LAURINBURG — Starting next Monday, Sandy Callan will officially be out of retirement.
Callan retired in 2019 and was replaced by Dave Wells as news director for WLNC radio. Now Wells is heading to the Scotland County Schools system as the communication and public relations specialist and Callan is coming back on the air.
“Retirement wasn’t all that people say it is,” Callan said. “So I was looking for things to do — so when the opportunity to come back to WLNC came up I had to take it … I won’t be doing the radio show like I used to, I’ll just be doing the news, but I’m looking forward to continuing the traditions at WLNC. During my retirement, people kept telling me I should come back so I couldn’t turn the opportunity down.”
Callan added he’s looking forward to getting back into the news and everything that comes with it from talking to government officials to providing unbiased news reports to the Scotland County community.
“When you’re part of the news you’re in the middle of it all,” Callan said. “You get to know everything that’s going on and are the one giving that information to the public.”
Before his retirement, Callan worked 31 years at WLNC and took off to care for his wife.
“At the time I retired I was taking care of my wife, who had Alzheimer’s and when she passed away in October the support I had from the community was incredible,” Callan said. “The support in this community is and always will be absolutely terrific.”
Gary Gallman, the owner of WLNC, added he was happy to welcome Callan back to the station.
“I’m very excited about having Sandy back,” Gallman said. “Sandy did the news for so many years and he has the respect of the community and he knows what all goes on here in Scotland County. He’s a natural to handle all the news and I’m glad he was willing to come out of retirement to do this …
“People have come to depend on us so they know what’s going on in the county,” Gallman continued. “And Sandy knows how to handle the news coverage for us.”
Gallman isn’t the only one excited to welcome Callan back to the radio. County Manager Kevin Patterson added he’s looking forward to having him back.
“I’m happy to see him coming back on both a personal level and a professional level,” Patterson said. “I’ve know Sandy for a number of years and I greatly respect him, but also for the amount of knowledge and skills he’s going to bringing back to the public voice. I’m glad to have him back.”
Laurinburg City Manager Charles Nichols shared Patterson’s statements about welcoming Callan back.
“Myself and the city are excited to have Sandy back covering the news after some well deserved time away,” Nichols said. “I’m sure we’ll pick up right where he was and continue to do a wonderful job sharing the news with the county.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.