Community Champion


Left to right: Lisa Ramlow, Bill Gossett, Judy Busby and Karen Hargis

On Wednesday morning, Lincoln Daily News made a surprise visit to Judy Busby and Bill Gossett at the WLCN radio station right before they went on air with their talk show "Viewpoint." The purpose of the visit was to recognize the two as the August LDN Community Champions. Each received a lovely planter donated by Debbie's Downtown Floral, and the traveling trophy will be on display at the radio station for the next week.

Congratulations to both. In their lifetimes, they have positively impacted many people, not only through their show but also in their daily lives.

 

Judy Busby and Bill Gossett named LDN’s Community Champions for August

Send a link to a friend  Share

[August 29, 2020]   At the beginning of the year, Lincoln Daily News implemented a new project aimed at recognizing community members who have a positive impact on all those around them. We chose a list of people, some whom are not often recognized for the good they do, and we were anxious to get something good going in our community.

Then coronavirus hit and we were all asked to stay home and keep ourselves out of harms way and also protect our friends and neighbors by not taking a chance at exposing them to the viral illness.

We had awarded only two champions at that time, Kathie Williams of Small Town Creations and Nick Bekteshi of Country Aire Restaurant in Atlanta in January and February, respectively. For the month of March, we had two very special people picked out, but were hugely disappointed when we had to cancel those plans.

After several months of waiting and wondering when coronavirus was going to go to the wayside, we’ve made the careful decision to move forward with our Community Champions.

With all that said, LDN is proud to announce that the August 2020 Community Champions are the dynamic duo of Bill Gossett and Judy Busby from the Viewpoint of WLCN radio in Atlanta.

The two personalities co-host the Viewpoint talk show on Wednesday mornings. The work they do at the radio station sounds like easy conversation between two old friends because that is exactly what it is.



They bring in guests to visit with and share their opinions with the public with the goal of making a positive impact on our community and our society.

For example, on the August 19th show, they took on the very controversial issue of law enforcement. Bill began the day by saying he was tired of the negativity toward our officers in blue and wanted the community to understand and appreciate that the local law enforcement offices are staffed with very good people who do their jobs daily without complaint. Our local officers are good people, and we are lucky to have them.

The guest of the day was Lincoln Police Chief Paul Adams. The chief talked candidly about the efforts of law enforcement to maintain the safety of the community through enforcing law.

Then on August 26th they had as their guest Reverend Glenn Shelton and discussed racism in Logan County. Shelton spoke with the hopes of raising awareness not only to the issues of black versus white, but to the degrees of racism. Granted, we have not seen the violent cruel treatments of our black population in this area, but Shelton explained that our actions, though subtle, do sometimes relay a sense of racism and a degrading of people of color. His best solution, and one that Bill and Judy supported whole heartily, was that we should all get to know each other as fellow human beings. When we do, we will discover our commonality and learn more about our differences, and we will become more color blind.

Gossett and Busby effectively took two national stories and brought them down to a community level with the help of their guests. The goal, to bring understanding and awareness on both topics and how our community is impacted by these issues.

Gossett and Busby are not afraid to broach the tough topics, but they also enjoy highlighting the lighter side of life or bringing attention to those in need and those that are trying to help others.

It is there, that the show reflects the personality of the hosts to the fullest. Always helpful, always friendly, always willing to listen to someone other than themselves.

Judy Busby will tell anyone that her greatest claim to fame was that she was the wife of the late Buzz Busby, a Lincoln alderman for years who spoke his mind quite clearly and was known among council members as the man with the red ink pen at budget time.

However, spend a little time with people who know her and you find that Judy has made her own mark on the world with her kindness and her willingness to help others. She’s been involved with a number of organizations including the Woman’s Club and the ALMH Auxiliary. She has been a champion for the ALMH Auxiliary lifeline projects. She has served on the board of the Oasis Senior Center and has always been active in her church.

She raised her family and is very proud of her children Cince and Cass.

Judy can also be accredited for bringing Viewpoint to WLCN Atlanta in 2007. It was her show, and she had been doing it on WPRC. When she came to WLCN, she enlisted Bill to be her co-host and the two have been working together since.

