engineer. The programming also included "Playtime for Children", a program narrated and sung by Gerald Bartell. These were recorded on tape and sent to a variety of radio stations around the state, including even other stations in Milwaukee such as WIBA. The program was aimed at pre-school children and those in nursery schools and kindergarten. Rosa appeared on that program as the "Lullaby Lady" and she was also the show's producer, collecting many of the elements that went in it. The program became popular with children, and in 1948 Billboard magazine named it the best children's program in the nation from a radio station in the 250– to 1,000-watt range. The magazine said that "Jerry Bartell, headman of the program, showed a deft touch in his handling of perhaps the most difficult type of children's show, one which all too often is completely ignored by many stations. ... Bartell's warbling ... is swell. It has resonance, and kids can probably ascertain that his heart is in it ... the show is well-produced, well-written, and certainly well-thought out." With WEXT finding an audience but only barely profitable, the Bartell family applied for full-time broadcast operations, and the result was a move down the dial to AM 920 and a new call sign, WOKY. In doing so they formed a new company named the Bartell Group. WOKY launched in September 1950. WOKY initially aired a full-service variety format similar to WEXT's, including popular music shows and programs oriented toward housewives and children. This included the continuation of Playtime for Children. Audience figures went up once the station concentrated on a music-and-news format. WOKY is also noteworthy for being the first station in Milwaukee to broadcast traffic reports from a helicopter, courtesy of air personality Art Zander and his feature "The Safer Route". By October 1952, WOKY was the third-most popular radio station in the city. Musical activities Melvin did not join in the radio business right away. Still pursuing his singing career, he appeared in the opera Street Scene on Broadway in 1947. The following year, he received honorable mention in American Theater Wing auditions to perform a debut recital. That led to an engagement to sing