ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Spring has been slow to come to the Midwest this year. Just this week two snow storms rolled through parts of Wisconsin.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
This is not a part of the country where a bit of snow ruffles feathers, but come on. Snow storms in late April felt a little bit much to a lot of residents.
SHAPIRO: That's why on Wednesday, after one of those storms, some people in Milwaukee who turned on their radios for the evening commute heard this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: B 93.3 is spreading the holiday cheer.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: In April.
SHAPIRO: Station WLDB 93.3 in Milwaukee plays music from the '80s to today. It's also known as the all Christmas, all the time station, though usually just in December.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yeah. Snow in spring means, well, we might as well get in the holiday spirit.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Listen for a Christmas song every hour while you work today between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
CHANG: We reached the station's program director, Michelle Rutkowski, who explained that on Wednesday, when that second storm hit...
MICHELLE RUTKOWSKI: We decided to just put up, like, a playful post on Facebook. And it was like, wow, with all this snow, should we just go back to playing Christmas music? And surprisingly, within, like, an hour we had had so much feedback that it went from a ha ha, like, stupid, offhanded joke to like, oh, maybe we should actually do this.
CHANG: So on April 18 they dusted off Christmas music they thought they had shelved for the season and threw together some Christmas prize packs.
SHAPIRO: The first track at 9 a.m...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS ")
BING CROSBY: (Singing) It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go.
SHAPIRO: Michelle Rutkowski helped pick the song list that played throughout the day.
RUTKOWSKI: I thought, OK, what songs would, like, add to the absurdity of this? So obviously "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR")
ANDY WILLIAMS: (Singing) Of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Ding dong. Ding dong.
WILLIAMS: (Singing) With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you be of good cheer.
RUTKOWSKI: And "Feliz Navidad" just because the thought of driving in a snowstorm to that song in April just made me giggle.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FELIZ NAVIDAD")
JOSE FELICIANO: (Singing) Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad.
CHANG: Rutkowski says listeners loved it. They got tons of calls from grateful people stuck in snowy commutes.
SHAPIRO: Today in Milwaukee it's sunny with a high of 51 degrees, not a snowflake in sight, and no more in the forecast either.
CHANG: Good news for everyone except really big fans of Christmas.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WISH IT WAS CHRISTMAS TODAY")
JULIAN CASABLANCAS: (Singing) I wish it was Christmas today. I wish it was Christmas today. Oh, I wish it was Christmas today. I wish it was Christmas today. Oh, all I know is if Santa Claus don't care about breaking or applying laws, I wish it was, I wish it was. I wish it was, I wish it was. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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