Bill Gossett is often heard to say “My debit is greatly exaggerated.” We would beg to differ. In his lifetime, Bill along with his lovely wife Jean, have done numerous good works in our community. Bill is noted for his involvement at Lincoln College and will be recognized by the college with an honorary doctorate this fall.

The honorary degree was announced in May of this year. The article written by Lincoln College summed up Bills contribution to the community very well.

“Gossett has held leadership positions in numerous civic organizations, including the Abraham Lincoln Hospital Association, American Legion, Knights Templar, Lincoln Rotary, Lincoln Toastmasters Club, Lincoln-Logan Chamber of Commerce, Masons, Oasis Senior Center, Salvation Army, and the Union Cemetery Association. He is an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church.

[to top of second column]

An advocate for education, Gossett has served on the Lincoln District 27 and West Lincoln-Broadwell School Boards as well as the Lincoln Community High School steering committee. He has volunteered at Washington-Monroe Elementary and the Logan Correctional Center. Over the past seven decades, Gossett has been an active and enthusiastic supporter of Lincoln College, and has served as a Board of Trustee member for fifteen years. He was inducted into the Lincoln College Athletic Hall of Fame as a friend of athletics in 2017. Gossett was also the recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award.”

He is a veteran who honors all veterans and supports them in all the ways that he can. He brings a candid and comical perspective to the things that go on around him. He’s not afraid to speak out when he sees a wrong being done, and is good at heaping on the praise when he sees someone doing something remarkable for our community.

He’s been a business owner in Lincoln and was highly thought of in that arena, and he was Cince Busby’s first employer.

Upon learning that LDN would be honoring her mom and “Uncle Bill,” Cince (Busby) Bowns was happy to offer perspective from a family viewpoint.

“Judy Busby (mom) and Bill Gossett ‘Uncle Bill’ have been friends for over 50 years. When their children were grade school aged there was a fun filled Busby-Gossett weekend to Chicago to see the Field Museum, Shed Aquarium, and many other sites.

“For over 40 years we were neighbors on Peoria Street. When dad was so ill and we spent days at the hospital Uncle Bill would take care of the dog, turn lights on/off, and watch the house for mom.

“Mom and Uncle both have amazing gifts and talents they freely share with the people of Lincoln and Logan County.

“For many years mom and Uncle Bill have hosted Viewpoint on WLCN 96.3FM, Wednesday mornings at 8:15am. They both joke about “all both of our listeners.” They sometimes get frustrated that people do not call into their weekly program to ask questions of their guest of the week. I tell them both that they have the pulse of the community and ask the majority of the questions that John Q. Public want answers to!



“The bottom line is that these two people, who are very community minded, engage in what is going on locally, and truly care about all of the people in Lincoln and Logan County. They both have the uncanny ability to understand and practice that age old adage: “It is usually not what you do or say to someone, but rather how you made them feel.”

"Imagine if we could have more people care and give back to Lincoln and Logan County.  What a wonderful thing that would be.

“Thank you both for all that you have done in the past and I look forward to what the future holds for both of you and our community.”

To clarify any confusion, there is no blood relationship between the Busbys and the Gossetts. Cince explained that the Busby family moved to Lincoln from Minnesota and were fortunate to have Bill and Jean Gossett as their neighbors and first friends. The friendship grew stronger with each passing day, and the two families became so intertwined, that the Busby children knew the Gossetts as honorary uncle and aunt. Cince said that even her kids and grandkids know Bill as ‘Uncle Bill.’

On Wednesday morning, Bill and Judy were both surprised to find Karen Hargis, Lisa Ramlow and Nila Smith of Lincoln Daily News waiting for them at the station. Judy was a bit alarmed and later laughed about it saying she thought she had double booked the program! She made the joke “I can mess up a one car funeral.” A comment she repeated later on air when Bill acknowledged that LDN had paid them a visit.

The award was given to Bill and Judy in recognition of what their show the Viewpoint brings to the community, but also to celebrate the goodness of these two people, and their life-long commitment to doing good and making our community a better place to live for all.

Between the two of them, hundreds if not thousands of lives have been touched, and from the LDN perspective, they have indeed made our world a better place, just by being in.

Congratulations to Bill and Judy, and thanks to station manager Jim Ash for having the insight to bring these two great people to the airwaves in Logan County.

[Nila Smith]

< Recent features

Back to top